Who is doing what with their cars this weekend? Mine is in southern Europe and I am up in cold Norway looking out to a wet, cold and grey afternoon while having some serious V12 abstinences... (living on the memories from warmer times). Image Unavailable, Please Login Sent from my iPhone using FerrariChat.com mobile app
A rare combination of good weather here, an event to go to out of town, and actually being in the country, means it's a Ferrari weekend, woo hoo. My very first world problem is, which Ferrari, but odds are on the 575 being unsheathed for possibly the last time this year. Though 2 years back, Christmas holidays were warm enough for a good drive in it..
Taking my 456GT to West Virginia apple picking with the wife and 2 kids. Gotta love a 2+2 with a reasonably sized trunk for the apple crates! Pics to come upon return
Haha that was a new one! Yes, please post pictures. Have a great weekend to you all. Now, the weather is brilliant here (of course), so the desire for some Ferrari driving didn't get any worse to put it like that... Sent from my iPhone using FerrariChat.com mobile app
So in reply to the original question...the weather held up here in the UK and I took my 575 for a good run yesterday. Out to Oxfordshire and then Cliveden for the Literary Festival (where another guest had a silver 456). Then I gave a friend a lift back to his central London hotel. I took some backroads I hadn't taken since I was at University and bombing around in a 205 GTI. Narrow twisty lanes, no traffic. I drove the 575 fast, and was highly impressed, given this is a long-nosed quite heavy V12. Locked the ABS up on entry into a few of the corners (oops) and even with FHP the car does squat and dive just a little bit - not much, but it's there. However its demeanour in mid-corner is fantastic, very flat, full of feel and life and excitement, it feels very wieldy, and you can really steer the tail out on the throttle and then soar through the rev range. I particularly like the way it retains composure and lack of roll in mid corner - it flattens out. I guess due to that FHP roll bar. It's a challenge to shift quickly with the gated shifter on roads like this; on faster sweeping roads the shifter is a complete joy. I love the way it surges on torque but then really flies above 4000. And the understated looks have grown on me since it was launched. Last drive this year, most likely. Pix taken at Cliveden and in Belgravia when darkness had fallen! Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
Great story! It is cool to reflect on the fact that these things can convert from a "garage queen" to an animal in a couple of minutes. I love the blue... Sent from my iPhone using FerrariChat.com mobile app
Oh I gave her more than a couple of minutes to warm up...20 miles out from central London Thank you, and thank you for posting this thread! She's now sadly a garage queen for a few months, unless the weather holds..
Great driving day in the UK (itself quite rare over the winter months) X day when I am in UK X day off work X day with no family duties X day when I don't have a car to review X day when I take the 575 over another car = sadly quite rare. But the 575 trips are most memorable when they happen so I hope you're right..
Darius- Bad part about winter in the UK is there is often salt on the roads in an effort to tame black ice. Our chassis are steel and not fond of salt. Here in New Mexico it is so dry, we never get black ice. The only salt is the result of relatively infrequent snow storms and the snow is usually gone by late afternoon.
Good point, Taz. I don't know if my 575 was driven in British winters before I bought it. My 550, which was from Rome when I bought it, has an underside clean enough to eat off. Same with my F512M (Spain). My UK sourced 430 needed to be cleaned underneath when I bought it.
European Winter, good point. Here in Central Europe the roads are heavily salted between November and March.... Five to six months you should try to avoid to use your Ferrari. During Late 60ths and 70/80ths brand new cars rusted through and needed structral welding, new fenders, etc.... Have seen several Maserati/Ferrari/Lamborghini driven through winters which where quiet unsavable (according to their, then actual, value…). Even while my Maranello spend it's previous years in Italy, it costed my some money to cure the issues like corroded screws, yellos zink plated components and laquered steel components to be brought back to originality. Best, Jürgen