Don’t make the mistake of patronizing the Ferrari 296 GTS. I know it’s tempting, because this $366,139 mid-mounted version packs a V-6 hybrid setup rather than the 8- and 12-cylinder power plants that made Ferrari NV famous. There is a lot of pride and brand identity built into these internal combustion machines. “Ferrari doesn’t make cars, Ferrari makes engines,” as the saying goes.
The smaller engine is not unprecedented. The company made road-going V6s in the 1970s, although it doesn’t recognize these “Dino” models as official branded Ferraris even today. It’s a long story tied to Enzo Ferrari’s deceased son, nicknamed Dino, and a weird sort of machismo about how many cylinders belong in an engine before it can be considered manly. (The models were designed and built by Ferrari but marketed under the name of a new entry-level brand called Dino.)
Anyway. As Ferrari moves towards its first all-electric car, arriving next year, it makes sense that it would also make a hybrid or two. The 296 GTS is the discovery version of the excellent Ferrari 296 GTB plug-in hybrid, which debuted in 2021, after the LaFerrari mild hybrid of 2013.
I drove the 296 GTS around South Beach and Miami’s Design District, down Rickenbacker Causeway, and up to Hard Rock Stadium during the Formula 1 Miami Grand Prix. It was a busy weekend in Ferrari: the brand was celebrating 70 years of sales in the United States and unveiled a new pair of 12-cylinder sports cars. I tried not to get too distracted. Here’s what I thought.
The essentials
The mid-engine, rear-wheel-drive two-seater combines 819 horsepower and 546 pound-feet of torque. It has seven miles of all-electric range and 47 MPGe in combined gas and electric driving. With a smooth eight-speed transmission and ultra-smooth handling, it will hit 62 mph in 2.9 seconds and reach a top speed of 205 mph.
Good
A striking and strange beauty characterizes this superb spider. I drove one in Blu Corsa, a decadent tone that accentuated its most attractive angles and highlighted its rear buttresses, worthy of an article in Architectural Digest. It’s one of the few convertibles that looks as good with the top up as it does when it’s down. (The roof folds in 14 seconds, at speeds of up to 45 km/h.) Either way, this Italian treat exists not in the realm of fashion but in the realm of style.
Perhaps even more exciting, the 296 GTS is faster than almost anything you can buy, but the way the car’s handling, suspension, and balance control that speed so elegantly is what makes it of his driving an unforgettable experience. The hybrid power plant excelled when I drove slowly on pedestrian-heavy Collins Avenue; its all-electric mode kept the car quiet, so I wasn’t that person with a screaming engine bothering joggers and cyclists as they enjoyed the ocean ambiance.
Navigating Miami’s many bridges and overpasses was like a chance to fly. That’s when the full power of Ferrari’s single engine sent the car soaring. In these exciting times, complying with legal speed limits became my only concern.
The bad
The insane infotainment system. The maddening setup offers a postage stamp of a haptic touchscreen on the steering wheel for controlling simple things like the radio station. I had to rely on my passenger and their own little dashboard-mounted control screen to adjust the climate and sound and sync my phone with the car, which was almost as complicated and annoying for them as it was for me. Anyone who has tried to reason with the old Italian mentality of time and order will understand. (An American who works for an Italian company once told me, “Italians are good at making simple things complex and complex things simple.”) We love them for it.
If you have long legs or big feet, or both, you will find the foot area rather claustrophobic.
If you remember one thing
There’s a reason Ferrari’s order banks are full years in advance, even when the average price of its cars is four times higher than Porsche’s. The company sets the bar for sports cars that are sexy, fun to drive, and look amazing even when parked. The 296 GTS is one of them.
Still not convinced? Drive it for a day and enjoy the appreciative looks of your fellow drivers and the fun of driving it, and just keep your mouth shut about what’s under the hood. No one needs to know it’s just a V6.
