California T vs. California 30 Review

Owning a California 30, I was curious to see how the new California T would compare, so after driving it and speaking to many of the engineers from Ferrari, the following is my comparison review.

The new car is clearly a revision from the 30. The body had a few revisions but not enough for the general public to immediately tell the difference.

The inside has been upgraded. The new standard seats are very good and the entertainment system has been upgraded albeit not yet with Car Play.

The F12 "bridge" has been added as well as a new gauge between air vents.

Steering is much improved with much more feel and less travel movement.

The suspension is soft in comfort and aggressive in sport. I played with the magnaride button and honestly couldn't feel a material difference like I find in the 458 series. Unless you plan on tracking the car I find no need for it.

Power is now at 458 levels and you can feel it.....except for the torque. I was unable to get it into 7th gear which is the only place where all of the torque is available.

The car is no doubt faster but doesn't always feel more powerful. This is especially apparent in 1st gear off the line where the turbos are unable to play a role.

1st gear felt much more tame than the 30, however once you got going the new power became evident.

Overall the toal package has improved, except for in one area. THE SOUND.

I could not believe how quite the new car is. Especially when starting the car, gone is the traditional Ferrari sense of sensory enjoyment. This is where the 30 is clearly superior. Even when driving you can barely hear the car and I drove it most of the time at 8/10 or 9/10.

I tried everything to get it to crackle and pop but the symphony was simply not there. Only at above 5k rpm did it come alive but with the lower redline meant only 2,500 rpm of enjoyment.

The LED's are a complete waste on the steering wheel so save your money.

Even with the traction control off the car has been transformed into a much more tame animal.

Yes, the car can now officially be used as a daily driver and my GF fell in love with it and liked it more than my 30 and more than her Maserati convertible.

Speaking with the engineers confirmed that the car is targeting a broader market and is MUCH lower in sound. Clearly this is where the turbo set up is detrimental.

Most of the older drivers loved that it was quiter and more tame and easier to drive.

To make a comparison I would say it is close to an AMG Mercedes but without the grunt upon start up.

For me I was really surprised at not the quality of the sound but rather the volume. As I said, once you get on it the sound is good but not Ferrari good......and definitely not loud enough for people to know you are driving by in a Ferrari.

So will I be buying one? Yes because I buy every new Ferrari, but no question I will be looking to add a cat bypass pipe or race cats because I need it to at least be louder if the Ferrari symphony is no longer present.

-On a side note I got to experience Car Play and wasn't blown away. Yes it adds your iPhone functionality but I don't see many people using text messaging via the screen when driving. Again I would save my money until at least version 3 comes out.

 

Thanks for the great write up. I am curious on you current Cali 30 if you have the HS package or magnaride. And if your GF loves the new Cali more, I am sure it won't be long before you will be posting the specs on your new Cali T. I will be looking for your new pics. Thanks again for sharing

 

What I would add is that the new car's body is also much stiffer than the Cali30's. This was confirmed by my FNA co-driver when I made the comment during my drive.

On the matter of the Magneride, I'm one of the most sensitive drivers you will come across. I feel everything. If the stiffer dampers of your Cali30 aren't obvious enough for you to detect what you can do is to, on a safe stretch of road, make an "obstacle avoidance maneuver" as fast as you feel comfortable in COMFORT mode and then try the same maneuver again in SPORT mode. An "obstacle avoidance maneuver" is essentially a really fast "zig-zag". It can be as simple as a very fast lane-change.

With the Magneride on soft in COMFORT mode, the car will get a bit untidy as you perform the "zag" portion of the zig-zag, a bit slower to respond and sliding away slightly (if you're going fast enough). With Magneride on firm in SPORT mode, the zag will happen without any drama, be tidy and happen instantaneously. The downside is that the chassis will crash a bit going over rough country roads.

I would get the Magneride option if retaining the Ferrari feel is important to you.

 

do you stay in sport mode all of the time ?

 

When I go for my fun rides I will stay in SPORT mode most of the time, only dropping to COMFORT mode to test the car's response to interesting road conditions. I generally do those drives as much to explore the car's behaviour as I do to enjoy the drive and the scenery.

When I drive the car in town I spend most of the time in COMFORT mode to avoid being noticed, only going to SPORT mode to maximize the fun when interesting sections of road present themselves.

 

The 458 has a bigger engine, higher engine rev limit, is RMR layout and lighter than the Cali. However, if you examine the road test timing at speeds at or below 40 mph (64 kph), the Cali/Cali30 is as fast as and sometimes faster than the 458. Braking from speed in the Cali is also better than in the 458.

Of course, the 458 performs much better in highspeed cornering and with sheer speed but then you can't do any of that driving around public roads. So IMO, the performance advantages of a 458 over a Cali depends on where and how you do your driving.

 

When I drive IN TOWN I drive in COMFORT mode to AVOID BEING NOTICED.

that made me rotfl irl man, thanks

 

Well, my girlfriend has a habit of telling me "…it's TOO MUCH, Bello!"

