Drove a TDF today.

Hello, FF/Lusso/F12/812 board. I own a few Ferraris (F512M, gated 575, gated 430) and have driven many more as I am a journalist. Today I had the good fortune to drive the TdF owned by a friend of mine.

What a car. First, my friend drove, at quite serious speeds (He is an experienced racer). That engine, shooting up to the redline, the ride settling down as you go properly fast..a work of art.

I then took the steering wheel. I was obviously more cautious. Having driven the F12 on a number of occasions over quite significant distances and periods of time, the contrast really struck me. The F12 is for me a crazy fast car that doesn’t really feel it. It gains speed in the blink of an eye, without fuss.

The TdF, though..First, there is the steering, which is super hyperactive, but seems better weighted somehow. Then, the fidgety ride. Take a long, sweeping corner fast, on a surface that is a little bumpy and broken, and you really, really have to focus. It is not always as in contact with the road as he would want it to be. Add to that an engine that just shoots up the rev range if you even think about touching the throttle, and steering that is like a games console controller but with extra weight, And I instantly understood why the three friends I have who own these cars say that they are a handful.

But, what a monster, and what fun. I wondered for a while why Ferrari didn’t make its standard V12s more in this direction, But I know why. People would die. It’s a raw, unfiltered, focussed machine that’s also quite big and has front wheels turning in way in front of you, in an instant.

I absolutely loved it. I was quite equivocal about the F12 - very very fast, But for me lacked involvement. The TdF was, amazingly, more involving at low speeds. Normally it’s not like that with the hotted-up versions, which come alive only when you’re about to die.

Anyhow, what a car, and to those here who have one, hats off.

 

That is certainly part of the equation. But I was driving on the road, rather than track, at legal (ahem) speeds. The extra hp over the already crazily powerful F12 would not have made much difference to my impressions, as I wasn't spending much time above, say, 6000 rpm on full throttle...

What really interests me, and felt different to the F12, was the suspension setup and feel. I expected the TdF to be firmer, of course. The steering rack is the same, but the feeling is of a much more hunkered down car, and when you press into a corner, you are at the apex without thinking about it, and without any fight back from the car. After which it is easy to aim yourself, with the aid of the RWS, into the passenger side of the road, or over correct and find yourself on the wrong side of the road. The super wide front tyres (Corsas) must also be part of that.

It's quite hard to describe. It's not just lightning fast cornering like, say, a Pista. It's like driving a wild animal that will do things brilliantly, or disastrously, and the difference between the two is wafer thin.

Then, and this is an observation really for those who like us in the UK have some poor road surfaces, there's the opposite effect. Exiting a roundabout on a road curving away gently to the left, I gave it maybe 60% throttle in third gear, dry warm day, warm tyres. F12 would have just gone where aimed. TdF front and rear wheels pattered on the slightly rough Tarmac, and the car threatened to go straight ahead where the road was curving left. I just kept on aiming left and it caught up with me, but for a bit, neither the front nor the rear wheels were adequately in touch with the road for any of the systems to make a difference.

Now, imagine that, with a not so experienced driver, and a road whose surface then smooths out. You're trying to make it turn in, it's not really doing it, then grip comes back and you're trying too hard and you have massive front tyres (as big as the rears on an F12) zapping you leftwards and rears that are suddenly in full contact with the ground with nearly 800 hp and - zam. You're in the tree on the left of the road.

I would like to say this is not remotely a criticism. Quite the opposite. Cars like the Pista, Speciale, and RS Porsches that I have reviewed, are docile, and frankly, not much fun, at legal speeds. They protect their drivers against their abilities, until they are really extended. But unless I am tracking a car, what I call "legal+" speeds is all any of us have.

The TdF feels like it wants to kill you on a slightly bumpy country road at normal speeds, in the dry. It's a (quite) friendly monster; and when it really wakes up, it really does sound like an F1 car from the 80s. I love that, and my real delight is that it is so unlike the special editions of the V8 Ferraris (maybe aside from the much slower 430 Scud, which while raw is not nearly as hairy) as well as the Porsches and even the Lambos. A 720s is as fast but feels like a computer game by comparison. Too perfect.

