Drove the F12 today

Many thanks to Jeff @ Wynn Penske Ferrari for inviting me for a test drive of a brand new F12 today. The car is only in town yesterday and tomorrow and will be shipped to different dealers around the country. So, check with your local dealer about when it comes to your area.

Now, about the car----

To say the car is awesome would be actually understating how great it is. I tried to sum it up how it feels and the best way is:

Imagine a 458 Italia with 4 more cylinders, 100 more HP, and an engine exhaust note that makes you cry.

Sounds pretty awesome, eh?

What struck me is how much like the 458 this car feels. Even inside, it has a similar feel. You don't feel like you're in a big car. It seems more like a sports car. The interior is a tad bigger and I love the look of the shelf behind the seats. It seems to have more headroom than a 458 so taller guys may like it.

You can see the "air dams" in the front fenders from a sitting position. It's pretty cool. I never felt like the proportions of the car were "big". In fact, the car feels smaller than it probably is. It's one of the things that impressed me the most.

The steering wheel is exactly the same as the 458 and the various radio/HVAC controls all look very similar if not the exact same. The seats were the standard type with electric assist and very comfortable -- again like the 458.

Just with a lot more of what we love--- POWER.

I drove the car about 20 minutes on city streets and on the freeway. I used a mixer of sport and race mode.

The car I drove was the similar metallic red that a lot of people have seen if they've seen this car in person around the US. It had 100 miles on it so it was new. If you ask me, this is the perfect color for this car. Perfect. Expensive but perfect. It has a cuoio interior which was exactly what I would pick. The car looks rich.

It had the CF driving zone with LED's and a CF dash but nothing else in what I could see as options (aside from the passenger gauge which I did not care for). The car has a lot of standard equipment already. The dash looks so much more upscale than the 458. The round nozzles for the AC work fantastic. If you've seen the F70 interior, you can see some influence in this car.

When I drove this car, I was instantly teleported back to my 458 coupe. The feeling is exactly the same. It feels like a sports car and not a GT. The steering is the same, the suspension the same, the gearbox is the same, and the brakes maybe a tad better. Bumpy road smooths out the car and in normal mode, you can feel every part of the road perfectly, if not a little stiffly. But, that's the beauty of the two modes -- you can go between the two just by hitting one button. TFT screen graphics seemed exactly the same.

In 7th gear, the engine is just turning out 1500 RPM at highway speeds. The engine can be heard but just barely. I can imagine taking this thing cross country easily. The steering at high speeds is amazingly quick and accurate.

Here to me is the best part though of the F12.

This car has an elegance to the design that makes it seem less like "a toy" of the 458 and more like a sophisticated machine. I can see why people liked Daytona's because the DNA is directly linked to the great V12 GT cars of the past. I loved the look of it under sunlight and the back is just plain sexy.

I did not redline the car but I got it to about 8 grand. It's hard to imagine a noise more beautiful to a gearhead. I just busted out laughing. When the car starts up, you jump from the noise it makes. I thought the 458 was loud but this was like a someone yelling.

The car comes standard with a lot of the same "options" you would pay more for in the 458. I would bet you could get an F12 for about the same price as most pay for 458 spiders with similar options. It's more expensive than a 458 coupe though by probably a good 70 or 80 grand.

Will I buy one? Well, if you look close at the top photo, you might recognize someone's 458 spider in the showroom. That's all I'm saying.
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Man! Letting to of the spider already? I can't say I blame you. I love the F12!

 

God I want one.

I liked the wheels they had back in (Geneva?), much like the 599 GTO wheels...With those on it completes the look!

 

That thing is beastly when the throttle is opened up.

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RV_vpTBLIgo]Ferrari F12 Berlinetta Unveiling - YouTube[/ame]

 

Wow! Great write up, congrats. That is an amazing car.

 

I'm surprised that car has no shields. I like it.

 

So I guess this means no drooling over the 458 spider when I pass through town next month.

Glad you enjoyed the drive, I'm more than a tad jealous.

 

As jealous as my personal video from Stan Lee?

 

+ 1

 

LaMayor:

Thanks for the write-up. Sounds like an amazing ride.

