F12 vs. F430

I'm getting some seat time this afternoon so I hopefully will be better informed. 458's are not a great deal faster than my F430, which admittedly is a bit different than the typical one and around corners, I've not met anyone in any car faster than I am but I've been driving switchbacks for 30+ years.

So you are saying a 740hp F12 is not faster than a 560hp 458? or are you saying the 458 is a better track car, thus faster? I can see that. Depends on the use case scenario and the ability to control power.

 

Not even Ferrari claims those times are possible, for either model in the 0-60 and Ferrari, like any other manufacturer, is likely to give the optimum conditions with their claims (i.e. see Chris Harris on Ferrari).

As far as track times, I outran a 458 in the mountains just two weeks ago in my LX570 because I know how to drive in switchbacks and tight corners. That doesn't mean my LX570 is faster. I'm just a better driver. Track times are only legit if the same driver is used in both cars.

Claiming that the 458 is as fast in a straight line as an F12? Well, I'd like to see video evidence of that. I'm not being snarky, I really would like to see it.

 

The claim that a 458 is as fast as an F12 has little basis in the evidence I've seen, but I'm open to 3Point's evidence.

Here is a rolling race, showing an F12 walking a 458 -

Here is evidence of an F12 walking a 458 in a drag -

 

I finally took a the test drive today. Here are my first impressions:

1. The car is FAST but not so fast that it wasn't firmly planted on the road.
2. The DCT wasn't as smooth as I thought it would be
3. The car is heavy
4. The car was a bit "creaky"
5. The condition of the car is what I would call "rough"

I left feeling better about my manual F430 spider's driving characteristics. If only the F430 had the same power, it would be perfect for me. As of now, I'm sticking with the F430. In the manual configuration, its just more of a driver's car to me, albeit slow compared to the F12.

 

Jim, I could see driving the F12 as a daily driver or as a car to take on a long trip, but not the special occasion, fall or spring weekend drive in the Blue Ridge mountains where the F430 shines.

I suspect that my first impression of the car would change after several days in the car. This particular example was really in rough condition, for a Ferrari. The calipers had been painted white but didn't appear to be powder coated. TPMS sensor was out of calibration. I opened up the flap that covers the tools, several tools were missing and the plastic tray that held the tools had been removed at some point and there were several missing screws. It was a low spec car, it didn't even have the backup camera. The tires needed to be replaced and one of the rear tires had obviously deflated dangerously low. It was as if a dealer bought the car and did 0 reconditioning for sale. Thus, in fairness to the F12, the one I drove may not be a representative example. The first thing I thought after driving it was "this is a faster and higher revving C7".