This is the new California: The California T.

I'm told final exhaust tuning wasn't yet completed when the test cars were released, so there are no videos or sound clips that show the full range. I think we should reserve judgment on the sound until actual production cars get to market and we hear the full rev range under acceleration load.

 

I'm so hoping they get their exhaust tuning right.

I currently have a 2013 Maserati Granturismo Sport that I'm planning to trade in for the California T this December, and the 2 things I'll miss will be the large rear seats and the INSANELY AMAZING exhaust note.

I really hope the California T gets a nice tuned high pitch sound!

 

If Formula 1 can't make the cars sound good why would the road cars be any different?

 

I agree on reserving judgement, but why would they have exhaust clips up on their website if it's not finalized yet?

 

who told you this?

 

Dealer.

 

Still, the Autocar presenter has literally no personality nor is he enthusiastic. It's the first Turbo Ferrari in years and he drives it like a Kia. Will await for future reviews.

 

I remember me; the biggest disadvantage of the Cali was its inappropriate power to weight ratio, too massive - not enough torque. The overall picture wasn't consistent, the weak high-revving engine didn't fit with the GT-character of the Cali.

Now Ferrari made a big big BIG improvement in this relevance. But some people aren't happy, no comments about that, on the contrary, they gossip negative about something they have never heard...

 

Some people expect a "lifestyle feature review" rather than a regular review. The former distinguishes itself by being presented by pompous, charismatic (often sales) persons, and often has zero informative value. The latter by being informative and to the point about the qualities of the product.

If you want a lifestyle feature review, Matt Prior is not your guy.

 

For those interested in Carplay, according to FNA personnel at the Miami launch it will not come in the early release cars but you will be able to retrofit it later.

 

That sucks, but at least you can retrofit. A dealer up north told me it would be available, but they didn't specifically state at launch.

 

Actually, you're quite wrong.

Journalists test cars for a living. They test all sorts of vehicles and have to entertain their readers/viewers while doing so. What matters to their employers is that people enjoy and look forward to their articles …and advertisers keep advertising. If journalists can only entertain when they are in the mood, they wouldn't be considered professional.

If journalists feel a car is a barge, they can always say something like "if vanilla is your only flavour and you constantly worry about your hair you will be orgasmic over the new car". And if they're better at demonstrating than wordplay then why not make their point by spending the bulk of the test drive in a traffic jam, waxing ecstatic over all the mundane non-mobile aspects of the car? Professionals perform regardless of the conditions at the work place/car or if they're having a bad day.

If readers feel your writing is lifeless, it's your writing that's lifeless.

It's an auto industry new car review, not a sales pitch. As a professional journalist, you want to be entertaining, even if you need to criticize. This is where TG and EVO do a much better job.

 

The turbo motor really doesn't sound nice at all.

 

The review focus on the shortcommings of the pre facelift car (soft chassis, peaky engine for a heavy car). He then explains how Ferrari has adressed these issues. I am sorry if you are not entertained, but to those of us that are thinking of buying the car, his review has been the most informative and to the point.

 

Seems that the engine sound tuning is not yet finished on the press models. However quite some tuning is still deemed necessary before having the Ferrari engine tone.

 

why they need so much time to build exchaust? they didn't know that turbo kill pure sound?

 

Don't think that the engineers weren't up-to-speed about the change of note due to the turbo. Despite all the upgrades, the "old" California seems more attractive to me. Just love this thread: http://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/california/445765-2014-cali-30-arrived-finally.html

 

It sounds like a Formula One car

 

Which would be a compliment prior to the 2014 season

 

LOL. The new F1 cars sound different mainly because they don't rev as high as last year's cars. The turbos are only indirectly responsible for this. Evidently, the turbo engines achieve maximum power at 11,000 rpm instead of the 17-18,000 rpm of past cars (though rules this year permit 15,000 rpm max), and the designers don't let them rev higher because if they did, they would exceed the fuel consumption limits they are given.

 

First we wait and speculate and wait and speculate on the new Cali - what will it look like what will they change etc.

Now we wait and speculate and wait and speculate about what the real, final sound it will make!

 

I am wondering about the wheel fitment in 20"

It probably use same offset as the normal California.

It looks like the chassis has not been changed.

any idea?? in offset??

 

Actually, I believe the words you have in brackets are yours.

IMO, Prior spent too much time with awkward and tedious discussions about the car's specs and the way the turbo makes torque, without actually demonstrating what he was describing, which I found disappointing. He glossed over an important issue, the way the new drivetrain delivers power in the lower gears and how the "almost zero turbo lag" feels when putting down the power in a daily-drive situation. It was a half-hearted attempt to explain the design parameters of the car and he didn't bothered with any live demonstrations of 2 very important and specific aspects of living with the new car, "natural" response in low gears and cruising+passing in 7th gear.

And then, in the rest of the video he seems to try to come across as a "Ferrarista" with the same old tired refrain that the new car is more like a "traditional Ferrari" which is silly because the older car would decimate most older traditional Ferraris and only refrains from stepping into the territory of other current models because it is in a separate category targeting daily drivers. He seems to abandon any efforts to describe how the factory is evolving this car as a DD and instead makes a feeble attempt to show a power slide which the old car can also do quite handily. People do not buy the California to do power slides. LOL!

What Prior spent during 40% of the video trying to say was that the new car has essentially adopted the more aggressive suspension and steering of the Cali30 HS Pack with the added ability to decouple damper setting from the Manettino setting and then proceeds to dismiss the important benefits of the bumpy road setting. He plainly hasn't considered the car being driven under wet and possibly also cold conditions, something his peers did point out about the HS Pack in the older car.

He does mention the turbo takes 1 second reach full boost, 50% faster than MACs and Pcars; but I didn't find any mention of the peaky engine of the older car that you alluded to. However if you've driven any of the late model Fcars, you should know by now that the fireworks normally start at around 4,000 RPM anyway and the older Cali does fine for its role from 2,000+ RPM (which it doesn't take 1 second to reach). Flat plane engines all need to be revved. If you want low end torque, look for a cross plane NA engine. I have one of those too - it's in a pickup truck.

In short, I think he missed addressing the factory's script - he should have demonstrated more and drop the silly pretentious chit-chat because the car, as he did ironically mention, is directed at newcomers to Fcars.

 

I wonder if 458 successor will sound better than this T

 

Picture from last week:
Image Unavailable, Please Login