 

My wife tells me to shut off the "noise machine" when i drive thru in sport

 

I think most of your feelings about Cali T are good, except these :

1st gear felt much more tame than the 30, however once you got going the new power became evident. - The turbo hasn't kicked in yet. Let's hope there is no sudden-push-sensation when the turbo kicks in.

Overall the total package has improved, except for in one area. THE SOUND. - And this is one of the most important, part of the Ferrari's history and trademark.

I could not believe how quite the new car is. Especially when starting the car, gone is the traditional Ferrari sense of sensory enjoyment. This is where the 30 is clearly superior. Even when driving you can barely hear the car and I drove it most of the time at 8/10 or 9/10.
- Reminds me of the complain about 2014's F1 : If you sit in the grand stand area, you could barely hear the car coming from last corner before straight. This is so lame.

I tried everything to get it to crackle and pop but the symphony was simply not there. Only at above 5k rpm did it come alive but with the lower redline meant only 2,500 rpm of enjoyment. - This means there will be no sound on public road because you can't drive up to 6,000 rpm on public road with speed limits.

Yes, the car can now officially be used as a daily driver and my GF fell in love with it and liked it more than my 30 and more than her Maserati convertible. - Woman's opinion about car is like man's opinion about hand bag. I think every hand bag looks the same and plastic bag is better.

Most of the older drivers loved that it was quiter and more tame and easier to drive.
- Must be very old drivers (seniors).

To make a comparison I would say it is close to an AMG Mercedes but without the grunt upon start up.
- NA AMG is one of the best sound out there (Zonda 760), but turbocharged AMG is one of the worst sound out there. I think this is close to turbocharged AMG now.

For me I was really surprised at not the quality of the sound but rather the volume. As I said, once you get on it the sound is good but not Ferrari good......and definitely not loud enough for people to know you are driving by in a Ferrari.
- The 458's successor will have a problem with sound quality, because current 458 is being famous of the screaming sound. With vacuum cleaner, you just can't scream.

 

I think that's right. As a case in point I just did a stint in a 991 Turbo. I think it has a nice sound for a Porsche but it seemed no louder at full boil approaching the 7000 RPM redline than it did at lower speeds. And that kind of makes sense: as the turbo spools up it takes more and more energy out of the exhaust less energy goes into the sound.

 

My pleasure.

I do NOT have HS or Magnaride on my 30.

To me the California is not an ultra sports car so I don't see the need and feel it is just a Ferrari marketing ploy.

 

Yes. The ride is soft enough for me so unless I am driving with my GF comfort mode really has no point.

 

Regardless of mode, with the new T I seriously doubt anyone will ever hear you unless you are approaching redline....

 

I'll just say this: the sound out of two different prototype cars was different. One was noticeably louder than the other. I believe they will dial this in and make the sound better= louder.

 

Interesting chats,
Looking for some advice on getting my first Ferrari, live near the coast so definitely California. Lot's of California on the market, should I buy? Is the Cali T significantly/noticeably better or will the California NA do the trick to get my first Ferrari fix?

Any input and/or suggestion would be greatly appreciated.

Tks/RC

 

Had both new. If you have the funds, the T is worth the stretch IMO. Better reliability and quality control (in my experience), much stronger acceleration, better everyday driveablity, somewhat better handling. Only trade-off is the sound is not as sweet.

 

This car is plenty fast in first gear and it is only boost that keeps it from having greater torque in first gear. My Porsche had more power and too much torque in first gear, Ferrari has done a good job with this car. My F10 M5 had awful wheel slip which I don't notice nearly as much with this car. I haven't gone out to the county road to run some quarter tests with the Vbox yet but I plan to soon.

If you get the HS package, the car sounds much better than the stock T. My neighbor starts his 488 behind me and it's no louder than my Cali T HS. As to the need for the LEDs, I think they are quite helpful.

 

Agreed the HS package really makes the car very sporty in nature. The sound is very nice and at times can even be so loud I can barely take a phone call. One key thing to mention is the suspension and transmission. With the HS pack combined with the utility of Cali, I cant see myself wanting a 488 Spider as much. This car ticks all our boxes.

Sent from my HTC 10 using Tapatalk

 

I have several race cars and track them often.

Mag ride, exhaust sound, etc, mean very little to a driver.

I will take a bare bones car that provides feedback to the seat and wheel any day of the week.

But running to the grocery store is a different environment completely.

 

I know, right? I was sitting in the 488 the other day in the showroom just to check the feel again and now that I am driving the Cali T, I noticed that the 488 moves your legs closer together. I mentioned that to the salesman and he said, yep, it's the wheel positioning that causes that. Or at least I think that's the reason I remember him giving.

OK, I am not sure anyone here is going to track their Cali T. We also don't just use them to go to the grocery store. I am sure when you get yours, you will see why you made a good choice.