Recently, we looked at the stunningly fast and extremely insane Ferrari 296 Speciale, with its ground-breaking performance and geek-worthy engineering, breaking records and making it one of the most impressive Ferraris to date. Ah, but you might be wondering… I’d love a bit of sunlight and air rushing through my hair while I drive! Well, does Ferrari have the solution for you – the Ferrari 296 Speciale A. I’ve no doubt that ‘A’ stands for ‘Aperta’, or ‘Open’, as far as Google Translate will tell me, but this is also what Ferrari has referred to their open-top cars in the past, including this one, the spider variant of the new, ultra-special and fast 296 Speciale.
Underneath, much of the Ferrari 296 Speciale A is basically the same as the coupe model, and this includes the powertrain. So, underneath, you’ll find an identical plug-in hybrid powertrain, cranking out a whopping 880 hp, or 50 hp more than the ‘base’ 296 GTS. This responsibility is shared between the 120-degree twin-turbo V6 engine (700 hp) and the electric motor (180 hp). A lot of that is thanks to some of Ferrari’s motorsport-grade tech, such as an F1-inspired knock control, titanium rods, a lightened crank, and a few more fancy bits here and there. Drive is sent to the rear, through a recalibrated 8-speed transmission, with now-speedier gear shifts.
Ground-Breaking Open-Top Performance
Some other stuff is carried over from the coupe 296 Speciale as well, like the really clever ABS system, traction control, and electronic stability programme, in addition to the bespoke set of Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2 tyres and lightweight 5-spoke forged wheels. Another familiar sight in the Ferrari 296 Speciale A is the improved brake cooling and thermal management over the 296 GTB and GTS, as well as the suspension. Speaking of, the latter is a racing-spec Multimatic adjustable shocks, paired with titanium springs, and bespoke spring and damper rates. You’d be able to make full use of all that performance through not one, but four drive modes.
Between eDrive, Hybrid, Performance, and Qualify, you could tweak and fine-tune the Ferrari 296 Speciale A’s computers to suit your driving style and mood. Of course, the elephant in the room is that retractable hard-top, offering you pure, unadulterated open-air driving! It might just look like a bunch of steel folding together, but like the rest of this car, it is a pretty clever bit of design. For starters, despite how small the Ferrari 296 is, the 296 Special A’s hard top is able to neatly stow away in the engine bay. Meanwhile, if you put the roof up, it now retains the regular, non-spider 296 Speciale’s rather awesome 435 kg of downforce at 250 km/h.
No Compromises Versus The 296 Speciale
As you might imagine, driving that fast in any open-top car can create a lot of buffeting noise, but thankfully, Ferrari’s solved this with some smart aerodynamics. Look around, and you can find some bespoke headrest flaps and seat-back nolders to help minimise buffeting, as well as keeping the intrusion of hot air from the engine bay and exhausts to a minimum. Best of all, it also comes with acoustic ducts that help to amplify the soundstage of that V6 engine, which is referred to by Ferrari as a ‘mini V12’, with the 296’s signature gearshift ‘bark’, then allowing it to resonate more into the cabin. Yet, all of this comes with a negligible weight penalty.
The new Ferrari 296 Speciale A is barely any heavier than the coupe non-A model, and it’s also 50 kg lighter than the regular production series 296 GTS. This is mainly thanks to the extensive use of carbon fibre body panels, as well as titanium fasteners and a race-derived exhaust. This means that you’re now looking at a new benchmark for rear-wheel drive Ferrari spiders as far as performance is concerned, with the 296 Speciale A achieving a pretty breathtaking power-to-weight ratio of 1.69 kg/hp. If anything, with them being so similar to one another, and with there being near-zero compromises with the Speciale A, it’s even harder to pick which one!
