Sure, you can tell your neighbours you bought a Ferrari 296 GTB because you want to reduce your carbon footprint. It is a plug-in hybrid, after all; an electric motor kicks in to help reduce fuel consumption and emissions, and it’s capable of driving up to 25 km on battery power alone.
But you know you bought it because its razor-sharp handling and frontal-lobe-flattening braking combine with 818 horsepower to bring you to near-orgasmic euphoria. Say that about a Prius Prime.
The 296 GTB breaks tradition by being the first street-legal Ferrari to be powered by a V6. While Ferrari has used V6 engines in race cars since the late 1950s, the company’s road cars have never fired on fewer than eight cylinders. Some will rightfully argue that a V6 first left Maranello in a road car in 1967, in the form of the Dino 206 GT. However, although manufactured by Ferrari, the 206 GT was marketed under the “Dino” brand name, as an “entry-level” Italian sports car for driving aficionados with lighter wallets.
Well, the mid-engined 296 GTB is no entry-level sports car. It is a beast, albeit a highly evolved, manageable, beautiful beast. It’s also a showcase of technology, starting with its 2.9-litre twin-turbo 120-degree V6. The engine is displayed under rear glass in a “hot V” configuration, with the exhaust exiting between the cylinder heads, within the vee; and its intake on the outboard side, out of view.
2023 Ferrari 296 GTB Photo by Ferrari
2023 Ferrari 296 GTB Photo by Ferrari
2023 Ferrari 296 GTB Photo by Ferrari
2023 Ferrari 296 GTB Photo by Ferrari
2023 Ferrari 296 GTB Photo by Ferrari
2023 Ferrari 296 GTB Photo by Ferrari
2023 Ferrari 296 GTB Photo by Ferrari
2023 Ferrari 296 GTB Photo by Ferrari
2023 Ferrari 296 GTB Photo by Ferrari
The exhaust empties into a pair of counter-rotating turbochargers, which are smaller and spin higher than previous Ferrari turbos, and capable of generating 24 per cent more boost. That added boost helps the engine pump out 654 horsepower. Normally, we could stop right there — even those with an addiction to horsepower would find that number satisfactory. But the electric motor adds another 164 horsepower, and bumps peak torque to 546 lb-ft. The combined output can propel the 296 from zero to 100 km/h in 2.9 seconds, just four-tenths off the AWD V8-powered SF90 Stradale PHEV.
The 7.45-kW battery sits low, behind the seats, helping lower the centre of gravity. The 122-kW electric motor, which is the same as in the SF90, is integrated into the rear of the engine, connected to it via an electronically controlled dry clutch. When the clutch engages, both power sources drive the rear wheels via an eight-speed dual-clutch gearbox. There are four hybrid modes — Qualify, Performance, Hybrid, and eDrive — selectable by an eManettino on the left side of the steering wheel.
Qualify mode offers the maximum available combined output, at the cost of high battery depletion. Performance mode prioritises internal combustion but helps maintain battery power at a cost of about 30 horses. Hybrid is the default mode, kicking in internal combustion only when needed to accelerate hard, or when battery power becomes too low. And eDrive allows the car to run silently and fume-free on its battery, for up to 25 kilometres, and up to 135 km/h. When in eDrive, only four of the eight speeds are used, and only in automatic mode.
2023 Ferrari 296 GTB Photo by Ferrari
If you think the 296 GTB looks great on a screen in two dimensions; in the metal it is an elegant beauty — low-slung, stunningly sleek, and small. Its swoopy silhouette is reminiscent of the 1963 250 LM, from which its styling is inspired, especially at the rear with its bulging fender haunches and air intakes aft of the doors. Subtle, yet functional, styling touches include things like the cool-air intakes for the brakes that are integrated into the headlamps. Contributing to its compact appearance is a wheelbase that’s 50 mm shorter than the SF90 and F8. Hidden in the rear is a La Ferrari-inspired active spoiler that rises at speed, and when combined with the Assetto Fiorano package provides up to 360 kg of rear downforce at 250 km/h. The track-friendly package also drops weight by 12 kg (15 kg if ordered with a Lexan rear screen) and adds ultra-sticky Michelin Sport Cup 2R tires.
Sit inside and you’re surrounded in high tech. The instrument panel and switches are entirely digital. The switches that control everything from the hybrid modes to the climate control system to opening the doors are capacitive surface switches, requiring just a light touch or a swipe of the finger to operate. The analogue switch is the Manettino dial on the steering wheel, which selects from four drive modes.
