This is the new California: The California T.

The car does not suit the chrome grille.

 

Thanks for posting. Interesting comment re the steering. I've heard the same things about the California 30 with HS package. Probably the same gear used on the T.

 

Agreed! I was poking more at Ferrari's YouTube videos that state zero turbo lag. The Cali is not intended to be raw.

 

I will await any judgement of the car until more publications release their reviews.

 

Quieter. the Cali was already too quiet for my taste.

but then I put Tubis on my F355 amd 360.

 

The California is quieter, when driven gently in AUTO mode. IMO, most people do not really know how to drive the car for effect. I was the same way.

All you have to do is drive in MANUAL mode and watch the tach. In urban driving, you stay in 1st, 2nd or at most 3rd gear, and always gear down very fast when braking to a stop. On the highway, keep the tach between 4,000 and 7,000 RPM.

The car will be obnoxiously loud.

 

Mm, the reviews that are released until now are less positive than expected...

Ferrari California T (turbo) 2014 review | Auto Express

 

This one seemed very positive to me? It sounds to me like the California T will do exactly what its customers are looking for... a comfortable GT car that still evokes emotion and makes driving an "event" but isn't a hardcore driving machine.

 

What were you expecting then?

 

5 stars . I mean their road cars are top of the game at the moment...

 

They changed the nose but did nothing about the Oprah ass on this thing ?!?!

 

I wonder if the magnaride, which would affect the steering and suspension is not the right add on for the Cali T, which probably has improved both and given its a GT, may make it to squirly?

 

Hardly the most informative source, but this youtube video states the Cali T is $200K...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zW7J6DpobXk

 

I doubt it's the Magneride. If anything it would make the car more controllable, as the damping is interactive and improved.

Most likely the steering rack and ratios chosen for it. Those parameters make a big difference. To make a car respond more quickly to inputs, you can make the ratios quicker. To reduce the number of turns lock to lock when taking very tight turns, or to make a U turn, you can vary the ratios so that you need fewer degrees of the turn of the steering wheel to get more steering input at the wheels.

But if you make the ratios too quick, and non-linear, you can find the car too nervous, especially when trying to keep it straight on a freeway. I'm not saying that's the case with the new T, since of course I've not driven one. But you can get a feel for what the writer is talking about by setting your computer's mouse to be ultra-sensitive, and then trying to point to and click on specific words in the text of document.

Some who have driven the California 30 with the Handling Speciale package have said similar things, but just as many others find it just right.

Mercedes has for a long time had a somewhat different philosophy. Because their cars traditionally have been optimized for autobahn driving, they make the steering slower than most in the middle, so that the car feels more stable going down the highway straight, but quicken the ratios towards the extremes so that you're not cranking the wheel several turns to make a U turn on a narrow city street. If you make the transition between the slower and quicker ratios too abrupt or too non-linear, it can make the car difficult to drive smoothly and well on a track or winding back road.

 

Ferrari California T first drive Review | Autocar

 

I agree, I was hoping and thinking they were going to knock it out of the park with the T. Yes I will drive it shortly before a final decision, but would I come back after the F12? From what I was hoping very possibly yes, from what I have read very positively no. Seems a pity they don't release all the torque throughout the range and keep it back until 7th.

 

Autocar says the Cali T is around 150,000 pounds. Was the outgoing Cali 30 around 150,000 pounds as well? That's 250,000 USD. Just trying to see if we can see what the base price for US is?

 

Not really the same "kind" of car, though, right? Obviously the F12 is the flagship... the only thing the Cali T has over the F12 is the retractable hardtop and CarPlay.

 

Took these screenshots from my iPad Air via the Official Ferrari Magazine app. Enjoy (and don't forget to zoom in to read, haha).
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5 stars is when the car is the dream car of the test driver… who usually prefers a sportscar from Ferrari, not a GT daily driver. So if you are shopping by the number of stars you will end up with the hardcore models, if that's your preference.

Journalists like to sound authoritative and their critics are the hardcore drivers so their reviews tend to cater to the hardcore. When I read reviews I look for empirical details amidst the fluff and try to understand what the details actually mean. Only the details are relevant. The rest is fluff.

 

Time will tell about the design of the old vs. the new.

The old Cali has some uniqueness already baked in. The normally aspirated V-8 and the vertical exhausts probably won't be something found in future models.

 

A retractable hardtop is a performance compromise in return for versatility and cost control. It adds a huge amount of weight and affects the chassis/balance. Price is kept under control by using an existing Webasto design.

To make an F12 with the same versatility without sacrificing performance would require special materials, fabrication, a huge price tag and it likely won't look the same as the coupe.

 

about exhaust sound:
Well the variety of sound effects isn't as wide as Ferrari's NA V8's, but it has a fruity and musical quality. And the fact it's quieter isn't at all a bad thing in what's supposed to be an everyday GT car. It does a bit of a cackle on gearshifts in sport mode. But in the end I wanted more vocals when I was really going for it.

 

SAW THE CAR LAST NIGHT IN MIAMI AT ITS UNVEILING ON SOUTH BEACH BY FERRARI NORTH AMERICA. ITS "PRETTIER" THAN THE CURRENT MODEL. A BIT MORE CHICKS CAR THAN CURRENT MODEL BUT ALSO A LOT MORE POWERFUL. SO THERE IS A BEAST UNDER THAT BEAUTY. THE COSMETIC IMPROVEMENTS ARE A MIXED BAG. SOME I LIKE AND OTHERS MAKE IT SEEK A LITTLE MORE FEMININE. HATE TO SAY THAT BECAUSE I HAVE A DEPOSIT ON IT