Ferrari California - my first impressions

MAF260

Member
Messages
7,662
The owner of the villa I'm staying at here in Marbella kindly allowed the use of his shiny red Ferrari California while we're here. I've given it a thorough testing over the past few days and here are my initial thoughts.

Firstly, it's a lot smaller than I expected. No matter how much I moved around, I just couldn't get comfortable and it always felt like my knees were up around my ears. The second thing that struck me was how plasticky the whole car felt. The whole car felt cheap, like low grade materials had been used throughout.
Driving the car has been nowhere near as much fun as I thought it would be. The steering is just too direct - you barely need to turn the wheel before it's veering off in whichever direction. I know these are meant to be sports cars, but less than half a turn from lock to lock is just plain dangerous. Acceleration initially feels brisk, much like an electric motor from standstill. Then it disappoints - it stops accelerating and then feels like it's reached it's maximum speed within seconds. It's not a fast car. The handling and ride are shocking. I think Ferrari have failed to fit any suspension whatsoever, perhaps a cost cutting exercise? The ride is jarring and no doubt would lead to me being on very friendly terms with my dentist. The car skipped across the surface with little adhesion, probably not helped by the tyres fitted. I've never seen this make or tread pattern before on a performance car, but they're clearly not suited.
Maybe the Spanish specification offered is different to other markets, but there are few options and luxuries on this car - not even a roof! Few switches work, no indicators (nobody in Spain uses them anyway!) and the speedo is fixed at just one indicated speed.

So, I've been unimpressed overall bar just one thing - it's very easy to park in the smallest of spaces. I won't be buying one when I get home.

Here's a couple of pictures of the car so you can see I'm not making this up...


























:)
 

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Andyk

Member
Messages
61,040
Hahahahahaha...I read it then saw the picture......funny......Oh and if you can get your knees around your ears that opens up a whole new world of opportunity Mark.
 

zagatoes30

Member
Messages
20,763
I like the cut back Ariel Atom alternative in the last picture, the bright orange is nearly as bright as the yellow thing you drive in the UK. Single seater might limit family outings but should make track days good :)
 

TridentTested

Member
Messages
1,819
And I can tell you, from experience with my daughter's Beetle which is built on the same chassis, it understeers like a b!tch - very surprising for a RWD.
 

Tilum

Junior Member
Messages
667
Great write-up Mark; you made us all chuckle :saifi:
... posts like these are what makes this forum so great :D

T
 

Petbri

Junior Member
Messages
135
Very good. I was looking forward to the bit where you going to say a GS is overall, a much better car, and how lucky were all are in not having a Ferrari. Darn it.