Initial Impressions by 40+ yr Ferrari Owner

Written by a friend, posted below with his permission....

At the reveal, hidden under the Ferrari red silk, it is clear the car has an exceptional profile in silhouette, something almost spaceship like, and to end at the beginning, that’s about as good as it gets!

The coupe has more of a purity of design than the spider, understandable as that was the starting point from which spider probably followed, and both models have an excellent aggressive stance, however, there is an issue with the black plastic elements, the coupe in particular looking like there is something almost uncomfortable on its back.

The black bar at the front works fine and the coupe makes some sense of the black A pillars and roof as they all flow into the rear black carapace but the two tone treatment does break the lines of the car as you can tell from when it was under its red silk cover when you could only appreciate its wonderful silhouette . Why Manzoni needed to complicate the design I’m not qualified enough to understand, but I would very much like to see the car in a single colour.

The spider looks even better with the roof down as the black plastic elements are confined to the front and rear, but with the roof up, the mandatory glossy black A pillars and roof break the design into three somewhat uncomfortable and distinct elements and due to the glass like finish, these elements which won’t really match any paint, thus choosing the most appropriate colour will stretch anyone. In short, the most colour sensitive Ferrari I have seen.

When open, it looks better than the coupe but when closed it’s uncomfortable with the black segments-understandably they keep it open until asked to close it- and anyone who is thinking of buying should also consider the spec with the roof shut. What colour one would choose to obviate this problem I really don’t know. Roof up, it’s something of a surprise after appreciating it open, but I suppose less panels to paint and those rear aero element gimmicks are disappointingly plastic. In short, if you were cynical, you could say the beancounters are not content with the record $100,000 profit per car across the range.

Unusually for launch the cars had full carbon exterior detailing, some very substantial elements including the monster one piece diffuser/exhaust box, a very exposed and expensive piece. I don’t think these pieces will look at all good in the standard plastic and they know it, and it will be almost mandatory to spend on this option. It’s also a big car, a very wide car, and from the front it is really noticeable.

Interior is much less successful. The normal haptic/digital nonsense is present in quantity and the three screens give the impression of an almost arcade like effect displaying so much information busy glowing at you. I understand the aim of the screens was to simplify the interior whereas ironically all they have achieved is the opposite and cluttered it. The somewhat ungainly central screen is the GPS and heating/ventilation controls, but good luck trying to adjust the heating or massage or seats in any form when on the move as you have to first get out of the GPS and then somehow stab the screen with small adjustments. With the coupe, it’s also a dark cockpit, almost 812C levels of darkness, due to the heavy roof and rear screen tinting.

The center console is not successful., no flowing connected lines as in the current car, just blocks of plastic. Door panels are unattractive heavy plastic elements(no doubt reassuringly expensive carbon options will be available), approximately 60% plastic and 40% leather so a quite ‘hard’ feel to it, half way between a production and a Limited Edition car, and no obvious way to soften it. Lots of gloss black plastic and overall it’s feels a bit cheap, there is simply no elegance to the interior design as befits a GT, it is not a particularly nice place to be, it’s not a true LE, it’s not a GT, it has a confused identity and its lost its class. In fact it’s simply not what a Ferrari production car should be, IMHO, or indeed was, but it’s the new family direction. One telling point, the boot catch panel just in the lip of the boot, used to be an aluminium panel, it’s now plastic and one can but hope this was a pre production car.

I can see the plan and overall, I think a potentially beautiful shape has unfortunately been over designed and then possibly impacted by financial considerations. My greatest criticism is why do we have to look to the past design greats for the future direction? What is wrong with creating a new forward looking icon as opposed to so many of these retro designs in the industry generally and surely Ferrari, of all companies, should be up to this? And then you have the sound and who cares if it makes another 700 revs if you can’t really appreciate them from outside as it was totally muffled, totally, but no doubt better in the cabin. Thank you EU.

Overall I feel the Superfast/GTS is more cohesive design in a single colour, with the most elegant, classic, stylish and comfortable GT interior. It knows what it is, it’s a hyper GT and the cockpit is a wonderful place to be whether you are just ambling along or really on it and all the better for the simplicity and focus. And it also makes a great sound and you can easily adjust the ventilation on the go - And it has a real start button and a real rev counter and no mandatory ADAS, which is a big question, although there was talk about a single button to override some of it, which I doubt from a regulation standpoint.

As to pricing, there was a lot of talk about whether the upgrade from 812 is worth it. In the US, 812 values are holding reasonably well at present, especially GTS, but that’s before the trade ins start, but in Europe, where used values are lower, it’s looking like an expensive decision. Add the loss on the sale of your existing car to the loss as you drive off the lot and you have to question it. Going from 599/F12/812, there was a major performance and technological bump each time, but whilst this car will definitely handle far better and will be more agile on track, it has the same basic performance numbers, so is that enough of a change for a road car? You really feel this model range is tapped out, these are the last drops out of the N/A V12 lemon(not in the derogatory sense!), it’s come to a full stop with nowhere more to go, a V12 Tributo or daily Competizione for all.

I really wanted to love it, I wanted to upgrade, but I came home thinking Superfast/GTS was the last Ferrari V12 with a proper lineage and clear identity, however, I have no doubt the road tests will be glowing as Ferrari simply do not know how to make a bad car.