FF to F12 - why do I still miss the FF?

Sell the Porsche and add back an FF or go for GTC4? (Gee- it's sure fun to spend other people's money!)

 

If I recall correctly, when you were making this decision my vote was keep the FF and add a 458 or 458 Spider.

No Panamera is satisfying after the FF, and the F12 is great except you can't take 3 or 4 people around in it and you can never use all the power it has unless on the track.

 

I agree with the guys, swap the daily for another FF or if you can afford it, a GTC4. I must admit I really am getting more and more into the look of the FF each time I see one, fantastic car and sooooo capable, the perfect two car garage is no longer a ferrari plus four seat luxury daily (ala Porsche, Range Rover, M5 etc), it's a ferrari plus a further ferrari four wheel drive sports coupe with room for four and a loss of barely tenths a second to sixty!

Along with that comment, might I just say that I drove the diesel Levante (the petrol isn't quite available yet here in the UK, but it's imminent) and I was very very very impressed with the quality and drive, and equipment levels..... if you can't afford and extra FF, or Porsche/Range etc have got boring, I suspect a petrol Levante will be an great option (holding back opinions on depreciation though, as that could be cataclysmic after about four years as usual, but then, such a different option an low take up, may just buck the trend)

 

Yes, this would have been ideal.

 

Oh, I wonder if there are differences between eu and us versions? The one I drive was really well specced, not Range Rover level, but certainly Audi/BMW beating from my experience. I would expect cayenne to beat it though, the base levante diesel is £54000, I think cayennes diesel starts a fair bit higher, could be wrong though. The one I drove listed at £70k or thereabouts, big wheels, blu emozione colour with all the extras, air suspension. I was impressed, and it was a bit different from the usual stuff at that price. I hoped the petrol would be an improvement as I don't enjoy diesels at all

 

There is a reason I called our FF the best car in the world! Like others have said get another DD if you need it and add a GTC4L. You already had the most perfected FF there was (2016) so you need the upgrade !

 

I had the combination FF and 458 Italia and it was great and i loved and still love the FF
and i'm sure this would be the same with the Lusso!

But for me and my family the FF didn't work as a familiy Ferrari or DD,
so i made the step to a more involving fun combination and sell the FF and 458 Italia
and bought a F12 and a 458 Speciale and couldn't be happier!

Yes, sometimes i miss the FF but for this rare moments it wouldn't make sense to
add a FF again.

But these shooting brake Ferraris are wonderfull cars, i love them!

 

Christian, do you have another car with more than 2 seats?

 

Yes, F12 and 458 works well because of a daily driver with 4 seats beside them.

 

Excellent! I use a BMW as my daily- but I keep having a thought of GTC4.... not yet as I drive my kids around and I really do need the 4 doors...

 

I have a Bentley GTC and a Range Rover sport supercharger at the moment, the 458 went when my nerves in my spine shot with the cancer, on the promise to myself that when I get that sorted, I'll be back into a ferrari (suspension just too much for me at the moment, even the Bentley is a struggle and I only last a few miles), but when I smash this, if I were only to have one car, then a late FF or a GTC would likely be at the top of my list - 4 wheel drive capability (let's face it, I only need it sporadically, and for pretty light duty, such as 2/3 snow days and the more common wet days in the UK, and snow of an inch, not measured in feet), plus absolute comfort, space and speed. I've had various four seat ferraris in the past, and they were always supposedly worth nothing compared to the 2 seat stuff which was what everyone wanted. The FF and GTC in my mind changed that, they are true sports cars as well as practical cars, or am I just doing a great selling job on myself for my local dealer to take £300k out of my bank account ? Hehe

 

Everything 458/F12/FF and after is a much better car. You're not lying. Unless you love the screens and better U-turn radius, the rest of the Lusso upgrade features are minor.

 

I went from FF (2013) to F12 (2017).

I miss the FF too, mainly for those occasions when I can't use the F12 as I need the rear seats, plus with autumn/winter coming, the AWD ability.

Your 2016 FF will have had the improved gearbox firmware, infotainment and other tweeks that can't be seen, so the best of the FF breed. Of course it's subjective but looks aside I think the Lusso will be a better car than the FF. I certainly would consider one along side the F12 at some point if I could justify the cost.

 

My Granturismo is going in for service next week and I shall have a Levante as a loan car. It will be interesting to see how it shapes up.

 

I think you will be impressed, it's a nice car

 

gearbox firmware can be updated no? what infotainment tweeks were made to the FF?

 

I spoke to someone at Ferrari about gearbox firmware and he said that bugs can be updated with new firmware for that specific year but if the firmware changes for a later model year it can't be retrospectively applied to an older model year car due to homologation requirements. I jokingly replied that it was probably because Ferrari want to keep selling new cars, not upgrading firmware to older cars but who knows for sure.

2015 FF infotainment was a completely new head unit and brighter, sharper TFT displays either side of the rev counter.

 

my read on that is there is no real difference - just talk. who knows. for all the other models getting the latest firm and software has never been an issue

 

In my experience, If you drive for example a 2013 FF of F12 and then drive a 2016 of each, at low speed, low gears, the gearbox is noticeably smoother around town. The earlier cars get caught out coming to a standstill and changing down too early sometimes with a jerky shift. That doesn't seem to happen in the later cars. Just my personal obersation.

 

They always make running improvements- sometimes because of feedback from engineers and sometimes from client feedback.

 

I spoke to FNA about the gearbox failure risk in mid 2016 and was told "they fixed it" vs. previous models, and that applied at the time to my 2014

 

Nice, yes, great, no. I guess partly it is that this sort of vehicle is just not what I associate with Maserati, any more than I would expect Land Rover to build a great GT. My Granturismo is a Maserati through and through (warts and all). The Levante is just another SUV, albeit quite a nice one (with electronic wizardry / driver aids that make my 2-year old Granturismo seem like something out of the dark ages). Having said that, I enjoyed the 250 or so miles I did in the Levante and would certainly not discourage anyone from considering one. As for me, if I should want an SUV, I would go to my L-R dealer.

 

For the record, when I drive the F12 for a few days I DEFINITELY miss the FF. Im not sure what it is about it. Maybe its more comfortable. Maybe its not as aggressive for daily use. I cant put my finger on it...but im in the same boat.