RE: Driven: 'Stop-Start' Ferrari California
Discussion
Russell Bray said:
Hello f328nvl. It's Russell Bray. Despite the Chris R and Riggers by-lines that have appeared I wrote the California piece that has caused you to vent your spleen.
And I did do my homework unlike your goodself. The manual gearbox Ferrari California does exist - though there are thought to be only two in the UK which perhaps is a reflection of the type of drivers Ferraris now attract - and would be my choice as it saves about 30kg in weight and I think delivers a more involving drive.
My dictionary defines visceral as "felt by the internal organs of the body" and as the California will sprint from rest to 100mph in about nine seconds (nine seconds dead according to evo) and from rest to 140mph in 18.5 seconds I would argue you certainly feel it in your inner being.
The last V8 S4 I tried took 13.7s to 100mph and 21 seconds to 125mph (compared to 13.2s for the Ferrari) so something must have been wrong with the California you drove if it felt like your Audi.
Or perhaps you were pressing the wrong pedal!
Sorry you are absolutely right, the manual was announced in March 2010; as I looked at and drove California's when they launched I hadn't kept abreast of the new gearbox, they have only just started delivering them.And I did do my homework unlike your goodself. The manual gearbox Ferrari California does exist - though there are thought to be only two in the UK which perhaps is a reflection of the type of drivers Ferraris now attract - and would be my choice as it saves about 30kg in weight and I think delivers a more involving drive.
My dictionary defines visceral as "felt by the internal organs of the body" and as the California will sprint from rest to 100mph in about nine seconds (nine seconds dead according to evo) and from rest to 140mph in 18.5 seconds I would argue you certainly feel it in your inner being.
The last V8 S4 I tried took 13.7s to 100mph and 21 seconds to 125mph (compared to 13.2s for the Ferrari) so something must have been wrong with the California you drove if it felt like your Audi.
Or perhaps you were pressing the wrong pedal!
However, oh dear - I look under the bonnet and find that my DSG S4 has a supercharged V6, not the old V8. I can't be bothered to Google the 0-100mph, I was talking about how it feels to me when I drive it, not Top Trumps statistics. Having driven both, the California does not feel, and is not intended to feel, "visceral": It is intended to be, and is, a softer Ferrari that feels to me alot like my S4. It's the gearbox that does it.. I'd read James May on the subject, he caught the strangeness of the instant change well I thought. Each to their own though..
By the way, my spleen is fine thank you. Having owned a couple, I just don't think every review of a Ferrari should be full of Hyperbole.
Why are the bylines wrong as a matter of interest?
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