FF First Drive

Can you describe the personality of that car?

For example, when I first drive my scuderia I feel like laying rubber for a block. The scud personality is a hooligan. I would not think this car feels that way? but tell us what personality it has.

thanks
greyhair

 

sounds like you had great fun driving the FF mate. I saw one in person, and i don't think it looks as bad as folks has made it to be. Incredible engineering.

 

I drove the FF a few weeks ago. It handled superbly and was brutally quick, but I didn't find it didn't have any real "personality" to speak of. A notion only reinforced by an engine note that was painfully artificial and a ride that was devoid of any edge whatsoever.

I drove it for a few minutes and just wanted to bring it back...I actually enjoyed the Panamera much more. I felt like the Panamera was very porsche like, despite its configuration whereas the FF had this artificially injected playfulness into it that annoyed me much like a small yappy dog biting at my heel.

Not to say the FF is a fantastic car, it is, but it is also an entirely new direction for Ferrari. Whenever you take chances on a product you risk alienating a certain member of your constituency. I applaud Ferrari for the technological advances, but I am too much of a traditionalist to enjoy the car.

For me, the Scud is an intense raw traditional Ferrari...and maybe the last of its kind. I much prefer it to the 458, just as I prefer the 612 to the FF.

Of course, I don't pretend that my opinion is worth snot, and despite my misgivings about the car, I respect those who adore it even if it is not my cup of tea.

 

I like you Joe. You are able to state, not only a perception - but a preference as well. And you do both without assuming any delusions of grandeur. Yours, is a pleasant (refreshing) and very appreciated personality trait.

Good on ya,

Hank

 

I have been driving F-cars since 1998. and i've owned pretty much every one of them produced during that time period, ex-enzo, and to me the FF is absolutely my favorite and i think the best of them all. The FF can do 0-60mph and stop in the time it takes a 360 to get to 60mph!!! It's not even close in my book. so, there's another worthless opinion. i like Joe's comments. but i feel that this whole discussion of 'rawness' is some weird yearning for our lost youth....at the end of the day, refinement, balance and performance are what these cars are designed to deliver. i think its amazing these cars are actually legal. if 205mph and 0-60mph in 3 secs isnt raw, what is? you can't even have a cigarette in NYC anymore!! you want raw, take the muffler off a Camaro, i guess. pick your poison and put the LOUD pedal down....<RANT DONE>

 

Haha, this is one of the most refreshing posts I've ever read on F chat! Kudos to you Lone Wolf. Ps- I'm not a fan of the FF in the least bit, but who cares that's why we all have opinions. A Ferrari for the snow AND it's a hatch back? I can't get over that. But I probably could sell every car I have, get a FF and be done! Not gonna happen

 

I hate to say it, but you are right "refinement, balance and performance" are what these cars are about...and it makes me sad. Porsche does this very well, and Ferrari is not Porsche.

I like my Ferraris with edge and bite. I like them to be a little scary, I like to hear the mechanicals whirring behind me, and I like to feel a mechanical interface with the machine. Basically, I like them to be more demanding of me and I like to feel like I am inside the beating heart of the beast. The best way to describe the "rawness" to which I am referring is to jump into a 355 or a Testarossa. There was a time when italian cars had a unique feel. The new Ferraris seem to exaggerate the sound effects to compensate for an almost germanic approach to performance. In fact, I think that all modern sports cars have become somewhat homogenized. There is nothing raw about simple speed IMHO, if you need any proof of that, just jump into a 997 Porsche 911 Turbo.

Again, I am merely stating my preference and observations. Different strokes for different folks, and obviously there are tons of owners that are very pleased with the direction Ferrari is going. I'm going to take my gated shifter and unassisted steering and go home

 

I know what you're talking about but i just don't know how they would engineer the 'beast' into a new car. i guess that's why we have to keep our old cars around. i loved my 355, but how can you really compare it to a 458 in terms of anything?? anyway, keep on driving. for me the newer, the better, at least up until now. forza ferrari, and remember Enzo's famous quote when asked which was his favorite Ferrari??? "the next one".

 

thanks buddy. to me the FF has nothing to do with the snow. the traction is just so superb that you dont even know its 4wheel drive. it just lays down 660 HP seamlessly. i will be deeply disappointed if they dont put the system on the 599 replacment. my 599 gets awful traction anywhere below 50mph. you drive an FF in anger and you'll get over your hangups about 4wheel drive, rear seats or the way it looks. TRUST ME. this thing is a major breakthrough.

 

LOL. I can't say I disagree with you. I will say though that I thought the Scud and especially the 16M were pitch perfect. Its just getting harder and harder for folks like me to find modern Ferraris we can identify with.

Time marches on and some of us get left behind.

If you find yourself looking for a floppy disk and some vinyl records, at least now you know the f-chatter to go to.

 

I've had the chance to spend some time with an FF, and I think most Americans misunderstand the car. It's not for taking out on the track, or heading down to Starbucks on a sunny Saturday morning, although it can do both.

It's for blasting off from Paris to Geneva, and then on to Milan. Leaving New York and heading for DC, and then down to Atlanta. LA to Las Vegas and back in the same day.

It's just the latest in a very long line, straight from the 250GTE (and even some one-offs before that).

For that purpose, it's superb.

 

Not easy to do with all the cops spoiling the fun,times have changed......

 

I drove the FF today with assumptions that I would not be impressed. I was instead thoroughly delighted. It ended up being a very impressive car after all. Of course at its sticker price (near $400,000) it certainly should be impressive. But honestly, it was/is.

And I for one think it sounds exactly like a car of its nature should. I had an opportunity to really drive it with the throttle and it was sublime. Additionally I got to drive a tight course with it & found it was super responsive too (much to my surprise).

I am not in the market but the car is a stellar machine.
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It's still pretty easy to do in the west, outside of major metro areas. Frankly, you can drive faster in the western US than in most of Europe.

The problem in the US is that the distances are simply too great. While I'd love to drive from Portland to New York, I just can't justify the time. If I could, the FF would be the car to do it in!