Maybe it's just because I love cars that have a slight flaw. And a challenge. I'm in love with it, but it would probably kill me.

 

I was due to spend a week driving the 812 in March. This was delayed by corona, until July. I am interested in the comparison and will post my observations here.

 

So I have now spent some time and distance in the 812. I have to hold back a full review for my magazine, but in short, I think this is an all-time great Ferrari in a way none of the recent V12s have been, and it’s not because it’s (maybe) the last N/A V12. It’s also flawed - inevitably.

The 812 seems to me 85% TdF, with the other 15% being an even greater engine, albeit less memorable noise. It also answers a question I had been asking ever since LdM had his way with 12 cyl Ferraris, namely the sacrifice of fun on the altar of drivability. Since the 550 these cars have all been about preserving the driver and everyday drivability, at the expense of purity joy and rawness. I have reviewed them all and they have all been like tamed beasts.

812 is a beast. It bumps and thumps you around, the steering is sharp and understeer almost gone; it doesn’t dance over surface changes like a TdF and isn’t quite so unhinged, but not far off. Like a TdF that has been through an etiquette class - and some muscle training.

With race seats like mine had, it’s also not remotely a GT. Or a Super GT. Its a supercar. It’s a sharper, more alive car to drive than a Huracan EVO RWD (itself fabulous for the price) or a 720S and more soulful than either. It’s also exhausting in the best way, not a car to eat the miles, more a car to kill the road. Ripsnorting, bumpy, uncompromising, and that engine! Sounds fantastic, Would I fit a louder exhaust? Yes because the sound is the half compromise.

I get that people may not love it and there are quite a few on the used market right now. It’s a monster, and can’t play the polite guest like the F12 or 599. That lower gearing and RWS make it feel so much faster than the already crazy fast F12, and those plus suspension mods make it a lot more fun and involving.

I presumed there would be an extra layer of sophistication and refinement also, like FF going to Lusso, but not really. It’s all about more engineering and, interestingly, more involvement. You really need to know what you’re doing to thrash a 812. Isn’t that what Ferraris should be? Wonderful stuff. Looks great too.

The most exciting V12 production Ferrari since the F512M, and equally likely to kill you. Love it. I’d take one over a TdF, and make sure it wore PS4Ss.

 

You are right of course that the TdF is something else in terms of rawness and roar. It also looks even more fantastic.

Bumpy road mode did help the TdF but English country road surfaces are loose, damp, and changing, I wondered if not being on Corsa tyres might have made a difference. The 812 I had was also on Pirellis but they were made for Ferrari P Zeros not Corsas. Bumpy road mode in the 812 was still pretty bumpy.

If I could afford a TdF I would have one also. That extra 15% over the 812 is the creme de la creme. Still so impressed at the focus of the 812. 488/F8 progression has not been on the same trajectory.

I drove the 812 back to Ferrari N Europe HQ and got back into my gated 430 Spider to drive home. 430 is usually described as raw, it felt soft and cruisey by comparison, kudos again to the 812. I have a Aston Superleggera this week, and the 812 is in a different league dynamically.

 

Sorry, I wasn't clear. I meant to say that the TDF was on the Corsas, but that on bumpy, changing and slightly loose English country roads those might have had added responsibility for making simultaneous changes of surface and direction a bit hairy - the car physically losing contact with the road - which is all part of the fun, but I wondered whether MPS4Ss would have a positive effect or kill the joy.

One extra reflection is on the engine. TDF and 812 make more or less the same power, out of similar engines, but the TDF does so in this itchy, hair-trigger way where you feel every millimetre of your foot adds a couple of breaths to the beast. It feels more tuned, even more sensitive. 812 is still crazily hyper by any other V12 standard, but more civilised and you can feel the extra power is from displacement rather than tuning. However, not sanitised in a way that disappointed me with the other recent production V12s, including my own gated manual 575. Someone at Ferrari decided to let the 812 go a bit wilder. Though not as wild as the TDF.

 

Sadly my TDF drive was relatively short, compared to the long journeys in the 812. It was on interesting roads I know, fortunately, but UK roads are a challenge for any car..Over in Tuscany, the TDF would have been unbelievable.