Ferrari F8 / C8 Corvette
Discussion
Every Sunday, a group of friends who are also car enthusiasts attend one or more of the dozens of car meets/shows that take place in Los Angeles every weekend. This morning we decided on a weekly show called Supercar Sunday which has been meeting for at least 15-20 years and always has a fairly large turnout 300-500 cars and sometimes more. Typically, I will take my De Tomaso Pantera out of the garage to attend but today it was in the shop as it was running rough last week, and I wanted my mechanic to address it. A friend that has a hanger at the local airport (Van Nuys Airport) full of exotics offered to let me drive one to the show. So I got to his house early this morning to find one of his two Ferrari F8s waiting for me to take. The show is only about a ten minute drive from where we were but we got onto the local freeway just so that I could open it up a little. And then on the way home, I drove his C8 Corvette back to the house. I was fairly surprised by my impressions.
First, I did not like the F8 very much. There is a disconnected feeling when driving it as if you were not driving it with your feet and hands but rather via a remote control. Just getting it to move from a stop takes an inordinate amount of gas pedal travel to engage it and move forward almost like it had wheel chucks in front of the wheels. And the brakes are much the same, lots of pedal travel before it bites. And yes it has prodigious power but you might as well be driving a Lincoln Continental sedan, you're so isolated from feeling any of it. Now I credit Ferrari for creating a sports car that does everything so smoothly that you barely notice acceleration to quite illegal speeds, a transmission that shifts more smoothly than a Toyota Camry, and all of the creature comforts you could ask for, but where's the fun? I never believed I would long to get back into my Pantera after driving the F8, but that's exactly what I felt like. The rawness, the directness to what you think you're doing whether accelerating or braking, the fun factor is missing imho from the Ferrari. After the show, we went out to breakfast at a local eatery, and I swapped cars with my friend, he took the F8 and I took the C8. I enjoyed the C8 much more although it also is so good at disguising its rapid movement that it's also not quite as much fun as I expected. But at least, when you press the gas or brake pedals, there is direct response relative to what you feel your foot is doing (and much quicker response as well). I credit GM/Chevrolet with producing a car that stacks up quite well against the world's best and still retains some driver feel.
In conclusion, they're both great cars but so advanced that the fun has been taken out of them to a certain degree. I won't be selling the Pantera anytime soon.
First, I did not like the F8 very much. There is a disconnected feeling when driving it as if you were not driving it with your feet and hands but rather via a remote control. Just getting it to move from a stop takes an inordinate amount of gas pedal travel to engage it and move forward almost like it had wheel chucks in front of the wheels. And the brakes are much the same, lots of pedal travel before it bites. And yes it has prodigious power but you might as well be driving a Lincoln Continental sedan, you're so isolated from feeling any of it. Now I credit Ferrari for creating a sports car that does everything so smoothly that you barely notice acceleration to quite illegal speeds, a transmission that shifts more smoothly than a Toyota Camry, and all of the creature comforts you could ask for, but where's the fun? I never believed I would long to get back into my Pantera after driving the F8, but that's exactly what I felt like. The rawness, the directness to what you think you're doing whether accelerating or braking, the fun factor is missing imho from the Ferrari. After the show, we went out to breakfast at a local eatery, and I swapped cars with my friend, he took the F8 and I took the C8. I enjoyed the C8 much more although it also is so good at disguising its rapid movement that it's also not quite as much fun as I expected. But at least, when you press the gas or brake pedals, there is direct response relative to what you feel your foot is doing (and much quicker response as well). I credit GM/Chevrolet with producing a car that stacks up quite well against the world's best and still retains some driver feel.
In conclusion, they're both great cars but so advanced that the fun has been taken out of them to a certain degree. I won't be selling the Pantera anytime soon.
Edited by tberg on Sunday 9th July 23:28
Edited by tberg on Monday 10th July 03:00
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