Jeremy Clarkson and Motor Trend are full of Crap!

You can't let the media get in your head. Think of them as entertainment.

I've never driven an F12 but I have an FF and I love it so I expect the F12 to be totally mental (as the brits say) in a good way! I never really understood the allure of front-engined Ferrari until I test drove the FF that I bought. Now I completely get it! Consider yourself super-lucky to own one!

I'm going to drive the F12 this week during the Corsa Pilota event at Austin's Circuit of the Amercas on Wednesday and Thursday. I've been looking forward to the chance to drive an F12 on the track for months!

 

I guess Clarkson and MT love the Cali 30 then.

Since the OP probably has well over 3k miles more seat time in the F12 than the reviewers...I would have to respect your judgment on the matter. Case closed.

And enjoy your wonderful F12.

Best

BTW Clarkson is a twit (silly and annoying person)

 

Road and Track loved the F12, too, and made it one of the five or six finalists for its Performance Car of the Year. Unfortunately, it broke down during the highway driving portion of the test, so did not finish. Limp home mode.

 

Clarkson is too much of a showman to take seriously on anything. As for MT, well...
You need to understand that automotive journalists are like any other kind of journalist: looking for an edge, low on facts and fact checking, high on bias, and not the smartest dudes on the planet. Personally I prefer reports from gifted amateurs who know cars, know how to drive them, and love them. We have several who have reported on this site.

Enjoy your F12.

 

I'm not sure why, but JC has always something against the Front engine V12 Ferraris.

He didn't like the 599, saying it's too wide and too big, and and too powerful. Now he's even complaining about the F12. Frankly, he's the only 'car person' to diss the F12. I don't recall reading or getting feedback from other journalists saying bad stuff about the F12. They say it's perfect.

JC always complains about Ferrari's controls being on the steering as well. However, i know he's a huge fan of the 430 and the 458...

 

his comment about the indicators in the steering wheel on the 458 were extremely stupid. He explained that you would get confused when you are in the middle or turning the wheel. Well, the thing is, you should use the indicators before you turn the wheel.

 

Joe,

could you get a picture of car wearing the snows?

I'd love to see it!

 

He at first wasn't a big fan of the 550 either, but turned around later and I think it won best handeling car of year X at the time. He's had minor complaints about the car though. Somewhere along the line off too conservative looking (the one he tested was grey), not enough noise (standard it is way to quiet).

IMO he is right about the 599 and it's size. Having lived in England for a while I also drove a big car (bmw 7 series) and for in town driving it was way to large. Out of town it was awesome though.

RE Ferrari controls...on the 430 he never complained about them being on the wheel, because they're not (manetino he called brilliant I think). 458 he did complain about the indicators being there mostly, and a bunch of other switches.

IIRC the 458 indicators weren't self cancelling where they. You can't use them before you go on a roundabout at certain turns. I myself am quite technosavvy so I'd be able to get used to it very quickly.


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I like Clarkson, love his show/DVD's, but never take anything he's said on his show as absolute fact. I use Chris Harris and EVO Magazine more for that.

 

With your seat time and objective data, I'd favor your review, not his. Remember, he's an entertainer.

 

The part that annoyed me the most about his review of the 458 is when he's complaining about the dash readout toggling between the navigation and speedometer, and he says something along the lines of "I have no idea how fast I'm going but I know I'm somewhere near..." wherever. Yet if you look at the gauges, there's very clearly a digital speedometer telling him exactly how fast he's going. He's just trying to be sensationalist.

 

the car can be programmed to have the Analog Speedo on the left screen...at least in 2012s and I assume later 458 models as well.

and yes, the digital speedom shows in the left screen all the time.

and yes, the turn signals are hard to use in a roundabout where you cannot signal before entering the roundabout. Every town in our valley has at least one roundabout and some have more. You cannot avoid roundabouts hereabouts.

 

IMO, Clarkson does things differently. That's why the show is still interesting. If he says things that people already know (Autocar, MT, Evo, have very quick review after release), it would be a boring show.

 

Something worth noting is the car journalists tend to drive the cars they test much radically different than actual owners. Most times, if not all the time, flat out and with all nannies off and with a healthy side of hooning for dramatic effect.

Do you drive like that with the nannies off? If not, then how can you validate/invalidate their observations?

I drove the F12 on a few hot laps in the Vegas speedway...I lost it and spun on one of the laps trying to chase down a 458. It happened to be the lap I had the manettino on cst off. Coincidence? I think not...it was a lot of power to handle and translate into speed at least for me. My driving skills are mediocre at best...the arse of the F12 kicks out really easily and as it does, and when you expect it to, it kicks out even more and before I knew it I was already halfway round...it's not as gradual/balanced as the V8s I'm used to.

Driving the F12 w/o nannies is no joke, scared me enough that's for sure.

Edit: and btw, the F12 did not belong to me...I doubt I would dare drive it the way I did if it were my own.

 

Good point. However, the more I see them, the more I want one. Need to be patient…

 

If you have a car for a few hours that is not yours, or you own the car for a number of year, you will tend to drive it differently....

 

I'm sure folks like Chris Harris have had their fair share of spin outs in cars they are driving for the very first time; it just doesn't make the cut into the final published video =)

 

I still litsen to Clarkson over Harris. Clarkson is far more entertaining. Sure he is a buffoon, but sometimes he does say something with a grain of truth to it.

To back him up, even EVO noted that the F12 was a little too nervous when driven in anger in their test between it and the Aventador. They aid the Lambo was easier to get into the flow of driving.

 

When I drove the F12 back to back with my 599 last year (in the rain) I was amazed by how much more traction the F12 had.

 

Sounds like my stock broker.

 

I just finished driving the F12 at COTA. The instructors said its a super nice GT car. I concour. I as well as several others owned 599's. I think, as did others that it basically drove very similarly to a 599 with a DCT transmission instead of an F1 transmission. IMHO unless you are a pro, driving aggressively with the CST off is not smart.

 

^^^ Not smart but at least for me it was crazy fun! and scary at the same time...definitely got the juices flowin'

 

The Clarkson that you see on TV or read about is a created character, not a real person. What he says is scripted and planned, as everything in the entertainment business. The producers of TG are "happy" that they have made you upset, now you're giving them exposure. The average audience of Top Gear only wants to see the car going fast and being noisy and being a red Ferrari. The show doesn't care about facts or integrity because it doesn't matter to a large part of their audience. When they review a car, they will start of by how they want to angle the 7 minute video or whayever it is these days. So in a sense, the verdict is already set when they start with the car. To relate to the F12; it has 740hp on it's rear wheels and a V12 engine in front of the cabin. And with TG logic applied: it's a red Ferrari, so it must be a dangerous and poorly built italian car and lethal and too fast for the road. Bam, the premise for the entire video is set before they have even started.

I have worked with Top Gear and know a thing or two about how they do things... I find it sad that the character Clarkson is one of the few people who can directly influence the sales of car by deciding if he should say if it's good or bad. (Read. What the producers and the scriptwriters decide)