2023 Ferrari 296 GTB Photo by Ferrari
2023 Ferrari 296 GTB Photo by Ferrari
2023 Ferrari 296 GTB Photo by Ferrari
2023 Ferrari 296 GTB Photo by Ferrari
2023 Ferrari 296 GTB Photo by Ferrari
2023 Ferrari 296 GTB Photo by Ferrari
2023 Ferrari 296 GTB Photo by Ferrari
2023 Ferrari 296 GTB Photo by Ferrari
2023 Ferrari 296 GTB Photo by Ferrari
2023 Ferrari 296 GTB Photo by Ferrari
Engine sound is piped into the interior, though it is not electronically enhanced. Intake and exhaust frequencies are captured on special membranes, and the resulting sound is then fed into the interior via a series of tubes — it is a system that is not unlike an old phonograph, in which a stylus picked up vibrations from the grooves in a record, transferred those vibrations to a diaphragm, then amplified them through a horn. The 296 produces an ear-flattering, high-pitched drone, that further sweetens as the engine approaches its 8,500-rpm redline.
Our test drive began at Circuito Monteblanco, located about a half hour west of Seville, Spain. However, that four-lap session turned out to be only a warm-up for the post-lunch drive, which was on a sparsely travelled, wickedly twisty, and ultra-smooth piece of pavement that is akin to driving paradise on earth. Because I don’t want my mug printed on INTERPOL posters, we’ll assume that the following driving impression was gathered – ahem – entirely from my time on the track.
It’s quite odd to roll away silently in a Ferrari. With an adequately charged battery, the 296 will run electric right up to highway speeds, and will only turn on the engine when you need more power than what the electric motor can deliver. Drive it normally through town and it’ll do so silently and smoothly. When the engine does fire up, it engages seamlessly, something that must have been difficult for engineers to do given its high output. The car’s hybrid system works flawlessly; you only notice it’s working when rolling down the road in silence.
Push the pedal to the floor with the Manettino in Race mode and the eManettino in Qualify, though, and a beast awakens — you’ll also get every penny’s worth of the $379,000 spent to take a 296 GTB home. The electric motor fills in any turbo-lag gaps in the torque, propelling the car forward with remarkable force. The car explodes out of corners, making even the longest straights seem like mere distractions between turns. The last car I drove that exited corners as aggressively was the Porsche 935, a 700-horsepower track-only special costing upwards of $1 million.
2023 Ferrari 296 GTB Photo by Ferrari
2023 Ferrari 296 GTB Photo by Ferrari
2023 Ferrari 296 GTB Photo by Ferrari
2023 Ferrari 296 GTB Photo by Ferrari
2023 Ferrari 296 GTB Photo by Ferrari
2023 Ferrari 296 GTB Photo by Ferrari
2023 Ferrari 296 GTB Photo by Ferrari
2023 Ferrari 296 GTB Photo by Ferrari
Driver confidence is bolstered by uncannily sharp steering and tenacious front-end grip. The steering ratio is the same as on the F8, but it is firmer and reacts quicker, due in part to the Michelin Sport 4S tires developed specifically for the 296. Also contributing to the car’s scalpel-like handling is suspension that is racetrack-firm, keeping the car flat and level when cornering hard — the only body roll you’ll experience is your flabs of body fat folding over from the high G-forces it generates.
The 296 uses brake-by-wire ABS, and I initially suspected brake feel would suffer, since a servomotor does the actual braking. However, feedback was firm and direct, with the added bonus of consistent feel, even as the carbon-ceramic brakes emitted an odour of, well, hot brakes after I got out. Through some electronic wizardry, Ferrari’s latest ABS uses a myriad of sensors to individually brake each wheel, allowing you to defy physics by staying hard on the brakes well after you begin turning in. To date, I don’t recall having driven a road car that can trail-brake as deeply and confidently into a turn.
All right, so Ferrari has eschewed tradition and produced a V6-powered PHEV. Don’t let the absence of a few cylinders make you think that the 296 GTB is any less worthy of brandishing the prancing horse. It’s insanely powerful, handles like you’ve made a pact with Beelzebub, sound delicious, and as any Italian exotic should be, it’s gorgeous. So, really, Ferrari hasn’t broken tradition, but has rather started a new tradition that ushers it into a new era of performance.
Keyword: First Drive: 2023 Ferrari 296 GTB