Took delivery of the 612 today

Smooth:

At very slow speeds, the engine still manages to just purr. 1st gear at 5 mph, the clutch is fully engaged, the revs are just over 1000, and the car moves along like it’s flowing on water. Press the go-pedal, and it just goes. At 55 (my usual Hwy cruising speed ) in sixth gear, it’s purring along below 2K rpm. Press the go-pedal firmly, and it just picks up and moves. Next thing you know, you’ve doubled your speed.

With the suspension set to normal mode (as opposed to Sport mode) the ride is smoother than my BMW 745. Much like the 745, around a corner, the car stays flat, irrespective of speed or cornering forces.

The seats are so comfortable!! Oh my God. I could sit in this car for a full day of driving and not feel it. I can move the seat too far back, and could easily fit a helmet on without compromising my seating position. For comparison, in the 456 I always rubbed the roof with the top of my head unless I radically reclined the sat back. With the seat in the full back position, my knees were still very close to the dash, and I could not easily reach the steering wheel. With helmet on, my driving position was ludicrous: knees into the steering wheel, and forget about heel-toe.

Cruising along at nearly any speed so far is just so effortless. If all cars were even half as good at speed as this, national speed laws would be a joke. Oh wait, they are a joke. Anyway, I might need to visit some of those lonely AZ/UT/WY/NM/TX highways soon.

Responsive:

I gotta share some of my favorite quotes from the users manual:

“If the accelerator pedal is pressed very quickly fully down, with the CST cut out and the “SPORT” button activated, there will be a “performance” start-off, which will involve marked skidding of the driving wheels even under good grip conditions.

Now, you just know I’m going to check that out soon.
Also liked this one:

“Gear-shifting will be faster if the request is made with the accelerator pedal pressed all the way down and with the engine running at over 5500 rpm.”

Done it, and they’re right! What they didn’t mention is that this is also about the time you should be thinking to hit the shift paddle, cuz redline is nanoseconds away in at least the first three gears (still need to explore the other three gears).

And this quote is just plain taunting me:

“Gear shifting will be “faster” if requested with the accelerator pedal pressed completely down and at over approximately 7000 rpm. Under these conditions, even on dry roadways, the driving wheels could start to skid (particularly in low gears).”

Now they’re really challenging me. If I start thinking of shifting under fully depressed throttle pedal situation at say 5500 rpm, I’m not going to make it before it hits the rev limiter at somewhere over 7500 rpm. I have a new mission in life: consistently shifting at somewhere between 7000 and 7500 rpm. Just going to take more time behind the wheel to develop a better sense of communication without conscious thought.

At first I felt the steering was way too twitchy and insensitive. Of course, part of that was a result of taking my first drive in the car going across the floating bridge in gale force cross winds. After only a day, I’ve easily adapted to the “feel” of the steering, and find it very comfortable, precise, and easy to judge. I’m anxious to start really pressing it into the turns. Track day here we come!

Braking is, well, have I used AWESOME in the last two sentences? I haven’t even begun to approach their limit, but under moderate braking the feeling is so controlled, it’s just wonderful.

Enough rambling for now. Suffice to say, The Grin is firmly in place, and not likely to go away soon.

 

Yes, this is the same car.

 

Here's one Roberto shot of the interior for me. I'll get some of my own shots soon.

 

No tubis for me. I'm not a fan of the aftermarket exhaust systems. I really like the sound of the car as is. I have a hotrod with glass packs behind a pumped-up small block chevy for making raucus noise.

 

Yeah, we had quite the collection out there today: our 612, a friend's 575 with the same paint color, a black 456, a silver 360, and an absolutely gorgeous blue Maserati QP. We had stoppped in to just take care of some last little details, like picking up the QP before heading home, and ended up hanging out and gabbing for an hour and a half.

 

It's the third generation proprietary diagnostic computer used by Ferrari dealers to maintain the cars. The SD3 is new for the MAserati QP and the 612.