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Is the new HGTE handling pack for the Ferrari 599 GTB worth the extra outlay? Ben Oliver thinks it almost makes sense.

Those of you who think that the 599 GTB doesn't need much improving will be pleased to hear that Ferrari hasn't done much to improve it. With test driver Dario Benuzzi at the wheel, a 599 GTB equipped with the new HGTE package will lap Fiorano precisely 0.6 second faster, an improvement of less than one percent. But other than their invoice being larger, we suspect most buyers will struggle to tell the difference.

In a bizarre bit of post-Esperanto multilingual naming, HGTE stands for Handling Gran Turismo Evoluzione. Ferrari is keen to stress that this is not a hardcore, Scuderia-style makeover.

It's certainly a lot cheaper than the jump from F430 to Scuderia, and the 599's sublime, Enzo-derived, 612bhp F140C V12 is left well alone; it hardly needs more power. Instead, the HGTE package brings tweaks to suspension, gearbox and trim, and is aimed at sharpening the 599 GTB's handling without compromising its grand-touring abilities.

So what do you get? The HGTE rides 10mm lower and the springs are stiffer, by 17 percent at the front and 15 at the back. It runs half a degree more camber and the rear anti-roll bar is 1.5mm thicker. The SCM magneto rheological damping system has been reprogrammed to cut roll and pitch. The F1 Superfast six-speed paddle shift now changes gear in 85 milliseconds rather than 100.

It will downshift automatically when you select the ‘sport' or ‘race' set-up on the steering wheel-mounted manettino, and it will perform multiple downshifts if you hang onto the left paddle. And the exhaust note has been retuned for a little more volume and aggression.

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