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599 in topgear web

Discussion in '612/599' started by zetakamiru, May 25, 2006.

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  1. zetakamiru

    zetakamiru Rookie

    Sep 22, 2004
    14
    #1 zetakamiru, May 25, 2006
    Last edited by a moderator: Sep 7, 2017
    Let's get one thing very clear - the Ferrari 599 GTB Fiorano is spectacularly quick. But what makes it so special isn't how fast it is, but how easy the speed is. It's so comfortable with this performance. It's easy to control, yet it doesn't divorce you from the action. It draws you in. It asks so little and gives so much. That's what makes the 599 such a landmark car.


    Getting into the rhythm on a tight, bumpy, undulating road - not exactly an easy place to dispense 620 horsepower. But the 599 just engages the tarmac and rockets along. Engine, transmission, brakes, steering, damping - all of them get along like an absolute house on fire with each other, with you and with the road. You'll be on fire at the end of it, too.

    The V12 is a masterwork, capable of pouring out a trickle or a torrent exactly as you ask. The 599's power and urgency, its amazing Pavarotti lungs, just get progressively more intense as you explore the pedal and push on around the dial until that ballistic yowl nudging the 8,400 redline. Which makes it easy to use.

    Power is 620bhp from six litres, delivering 62mph in 3.7 seconds, 0-125 in 11.0 and a top speed of 205mph. An Enzo is 3.65, 9.5 and 218. Not really so different...

    It's an absolute drift-monkey too. All that power, all that control, and all of it through the rear tyres. In a slow corner, low gear, it's ready to play - even, to an extent, if you have the ESP (CST in Ferrari speak) switched on. But more impressive still are the fast corners, where it stays flat, neutral and brilliantly damped, wiring you into the experience.

    All told, this isn't quite a beautiful car like an Aston - fundamentally, it's a shape that does a job, but it does have terrific proportions and some very subtle surfacing. Anyway, once you've driven it, you can't think about the looks in isolation. Love is blind.
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  2. Cavallini

    Cavallini Formula 3

    Nov 2, 2003
    1,835
    #2 Cavallini, May 25, 2006
    Sounds great.

    As for its beauty, I think it far exceeds any Aston. Astons, like Porsches and every other make are simple, clean and sometimes beautiful but they are only two-dimensional designs. They're easy, just like older Ferraris. Beautiful but much less complex and less of a design achievement than modern Ferraris, from the 360 forward.

    But the Brit magazines finally have something to cheer about so this is not a surprise.

    I'll reserve my final judgement of the 599 until I've seen it in person. At the moment it looks stunning, especially with 5-spoke rims.

    I saw a 430, a Maserati Quattroporte and a 612 for the first time this weekend and was deeply impressed with each, especially the QP and the 430. The 612 was a bi-colore and while it was handsome I was not moved. I think it is best in one color.

    The 430 coupe is stunning, especially in Rosso Corsa, decidedly more beautiful than the 360 and much more cohesive than pictures suggest.

    And the QP, an all-black Sport model, was a revelation. Externally, it's more beautiful than the 612. The line is masculine and sensual, truly an achievement.

    The common thread with all cars was that photos did them little justice.

    I see no reason why it will be any different with the 599.



    Forza,



    Cavallini
     
  3. J. Salmon

    J. Salmon F1 Rookie
    Owner Rossa Subscribed

    Aug 27, 2005
    4,367
    VA
    #3 J. Salmon, May 25, 2006
    Love that second photo... man, that takes some skill and big cohones to drift a third-of-a-million dollar car on a public road...
     
  4. absent

    absent F1 Veteran
    Lifetime Rossa

    Nov 2, 2003
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    mark k.
    #4 absent, May 25, 2006
    He didn't have to pay for it.....
     
  5. 134282

    134282 Four Time F1 World Champ
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    Aug 3, 2002
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    Carbon McCoy
    #5 134282, May 25, 2006
    Am I the only one who thinks that's a woman driving...?
     
  6. wmoon89

    wmoon89 Formula Junior

    Feb 24, 2006
    304
    #6 wmoon89, May 25, 2006
    Ehhh...I don't see the car plummeting over a cliff so can't agree with you there.
     
  7. Cicero

    Cicero Formula 3

    Jul 27, 2004
    1,645
    #7 Cicero, May 25, 2006
    Last edited by a moderator: Sep 7, 2017
  8. TheBigEasy

    TheBigEasy F1 World Champ
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    Jun 21, 2005
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    Ethan Hunt
    #8 TheBigEasy, May 26, 2006
    heh, come on, thats below the belt.I think there are a lot of cars that are much worse about having the "smile" look.
     
  9. GTE

    GTE F1 World Champ

    Jun 24, 2004
    10,117
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    Marnix
    #9 GTE, May 26, 2006
    Looking at the second picture, I don´t want to know where the car was, five seconds after that shot was taken.
     
  10. Townshend

    Townshend F1 Veteran
    Owner Rossa Subscribed

    Jul 20, 2005
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    Walter
    #10 Townshend, May 28, 2006
    When I look at it, it kind of does. But I'd hate to say it definatly is..because if it's not...well..
     

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