First Experiences with the Cali

If you've been reading this forum for a bit, I've been lurking and asking questions about different California's as I've been off/on the market for the past year or so. A few weeks ago, I purchased a 2010 California (Rosso Corsa/Tan) from Miller Motors and this past weekend was my first true weekend with the car.

I put on about 120 miles as my non-daily and it was absolutely awesome.

It was hard for me to pull the plug on my previous car- a 2009 Porsche 997.2 Turbo as it drove like butter. There was nothing wrong with the car. Was understated and a beast. But for whatever reason, I wanted to purchase a Ferrari California so I traded in the Porsche (couldn't convince wife to have two cars).

A few things:

1. The Porsche sits lower (I think) than the Cali. I don't feel as "close to the road" as I did with the Porsche but that's OK. I felt like I was playing a video game in the Porsche whereas the Cali is a different experience.

2. The car gets "looks" and 'nods" from people walking by. We were in Greenwich, CT this weekend and people stopped to check the car out. I didn't expect the Cali to get as many looks - I thought it would be more for the 458 and more sporty looking F-cars.

3. The exhaust is a symphony. It's much, much louder than my stock Porsche Turbo upon start but it's a gorgeous sound. I don't mind whatsoever and love it. Even my wife commented.

4. My kids loved sitting in the back (two kids under 7 years of age) but the back is much smaller than the Porsche Turbo. I wanted a Ferrari so the back didn't stop me from getting the car... but I would have thought there'd be a tad more room there. Per another post on this forum, I'm looking for booster seats for the kids that fit the back; ours current do not.

5. The instrumentation cluster at night is beautiful. The way it lights up and shows all the pertinent information is gorgeous. My wife and I had a date night and took the car - the Cali's instruments were lit up as it was evening and I commented out loud how it looked. Wife shrugged

6. The kids had named the porsche "sally" from the Disney "cars" movie (sally was a porsche fyi). The kids were upset that Sally was "going away" so I told them we were buying "mcqueen." This worked magically. And it's true. If you've got young kids, you know what I'm talking about. Maybe this can work for you to. For all others, don't worry about this.

7. Still getting comfortable with parking the Cali in public spots. Not completely mentally there yet but on my way.

Was a fantastic "weather" weekend in the New York area so was able to enjoy the car. Not too many more before the winter...

 

Good question. Let me preface this by saying that I'm a car enthusiast but don't know all the intricacies technology or engineering wise between cars. But I'm a fast learner. So, this is my take between the two cars so far.

1. I live in an affluent county in New York and the Porsche blends in. Yes it's a Turbo and most Porsche's on the street are Carrera's or Carrera 4's... but it blends right in. The only people that would come up to me are either guys "in the know" or when my top was down (cab), kids who thought the car looked really cool.

With the Ferrari, so far, I can tell it won't be the same. The Ferrari stands out.

2. I feel like the Porsche hugs the road a bit better. I haven't looked at total weight of car and compared them... but I feel like the Porsche is "one with the road." The Ferrari Cali IMHO rides ontop of it. There's an "S" turn around my home and I loved taking the hard curves in the Porsche. The Ferrari does it - but not as graceful (or maybe I'm not comfortable yet).

3. I personally like the instrument cluster/electronics better in the California. The Porsche is not digital, at least in the 997.2 version I had. Note, the GPS system/head unit in the Ferrari is the same that's in my wife's Jeep Grand Cherokee... sorta weird. I'm fine with it. Just my car is 3x the price of hers.

4. Back seats - as mentioned earlier in the post... Porsche are bigger and better for my kids. Many people don't buy these cars for that... but it's a consideration for me. I was looking also at the 612 and the FF. Maybe an FF in the future.

5. I have a feeling that the Turbo is going to be cheaper/easier to service. I was servicing the Porsche up at Rennwerke (Cheech!) in Elmsford, NY and they were absolutely fantastic. I've got a CPO on my California but I've been told to consider P1 Motorsports in Stamford as many of you guys/gals have recommended them.

6. I think I'm going to like the hard-top better than the soft-top. The soft-top can show bend/fold marks over time. Hard tops...well, no.

7. All in-all - i absolutely loved the Porsche. There was zero wrong with it, IMHO.

Hope this answers your questions.

 

What Kenny said.