2024 Ferrari 296 GTS Review: This Car Is Simply Stunning To Drive – If there’s one place you’d expect to see Ferraris in abundance, it’s the city of Maranello, Italy, where the company was founded. This newest Ferrari 296 GTS I’m driving through the dense downtown area has caused nothing but jaws to drop and eyes to widen. Seeing a Ferrari probably isn’t new to these folks.
2024 Ferrari 296 GTS Review
Exterior Design
The 296 GTS’s excellent handling should come as no surprise; what Ferrari isn’t? But the thing that strikes me the most concerning this convertible is how easy it is to push. The rear end provides just about enough slip to allow you to have fun in the bend without causing trouble, and the steering is superbly weighted. The electrical brake-by-wire system, which may be finicky in other vehicles, works flawlessly in this one. Short pedal stroke, easily discernible bite point, and increasing brake pressure. You’ll get more out of the 296 the more quickly and aggressively you drive it. 2024 Ferrari 296 GTS Review
The electronic folding hardtop can be stored in a compact space behind the cockpit in just 14 seconds. Ferrari’s “flying bridge,” a small rear windows inside the rolling hoop behind the chairs, can be opened or closed to control airflow within the vehicle. Nonetheless, the 296 GTS is enjoyable to drive on the highway with the windows down. You and your passenger would be able to conduct a normal conversation without raising your voices, and you wouldn’t have to turn up the volume on the audio to hear the turn-by-turn directions.
While the Assetto Fiorano option is available for the 296 GTS just as it is for the GTB, I would not recommend ordering one. The AF package includes non-street legal summertime tires (Michelin Pilot Sport) and stronger (and customizable) Multimatic shock to improve handling and traction at higher speeds. If you intend to use your 296 on the track frequently, this upgrade may be worthwhile; however, you are probably better off purchasing the GTB coupe instead. The Assetto Fiorano package appears like it might take away from this GTS convertible’s open-air driving pleasure.
Interior Design
The GTS has the same fantastic cabin as the GTB, except the roof. The console’s modest profile and flat top are features I appreciate greatly. Even though it’s not a huge vehicle, the inside gives off an impression of great space because to the visibility of the footwells all the way to the firewall, like in the Hyundai Ioniq 5. Although the bottom cushions of the seats are a bit flat, the GTS’s interior is otherwise gorgeous and a pleasure to touch.
I’ll be honest and say that the 296 GTS’s technology is intimidating at first, especially because it’s controlled via what seems like a million buttons just on steering wheel. Controls for the multiple screens which surround the electronic tachometer are located on the spokes to the sides of the steering wheel. The bottom left screen controls the vehicle’s drive modes, while the lower right dial adjusts the vehicle’s traction control. This isn’t even mentioning the several switches for the hazard lights, windshield wipers, and so on. All of the indicators, including the turn signals, are buttons. That’s a considerable amount.
2024 Ferrari 296 GTS Engine
This Ferrari 296 GTS is equipped with a plug-in hybrid drivetrain, providing 15 miles of all-electric range, similar to its hardtop brother, ferrari 296 GTB. I enjoy this crazy contrast, which makes me think of a golf cart when I see an expensive Italian convertible producing the same noises. The near future has a lot of exciting possibilities. 2024 Ferrari 296 GTS Review
Its 296’s electric engine generates 165 hp plus 232 lb-ft of torque, that aren’t exactly jaw-dropping figures when applied to a Ferrari. Nevertheless, this provides more than enough power for quiet, swift cruising around Maranello’s winding lanes at low speeds. The 296’s gas-powered engine is only activated when the Hybrid setting is chosen from the electronic Manettino driving mode selector, but when it does, wow, are you getting a treat.
Ferrari’s 2.9L twin-turbo V6 is often known as “the tiny V12” due to it’s own 120 ° configuration as well as the reality that it can be revved to high heaven, giving the impression of an engines having twice that many pistons. The V6 has some resemblances to a naturally aspirated V12, especially in its upper register, but it doesn’t quite excite me the way the sound from a real V12 does. However, Ferrari deserves credit for realizing that a sports car, especially a plug-in hybrid one, should provide acoustic pleasure. The “heat tube” exhaust silencer from the 296 was modified again for GTS convertible so that more ambient noise can be heard inside the car whenever the top is closed.
In Qualifying mode, the 297 unleashes 819 horsepower but also 547 lb-ft of torque, enough to rocket this 3,397-pound GTS to 60 miles per hour in under 3 seconds. The V6 engine produces a strong 655 horsepower even without the hybrid system. In a word, it’s amazing. Zero scribbles, a perfect score! 2024 Ferrari 296 GTS Review
The 296 GTS shines in sport mode, where the V6 powerplant is kept on high alert as well as the e-motor provides additional boost as needed. When you, say, drove the beat the hell through a 296 on a picturesque Italian mountain route, you’ll still have enough power to saunter through town at such a whisper’s level since the engine as well as brakes can transfer additional energy into the battery for recharge it along the way. Though the hills may reverberate with the “small V12,” nobody is the wiser.
2024 Ferrari 296 GTS Price and Release Date
Nonetheless, that is a minor criticism in the grand scheme of things. And after driving for a hour or so inside the 296 GTS, you forget everything about the car’s $350,001 price tag, its lackluster ergonomics, and its ominous blind spots. For a Ferrari, this one is remarkably simple to operate and immediately endearing to its driver. It makes its point without resorting to shouting. 2024 Ferrari 296 GTS Review
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