599 GTO and 458 Speciale: some thoughts.

Disclaimer: if you are hoping to read which one is faster then you are going to be disappointed because for me numbers get trumped by the experience these cars offer.

Five years on its difficult not to keep extolling the virtues of the GTO, the shape is brutal and at the same time beautiful and hasn't in my eyes aged a day. This being a Euro/ROW GTO it has the racing seats which while looking the same as those fitted to the Speciale are oddly much more unyielding.

Hearing the V12 yelp into life never, ever gets boring, that harsh bark, perhaps the only thing I have been around which sounded comparable was a 312 PB when it was started. The GTO on start up is to me barely silenced fury.

In contrast the Speciale fires up rather more sedately, a harsh blare before settling down to a busy idle, the exhaust valves rattle and it does sound like a barely silenced racer but not like the GTO.

Sitting in either of these cars is an event, perhaps more so in the Speciale with the harnesses, does anyone know if these can be retrofitted to the GTO? One feels part of the car, looking behind one can see the carbon plenum chambers and its a very race oriented feeling.

The GTO on the other hand is perhaps more subdued but and its a big but, the V12 makes its presence know, rocking the car gently and perhaps I need to play around more but the seating position in the GTO does seem more reclined, both cars offer super panoramic views out front, the sloping curved wings on the Speciale and the sloping bonnet on the GTO, both are unique and excuse the poor pun...special.

On the road, lets start with the GTO, even at low revs there is this urgency, the sound is ell encompassing the ride is very firm and there is a directness and focus, the gearbox cruising is somewhere between refined and harsh and you constantly get this feeling it wants you to get stuck in and drive.

In contrast the Speciale is refined at low revs, gear changes are barely perceptible and there is this immense feeling of lightness to everything, the centre of gravity feels very low.

What happens when you drive like Enzo intended.

In the GTO you get thrown back into the seat the V12 blasts the car towards the horizon in a wall of power, the sound is truly all encompassing, pull back and paddle and BAM the next gear hits home, you certainly feel it but the rate of acceleration just carries and if you are in a low gear you feel the traction control reign in what would be rampant wheel spin. The scream of the engine at from 5500 rpm upwards gets into your head, the acceleration leaves one in awe. High rev downshift are nothing short of shattering as is the crackle and pop when shifting down from 3rd to 2nd.

In the Speciale, two things happen, the engine, revs and revs and revs some more, pull back a paddle and you hardly feel a gear change in fact most times you don't and the engine is blaring in your ear. The second thing that happens if you are literally blasted up the up, not GTO quick but because your ears are getting bombarded with sound and there is no perceptible gear change the whole experience like the GTO tends to scramble ones mind to some extent.

Corners, lets say both cars are hugely exciting but only one of them is forgiving, the GTO is a monster, one with immense capabilities but the Speciale is like a fit Russian ballerina, it dances around corners, more, more it seems to say, go faster, brake later, get on the power earlier, it seems to laugh at you and is seemingly capable of doing the near impossible, its truly and utterly staggering the degree of agility it has, it forgives you if you make a mistake but such is the rate of progress you are so drawn in that seldom do you realise that you actually did make a mistake.

The GTO is for want of a better word more intimidating, make no mistake its a ferociously quick car point to point but it will punish you or sometimes it feels like it will but in reality the systems will take care of you most of the time, if the GTO was a person it would be a hot model who stares you down and intimidates you but flatters you later after you have got to know her.

Experience. Here in Africa people really notice these cars, the Speciale stops traffic (I guess gold wheels and a NART stripe do help), the GTO makes traffic pull of the road so you can pass, it makes people jump, both make kids scream "Ferrari", both make people smile but more than that, to experience the intangible qualities of these cars, the sensations they give, be it in the passenger or drivers seat is to remind oneself how great Ferrari is and remind oneself there are more important things than numbers.

 

Thanks for the compliment.