Speciale arrived today
Discussion
mat7w said:
GD, you have issues! This has made me seriously reconsider my next purchase. Looks awesome mate. I hope you have found yourself a larger garage now.
Yep, a few issues that need help with, however come March I'll be moving to a house with a 1000m2 garage, and all my issues will fit under one roof! 
Here's a couple more snaps from detailing at Polished Bliss this week. The spider looks nice next to it but you can't beat how purposeful and focused the Speciale is, also now I've had a chance to try it out I can confirm the SSC (side slip control) in race mode works fantastic, like magic it controls drifts when they get a bit too much lock on, it would be hard to spin I think, even in the wet.
Thanks to Graham for the run in this beast last night. The performance is quite literally breathtaking. 
I'm no stranger to quick cars but very rarely do you find them ticking so many of the boxes that we would expect from one single vehicle. I've never sat in a modern Ferrari so it was a first for that anyway but what a car to pop the proverbial cherry!
Firstly the ride on the softest setting enabled us to transition from the relative smooth of the lane at my house to the Somme-like cobbles before reaching the road. I was bracing for a bone shattering jarring but it never came. Really impressed.
Then the cabin. Whilst spartan but modern standards it's still quite well appointed and enough deadening has been done with dash coverings etc to make it a rather pleasant place to sit. I have a bad back so notice immediately if I'm going to be able to sit in a car for any length of time and the seats in this were just perfect.
The sound....oh the sound
Very socially acceptable at idle but in race mode it wails like a banshee! I was most impressed though at the cabin noise...or lack thereof. I was certain that the carbon everything would struggle to stop the sound but it sounded as if the only outside noise of any note was the engine/exhaust note. Incredible. I wouldn't mind a little more of that from my Vanquish!
That brings me to the gearbox. I'm not sure what Ferrari have done differently but I've owned or driven a lot from automated manuals to sequentials to DSG/PDK and automatics with paddles but absolutely none have been like this. The upshift is almost imperceptible given away only by the engine note changing. Downshifts on the other hand are just brilliant. The autoblip combined with the ever-so-slightly harsh (but in a good way!) downshift reassures you and immediately yourgut internal G-sensor picks up on the deceleration from the engine braking.
Unsurprisingly
it was a cold and wet night in Aberdeen so the true performance of the car was set aside for the evening but the little taster I did get was a real eye opener about how something can really be greater than the sum of its parts.
I wish you many many happy miles in that one Graham and when you plan to visit a track with it let me know and i'll come along for it will need to be seen to be believed. I have a suspicion that, despite the very track focused nature of the Noble, the Speciale could stick in a better time round a track.
I'm no stranger to quick cars but very rarely do you find them ticking so many of the boxes that we would expect from one single vehicle. I've never sat in a modern Ferrari so it was a first for that anyway but what a car to pop the proverbial cherry!
Firstly the ride on the softest setting enabled us to transition from the relative smooth of the lane at my house to the Somme-like cobbles before reaching the road. I was bracing for a bone shattering jarring but it never came. Really impressed.
Then the cabin. Whilst spartan but modern standards it's still quite well appointed and enough deadening has been done with dash coverings etc to make it a rather pleasant place to sit. I have a bad back so notice immediately if I'm going to be able to sit in a car for any length of time and the seats in this were just perfect.
The sound....oh the sound
Very socially acceptable at idle but in race mode it wails like a banshee! I was most impressed though at the cabin noise...or lack thereof. I was certain that the carbon everything would struggle to stop the sound but it sounded as if the only outside noise of any note was the engine/exhaust note. Incredible. I wouldn't mind a little more of that from my Vanquish!That brings me to the gearbox. I'm not sure what Ferrari have done differently but I've owned or driven a lot from automated manuals to sequentials to DSG/PDK and automatics with paddles but absolutely none have been like this. The upshift is almost imperceptible given away only by the engine note changing. Downshifts on the other hand are just brilliant. The autoblip combined with the ever-so-slightly harsh (but in a good way!) downshift reassures you and immediately your
Unsurprisingly
it was a cold and wet night in Aberdeen so the true performance of the car was set aside for the evening but the little taster I did get was a real eye opener about how something can really be greater than the sum of its parts. I wish you many many happy miles in that one Graham and when you plan to visit a track with it let me know and i'll come along for it will need to be seen to be believed. I have a suspicion that, despite the very track focused nature of the Noble, the Speciale could stick in a better time round a track.
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