Hope you put more miles on the F12 than you did the Spider.

 

Your life must suck.

 

nice!

 

congrats Bob! I'm a little surprised you pulled the trigger so quickly but I think you made a good call

 

I also had the pleasure of driving the F12 today at Wynn Ferrari today, I bought my 1st Ferrari there a few months ago a 08 599. I have to agree with Bob the F12 car is amazing. The power feels effortless. I do like the exhaust note of the 599 better though and happen to think the RPM display on the passenger side is kind of cool. Id prefer an anolog MPH gauge.

There were probably 15 tourists photgraphing the car as I pulled out of there. Or maybe they were taking a picture of me. Thanks to Alex at Wynn!

 

BOB, Do you know what color the car you drove was I really like it . Any idea of delivery time for your order??I am seriously thinking of placing an order. I have not seen it in person but love it. My dealer is over 200 miles from me so I so could not get up their when the car was in town a few weeks ago.
LarryH

 

Thanks for the write-up, Bob. For this car to get you out of that 458 Spider you adore (and patiently waited for) really says something. If you love the F12, I would think now's the time to get one, as you have significant financial leverage at this point. Your Spider is still at high value given the demand and long wait. For me, a 458 would be too flashy and attention-getting to drive every day, so the F12 (in Silverstone) would be the perfect car, were it not for how much I'd miss the open air of my California (not to mention the money in my wallet). So I guess I'll just look on vicariously for now!

I also noticed the large number of things standard in an F12 that are optional in a 458, and agree that a moderately optioned F12 (which nonetheless would actually be very well equipped) should come in around what you'd pay for a more highly optioned 458 Spider.

 

The salesman said Rosso Fuoco. I didn't check the tag but I think he was right. It is gorgeous and the perfect color for this car but I think it's an 18K option.

The metal flake is extremely fine. It has a pearl like luster that is amazing in both shade and sunlight.

 

These I would say are the three big advantages of this car.

1) It's got more cylinders and more power than the 458

2) It's not as flashy or racy looking. In fact, I would describe it as elegant.

3) Many options in the 458 are standard in the F12.

If you have a budget of about 350K, you can get a heavily optioned 458 spider or a nicely optioned F12. The price isn't that much different. Resale wise -- I can't tell you as historically spiders hold their value better. It seems to me that Ferrari is being pretty tight with allocations of F12's.


I'm not knocking the 458 at all. It's just that they have a different personality when you look at the exterior shapes.

Again my biggest surprise -- and something I was not expecting at all -- is that it's so much like the 458 coupe in terms of sitting in it and the driving feel. I thought it would be bigger, heavier, and have a less sporty feeling.

 

F-chat needs a like button! Mega; congrats!

 

I am going to do the same. Sell the spider for an F12.

Question does it have exhaust flaps like the 458?

Candidly I really don't like that abrupt change from quiet to noise. Seems kind of artificial instead of being progressive. I get why people buy the capistro valve controller.

 

Yes, but it's not as pronounced in "on and off". I forgot to mention it. It is different in sport and race mode like the 458. I would describe it as progressive.

I think that the current regulations in a lot of countries require that a car be at a certain DB level when idling. That's where this "flap" thing is coming from.

 

Yeah it is the regs.

Thanks for the write-up. I am even more convinced of the decision to change out. I always wanted a 700hp hatchback!

 

Yes, the F12 is a seductive machine and one that I could also imagine taking across the country. As for me, I love the cut-and-swipe racing bike nature of the 458... and anxiously await the next evolution of the mid-engined sports car.

 

That is the best part, and something one cannot discern without driving/being familiar with both cars, so again, thanks for the helpful write-up.

I agree it's elegant and that is the allure to me. With an F12, a person basically can have a car that drives/feels like a 458 w/o it looking like one. Not that a 458 doesn't look good, but just the opposite; it's beautiful. For me to drive a car anything close to daily, however, it just can't look as exotic as a 458. Unfortunately, I don't have a 458 Spider to trade so I will have to see if F12 prices go the same way as 599s.

 

+1

Thanks for the write-up!