Ferrari F8 Spider review

The biggest news from Ferrari inside is that your passenger can now know exactly how fast you’re going. And how much G you’re pulling. Given it’s not easy to see that information on the dash, maybe the Passenger Display is a £2,592 option worth ticking. Or maybe not.

The driver’s view ahead is still dominated, as tradition dictates, by a central rev counter with digital gear display. It’s a simple view, and there’s something refreshing about that when so many sports cars choose to bombard you with information. That’s there if you want it, in the subordinate screens either side. How these operate takes some learning, and seems slightly primitive alongside rivals with touchscreens and central control knobs. The forthcoming SF90 does away with this dash layout in exchange for a 16-inch screen. Less romantic, but ought to be much more user-friendly. Doubtless it’ll migrate down to lesser models in time.

You view this through a slightly smaller steering wheel. It still carries all the controls, but mostly they’re logical. Cruise control is on a panel to the left, operated by a twist knob. Unusual and awkward. Enjoy music? Not here you won’t – the £3,552 JBL hi-fi is pretty poor. You can at least operate your phone reasonably well via CarPlay or Android Auto, but the sound quality leaves a lot to be desired.

As mentioned earlier, the roof can be dropped and raised on the move. That’s useful. And it stows in a very shallow compartment on the back deck. Up front, the boot is anything but shallow. In fact the 200-litre nose load bay is properly commodious.

Nothing much wrong with the driving position either, but think twice before speccing the £5,184 carbon fibre racing seats. They seem to have a lumbar lump just where your belt sits. And as we’ve come to expect from Ferrari, the quality of the materials and the solidity of the build are very impressive.