[F80] Chris Harris on Cars | Ferrari F80 Driven on Road and Track

Chris Harris on Cars | Ferrari F80 Driven on Road and Track

 

Brilliant review. As sceptical as I was about the styling it does appear much better looking when moving the in still pictures. Hugely fast and could it be said perhaps more of a track orientated car than the La Ferrari? Perhaps this is the profound difference here.

 

I think he likes it!

 

I said it before... I love it.

I think Ferraris on the right track.

I like that Ferrari said power is no longer the THING. and they developed a chassis.

I have been saying they should build a car that feels great and gives a good user experience. I'm just glad they are doing something other than focusing on power.


It's funny. Top gears review SUCKED. And they weren't impressed. Their guy couldn't drive and it showed.

Then you watch Chris Harris and he is all sorts of crossed up and the car looks amazing.


I'll tell you what the car looks REALLY fast out of corners.


The laferrari was a GT car. This one... This one they made more as the true successor to say the f40 or the f50.

I like it. I'm glad they didn't build a luxury item.

 

That is unfair to the LaFerrari. It was just the pinnacle of the technology and performance 10 years ago. If anything it was dubbed the "1000 HP 458 Speciale". The F80 is just the contemporary pinnacle.

 

I get what you are saying and me calling it a GT car is a little harsh.

However I disagree that the laferrari was the Pinnacle of tech and performance at the time.

It's focus was NOT on lap time. It lacked any serious aero and had zero cutting edge development or tech when it came to suspension. You can simply look at the rivals at the time and they were more track focused numbers driven cars.

Ferrari forbid lots of comparison and instrumented testing and heads up comparos. Those did happen but they were often private custom cars and not factory supported.

The laferrari was not meant to be a track monster.


This f80 on the other hand is track focused and performance oriented.

 

Ferrari proudly declared its Fiorano lap time as a road car record back then and 500 plus kgs of downforce was hardly an insignificant number.

 

And it was slower around a track than a p1 and 918 most of the time. It had slower acceleration. It just wasnt performance focused. It's an insanely good car. Just wasn't focused nearly as much on lap times.

 

Harris said that F80 looks like Diablo GT, but to be fair Lambo looks better

 

since this really is a lemans car for the street, ferrari needs to put it on tracks and set some records.

 

Both are flying wedges with Lambo being a cleaner wedge.

 

The LaFerrari was quicker than the P1 and the 918 on a straight line. It was marginally slower around a track, due to its tyres (it was on P Zero Corsa, whereas the the P1 was on Trofer R and the 918 on Cup 2 tyres). On equal tyres it was easily the quickest of the three (the difference that semi-slicks make is large).

Here is the average performance based on numerous tests: https://zeperfs.com/en/duel4525-4524.htm

 

I can't remember who did it. It may have been top great that ran the cars all on the same tire and it was the slowest

There are many many times where the laferrari was the slowest on the track.

Again I'm not saying it's slow...

It just literally did not feature a track oriented set up and was more about comfort than say... The Enzo. They dialed the car back from a race car...

The f80 is as much track car as they can get away with.

 

One or two tests are statistically insignificant. The aggregator on the other hand takes the result from multiple tests and provides the average performance.

It was much more focused than the Enzo and a lot quicker round a track too.

The F80 is next level focused!

 

I wonder how many F80 owners are going to track it vs displaying it in their garage?

 

Weren't they all within a second? That would make it very track and driver dependent

Looking at Harris's (and Ben Collins) review, the fact it was actually a really good road car with the bonkers track performance is what made it stand out vs anything else. Looking at Valkyrie and amg one reviews and the whole kind of ridiculous processes they need just to get going along with how ill suited to road use they are makes this thing look way more appealing.

 

most bought it as an investment
Most cars will be sold off to buyers in the Far East that could not get one and pay a 1-2-3M premium

 

A second apart on the same day with the same driver on the same track with many times the same tires is an eternity.

Not to you or in practical terms.

Look I would never want to own a p1 nor a 918. And I love the laf looks and drivability.

Don't confuse my statements of it not being track focused with not capable on the track or not fast or not incredible etc...

All I am saying is..m the laf wasn't track focused and was concentrated on performance and comfort.

The f80 leans far more track focused... And pushes the race car tech envelope further.


To help illustrate this... The laferrari was a car they built based around really nothing other than road cars.

The f80 used the leman winning 499 as a kick off point.

They are both fantastic. But there is a difference between a running shoe and a sprinters track shoe.

 

The LaFerrari was the demonstration of Ferrari's most advanced technology 12 years ago. A rampant V12, supplemented by a KERS system, as found in Formula 1. Not sure what they could have done better back then. The McLaren P1 had an active suspension (which was illegal for road use in its sportiest setting) but other than than that it had nothing more to offer over the Ferrari and overall it was not quicker. I agree that the F80 is a much more advanced machine, but that is just down to the advancement of technology. The LaFerrari produces more than 500 kg of downforce, which was an amazing number back in the day. The F80 took this to the next level, with more than a tonne! The insinuation that the LF was soft versus its contemporary rivals, or its predecessors, is absurd.

 

Well it's a good thing no one said it was soft. (Having driven all 3 and buying a laf I would never say that)

You are implying that.

You are not comprehending what I am trying to say. It could be my fault...

So for the very last time... I am saying the la Ferrari was designed with some attention to being a good GT car. The f80 is focused on driving experience on the track.

It's that simple.

And yes Ferrari could have have built a more track performance oriented car built for lap times. They could have done almost the same exact aero (featuring a large moveable wing) they could have done more sophisticated dampers. They could have done turbos for more ultimate power.

But...

Ultimate lap time is not what that car was about.

Where as this car... The f80... Is absolutely unequivocally MORE focused on the laptimes and track experience. the designers were less concerned with road ability and comfort than the laf.

That's all I am saying.


The laf was born from a road car


The f80 was born from a winning leman car.

That being said the laf is what I prefer. I would always take a gt3 over an rs... (Unless it was a 997)

I think track day specials have gone too far

 

Except what makes the f80 so compelling is that it is a really good road car. Every review I've watched so far commends it for being a truly excellent road car, unlike the other cars that are fast on track. It's clear they wanted this thing to be lighting fast on track but also clear that wasn't the only thing.

 

Chris Harris, Ben Collins, and Top gear reviews were all great. F80 is a technical force and shows the high capability of this car as a track weapon. IMO they had to bring this level of capability so that it would suffice for having a v6, poor sound. But from the reviews the car seems special and worthy of the Ferrari hypercar lineage, even with this drivetrain. I was surprised that after the reviews, there is very little talk of the non existent sound mainly from outside. Valkery and AmG one, I would say definitely more unique and more a "experience". But sacrifices practicality. I think Ferrari has set a high standard for W1 and Valhalla.

 

Ben Collins video was better with wonderful praise for the F80.

 

Per most of the reviewers, the sound is good in the car so a non issue if you own it vs. watching somebody else drive the car. It also sounds like it was intentional by Ferrari to, again, make it actually usable on the road.

 

The later versions of the Diablo (Roadster, 6.0, GT, SV) are very beautiful cars, and seriously undervalued.