Air outtakes splitter I Mansory Carbon for Ferrari 488 Siracusa 4XX

Air Outtakes Splitter I — Mansory Carbon for Ferrari 488 Siracusa 4XX

The air-outtake splitter I is a small, deliberately understated carbon detail that lives inside the rear-quarter air vent on each side of the car. Mansory builds the wider Mansory Carbon Fiber Body kit set for Ferrari 488 Siracusa 4XX programme around two splitter geometries — version I for owners who want the fin barely visible from outside the car, and version II for owners who want the duct to read as a multi-vane sculpture. This is the I, the quiet one. Inside the kit it pairs with the carbon outtake housing itself, mounting against the inboard wall of the duct on a pair of bonded brackets. The vane runs full duct height but holds a low angle of attack so that, viewed from the side of the car, it reads as a single dark line bisecting the opening rather than as a separate ornamental piece.

Construction & Materials

The vane is a sandwich, not a solid plate — that is the only way to get a 6 mm finished thickness with 3K twill on both faces and zero print-through. A pair of cosmetic 3K skins is laid over a thin foam core, vacuum-debulked, then autoclave-cured against a polished tool so each face comes out mirror-flat. Trim is done by hand on a bandsaw against a CNC-cut template, and the leading and trailing edges are radiused so they do not chip when a microfibre sweeps over them during a wash.

Mounting hardware is invisible from outside the car. Two stainless-threaded inserts are bonded into the hidden inboard face of the vane during cure, then the vane is screwed onto two carbon brackets that themselves bond to the inner wall of the OEM outtake duct using structural methacrylate adhesive. Nothing is visible from any angle a passer-by can see.

• Outer skins: 3K 2x2 twill prepreg, both faces of the vane — the splitter is visible front and back
• Core: 3 mm closed-cell PMI foam, providing stiffness without weight
• Cure: autoclave 120 °C, 4-bar consolidation, polished tool both sides
• Wall thickness: 6 mm finished sandwich, tapered to 2 mm at the leading and trailing edges
• Weight per vane: ~95–115 g, pair total under 250 g
• Mounting: stainless M5 inserts bonded into the laminate, brackets adhered to OEM duct
• Hardware: A2 stainless flat-head bolts, hidden in the inboard fillet
• Finish: 2K UV-stable clear, gloss as standard, satin matte to order

Design & Visual Function

Unlike the front-bumper splitters elsewhere in the kit, this part does very little aerodynamic work. The OEM rear-quarter outtake pulls hot air out of the engine bay sides at low speed and benefits from a small amount of flow straightening at high speed; a single full-height vane held at a 5–7° angle relative to the duct centreline is enough to bias the exit flow rearward without choking the bay extraction at idle. That low angle is the entire point of version I — it adds a hint of directed flow without the pressure loss a multi-vane geometry would introduce.

The visible function is more important. From the side of the car the rear-quarter outtake is one of the most photographed details on the 488 because it sits exactly at eye level when the car is on display. A single dark carbon line splitting that opening reads as a deliberate piece of jewellery — small, precise, very obviously hand-made. Owners who like the OEM Ferrari language but want to mark out a Siracusa-spec car typically choose I over II for this reason: the fin is enough to register at a glance without overwriting the original Pininfarina sculpting around the vent.

Geometry is set so the vane terminates exactly flush with the trailing lip of the OEM duct opening, never proud and never recessed. That alignment is harder than it looks; the OEM duct itself is moulded plastic with manufacturing tolerance of about ±1.5 mm, so the brackets are designed with slotted holes that allow the installer to dial the trailing edge in by eye before the methacrylate sets.

The reason both faces of the vane are visible-carbon, rather than only the outboard face, is that the rear-quarter glass on the 488 is wide enough that a passenger looking sideways out of the cabin sees the inboard face through the duct opening. A non-cosmetic back face would read as the cheap side of the part the moment a head turned. Symmetric lay-up is the only acceptable answer at this finish level.

