Ferrari 296 GTB Drive Review: Hybrid Supercar, Worth it or not?

Sunil shows up after a bunch of traveling, opens his phone, and sees a photo that looks straight-up fake: a guy standing between two Ferraris like it is the most normal Tuesday ever. His first reaction is basically, “This is AI.” Then he meets the owner and realizes… no, Pakistan is just occasionally ridiculous in the best way.

Today’s star is the Ferrari 296 GTB. It is a plug-in hybrid Ferrari, and yes, that sentence still sounds like Ferrari is trolling everyone.

What “296” Actually Means

Sunil explains the “296” is not some mystery code. It points to the engine spec: 2.9-liter and 6 cylinders. So this Ferrari is a V6, which is a big mental shift if you grew up thinking Ferrari equals V8 or V12 only.

But Ferrari did not do “less engine, less fun.” They did “less cylinders, more violence.”

Hybrid, but not the boring kind

This thing is a plug-in hybrid with a combined output of 830 horsepower, with the petrol engine around 675 hp, and it can do roughly 25 km on electric-only.

Now, nobody in Pakistan is buying a Ferrari to save fuel. That electric range is more like “silent mode” when you want to crawl through the city without waking up the entire neighborhood, and then the V6 comes in like, “okay, playtime’s over.”

Performance: blink and it is gone

They talk about 0 to 100 kmh in 2.7 to 2.9 seconds, with 2.7 being the proven number.

Sunil’s point is actually solid: back in the day, brands would claim heroic numbers and deliver slower. With these modern supercars, it is often the opposite. The performance is so dialed that reality sometimes embarrasses the brochure.

Walkaround: carbon fiber season

The car is loaded with carbon bits, and Sunil is loving it. They mention the carbon options alone being over 60,000 pounds worth.

That is the thing about Ferraris: the base car is expensive, and then the options list is basically “how much personality do you want to buy?”

Brakes are ceramic, which is what you want when your car accelerates like it is trying to leave Earth.

Inside: Ferrari’s “Why make it easy?” design philosophy

Sunil hops inside and the cabin immediately does that Ferrari thing: it looks modern and beautiful, but it also makes you work for basic functions. The steering wheel is packed with controls, including stuff you would normally expect on stalks.

The seats are carbon bucket racing seats, super aggressive, super premium, and the kind of seats that visually scream, “this car is not here to be comfortable, it is here to be correct.”

There is also a passenger display, and it is not just a flex. Because Ferrari removed so many physical buttons, the passenger screen can actually help with navigation and media while the driver focuses on not becoming a headline.

The Pakistan angle: the real reason hybrid matters here

Here is the part that makes this review feel local, not just “supercar porn.”

They explain the tax difference they are dealing with in Pakistan:

• Hybrid duty mentioned around 300%
• Petrol duty mentioned around 406%

That gap is huge. It is the reason a “hybrid Ferrari” can make sense in Pakistan, not because someone suddenly became an eco warrior, but because the import math is savage.

They also reference the local pricing context: this 296 GTB 2022 being around PKR 28 crore, and that a petrol version could land notably higher.

Ferrari vs Lamborghini: the badge effect

The conversation lands on a very real point: when people spend this kind of money, they often want the “final boss” badge. Lamborghini is drama and design. Ferrari is a legacy and stamp. In Pakistan, that “stamp” matters a lot in this segment.

Verdict: Is the Hybrid Ferrari Worth It?

In a normal country, you would ask: Does the hybrid system add complexity and dull the fun?

In Pakistan, the real question becomes: Does it help you beat the tax hammer while still giving full Ferrari performance?

And this 296 GTB seems to answer: yes.

You get:

• supercar acceleration
• modern interior tech without losing Ferrari character
• carbon-loaded spec
• and a hybrid system that is not pretending to be “green,” it is here to make the car faster and, ironically, sometimes cheaper to import.

Ferrari being practical is a hilarious sentence, but Pakistan taxes can make even that happen.

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