I was recently invited by Ferrari of Newport Beach to test drive the Ferrari 599 GTB Fiorano. Needless to say I jumped on the chance to drive the car as it's not everyday that I get to drive a Ferrari. I recently drove a couple 575 Maranello's and they were just incredible...amongst the best car's that i've driven. The 599 that I drove had the F1 transmission ,of course, as very few people order the manual trans cars and they are very hard to come by. The particular car that I drove was recently tested by Road and Track and belonged to Ferrari of North America.
I first experienced the car from the passenger seat because this was a ride and drive event where the sales guy drives the car first. The first thing that caught my attention was how accurately the tachometer was following the engine sound. The tach moves in tiny increments during downshifts and you can even hear the incremental exhaust sound. I just thought that was incredible as I had never seen that on any car that i've been in before and have never read about it.
When my turn came to drive the 599 the first thing I notice is how light the steering wheel is and how quick the car reacts to steering inputs. The car felt very much like a Lotus in that respect and that is the highest of praises. Despite being light the steering had a lot of feel. Typically light steering wheels significantly lack in feel. Ferrari North America doesn't allow the Manettino to be set to race mode during a test drive so I had to do with driving the car in Sport, I could hardly complain. When the opportunity arose to test the acceleration I blasted off from a stop light all the way up to redline, which was helpfully indicated by LEDs set into the top of the steering wheel...just brilliant! The level of traction the car has is ridiculous, there was absolutely no wheel spin and all of the horsepower was deployed effectively. In the past the same test in a Vanquish and the 575 resulted in plenty of wheelspin. Thankfully there wasn't a hint of squat during the full-throttle launch, the nose just lifted up slightly and the car blasted forward. The sound was incredible near redline, I can only imagine what Tubi's would have sounded like. I've drive a lot of sequential trans cars in the past but none shifted gears as quick as the 599. The motor is so eager to rev to redline and the trans is right there to help propel the car seemlessly through the gears. Just going through the full throttle experience in the first four gears just made me appreciate Ferrari's so much that I honestly believe that these cars are worth every penny. One thing that really impressed me was that despite having an F1 transmission the driver still feels very much in control and there is no detachment from the car as is experienced in many sequential box cars.
The ride was comfortable not just by supercar standards but even compared to a standard BMW. It's incredible how Ferrari have managed to blend daily driveability with top notch handling. I guess Delphi should be credited for the amazing magnetic suspension. The 599 was very close to matching the Noble M12 for the ability to change directions rapidly, which is phenomenal because the 599 weighs a lot more.
The 599 was by far the best car that i've driven and the test drive made me appreciate Ferrari's abilities even more. It will be hard for me to top this test-drive. I've got an idea though...but you'll have to wait till next weekend for that!