Compatibility & Fitment

The splitter pair fits Ferrari 488 GTB coupé and Ferrari 488 Spider, model years 2015–2020, with the 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8. The OEM rear-quarter outtake geometry is shared between coupé and Spider, so the vane drops into either body style without modification. Version I and version II are mutually exclusive — only one geometry can be fitted per car at a time, since both bond to the same inner-duct wall locations. If the car already wears the carbon outtake housing from the same kit, the bonding surfaces are pre-prepped; if it still has the OEM plastic outtake, the duct wall has to be scuffed and primed before the brackets bond. Cars with aftermarket outtake covers from other tuners may not match the bracket geometry — send a photograph of the duct interior before ordering and we will confirm fitment before despatching.

Installation & Reversibility

Fitment takes about an hour per side for a careful installer. The duct interior is masked and scuffed, the bracket bond surface wiped with isopropyl, structural methacrylate is dispensed onto each bracket, the brackets are positioned against an alignment template, then the vane is screwed in dry while the adhesive sets. Cure to handling strength is 30 minutes; full strength after 24 hours. Tools needed are a sanding pad, an isopropyl wipe, a 4 mm hex key for the inserts, and a methacrylate dispenser gun. Reversibility is partial — the vane and brackets unscrew at any time and ship to the next owner, but the bonded brackets remain on the duct wall. If the car is ever returned to OEM specification, the brackets sand off in a workshop visit and a single coat of duct-interior paint hides the residue.

Pairing within the Mansory Ferrari 488 Siracusa programme

Splitter I is bought almost exclusively in the same order as the carbon Air outtakes housing, since the splitter has nothing to mount to without the housing being there or the OEM duct being prepped. It is mutually exclusive with the more aggressive Air outtakes splitter II — pick one geometry, not both. Many builds also add the Rear air outtake grills cover so the carbon language reads continuously across the rear of the car.

Maintenance & Durability

The vane lives partly inside the duct, which means dust and brake-pad residue will collect on the inboard face over time. A microfibre with a mild pH-neutral cleaner clears it in seconds during a normal wash. Avoid pressure-washing directly into the duct — the issue is not the carbon, which is rated for it, but the methacrylate brackets, which can be loaded by a high-pressure jet aimed straight at the bond line. UV exposure inside the duct is minimal so there is no fading mechanism on the inboard face; the outboard face sees ambient sunlight and is protected by the same UV-stable 2K clear used elsewhere in the kit. Expected service life is well beyond ten years of normal road use; track days do not stress the part because the duct sees exit flow rather than impact pressure.

Lead Time & Warranty

Lead time is typically 2–3 weeks from confirmed order to dispatch — faster than the larger aero parts because the autoclave footprint is small. Each pair ships with a 12-month warranty against manufacturing defects, covering laminate voids, delamination, insert pull-out and clearcoat failure. Damage from incorrect installation or chemical attack by aggressive cleaners is not covered.

FAQ

Q: How is splitter I different from splitter II?
A: Version I uses a single vane at a shallow angle for a quiet visual statement. Version II uses multiple vanes at a steeper angle for a more aggressive look. They mount in the same duct and are mutually exclusive — a car can wear one or the other, not both.

Q: Does it fit both 488 GTB and 488 Spider?
A: Yes. The rear-quarter outtake duct is shared between coupé and Spider, so the splitter drops into either body style without modification.

Q: Will the splitter affect cooling or engine-bay airflow?
A: No measurable effect. The 5–7° vane angle is shallow enough that bay extraction at idle is unchanged; at speed the vane biases exit flow rearward without choking the duct.

Q: Can I install it without the carbon outtake housing?
A: Yes, provided the OEM plastic duct interior is scuffed and primed for the methacrylate bond. We recommend ordering the housing in the same shipment so the bonding surfaces are pre-prepped.

Q: Is it visible from inside the cabin?
A: A passenger looking sideways through the rear-quarter glass can see the inboard face of the vane through the duct, which is why both faces are finished in cosmetic 3K twill. There is no "cheap" side.

Pair the splitter with the carbon outtake housing so the duct reads as a single deliberate piece of jewellery rather than a plastic vent with a fin glued in. CTA: WhatsApp +44 7488 818 747 or [email protected].