I'm being given a California T to muck about with!
Discussion
Good Morning Guys!
As per the title, tomorrow I'm off to an event a Losail International Circuit in Qatar to drive the new California T. My friend runs a small media company out there and a youtube channel and Ferrari Qatar asked him if he'd like to cover the day and maybe review the new Cali. Luckily for me, as I race in the local National Touring Car series there and I've done my share of hooning supercars around it he has asked me to come drive the car and let people know what I think.
I won't pretend I'm going to be the next Chris H nor do I want to be, and a California no more needs hooning around a track than an F40 needs taking on the shopping run but I was wondering if there are any of you out there that have some unconventional (but not boring) questions about the car that I could put into the little video review they want to put together???
This is actually my first ever Ferrari drive, so I thought I'd try cover what the car is like from that angle.
Any and all feedback appreciated
As per the title, tomorrow I'm off to an event a Losail International Circuit in Qatar to drive the new California T. My friend runs a small media company out there and a youtube channel and Ferrari Qatar asked him if he'd like to cover the day and maybe review the new Cali. Luckily for me, as I race in the local National Touring Car series there and I've done my share of hooning supercars around it he has asked me to come drive the car and let people know what I think.
I won't pretend I'm going to be the next Chris H nor do I want to be, and a California no more needs hooning around a track than an F40 needs taking on the shopping run but I was wondering if there are any of you out there that have some unconventional (but not boring) questions about the car that I could put into the little video review they want to put together???
This is actually my first ever Ferrari drive, so I thought I'd try cover what the car is like from that angle.
Any and all feedback appreciated
Firstly, lucky you and have fun!
Secondly, I would be interested to understand something along these lines of.... I like my fast cars but with having a 6wk old I've had to resort to 4 seats and 4 doors. After much reading and research I settled on a quattroporte GTS which I love. However I'd love it more if my next step could be Red and as a 430 or 599 is a no go because of the lack of seats... so does the Cali provide the solution to an every day car with four seats; weekend running around with the good lady and the little man, the occasional 3hr drive for those distant relatives, and still keep me happy when I want to add a little more spirit by my self... is it the Red all in one solution I need?
Secondly, I would be interested to understand something along these lines of.... I like my fast cars but with having a 6wk old I've had to resort to 4 seats and 4 doors. After much reading and research I settled on a quattroporte GTS which I love. However I'd love it more if my next step could be Red and as a 430 or 599 is a no go because of the lack of seats... so does the Cali provide the solution to an every day car with four seats; weekend running around with the good lady and the little man, the occasional 3hr drive for those distant relatives, and still keep me happy when I want to add a little more spirit by my self... is it the Red all in one solution I need?
Well, I had to wait at 3 hours for my turn but they eventually let me loose on a Grey Cali T.
First impression: while you can sit 2 adults in the front, you would not be able to fit anything resembling a human with legs unless the front 2 passengers are very short. For reference I am 6ft tall, sit bolt upright with good access to the controls and in that postion my seat was less than an inch from touching the rear seat, to be honest its more of a seat shaped bench. That being said, the seats had the best blend of comfort and support of any car I've been in. For me, its the type of car you could easily hoon for mile after mile, and still feel fresh at the end of your trip, or equally, you could do lap after lap and never need to brace your arm or leg for additional support.
...onto the more fun stuff. The car doesn't have a "race" mode, primarily because it isn't one of Ferraris sports/super/hypercars. You have a choice of Comfort/Sport/ESC off. The car I drove had Ceramic Brakes and the adjustable suspension, while the suspension was never less than absolutely composed, the brakes turned out to be a major weak point in the car for me, but more on that later...
Now I fully accept that the Cali T isn't meant to be taken on track and thrashed, however if someone hands you the keys and allows you to do exactly that...who wouldn't!?
The car had been sitting for over 2 hours when I got the keys so we fired it up and we let it warm up while having a walk around, on the warmup lap I set the car to sport and let the automatically adjusting suspension do its thing.
It immediately becomes apparent, that even in "sports" the car wants to shield you from a world of oversteer, no matter what you do with the throttle, if you have any kind of steering lock on, the car will not return the power to you until all the wheels are pointing straight again...given the market this car is entering, this is probably a good thing!..however I quickly got frustrated with this and as soon as I got onto the back straight for the first time I went to turn off the ESC. This allowed me to get the car moving around alot more and to really feel how well the car is balanced.
I still gave the car a very healthy amount of respect and didn't go chasing drifts but I tried to get my head down and see how well it could be hooned... you can pitch the nose and the car reacts superbly, if you carry a little extra speed into a sharp corner like I did a dab of the brakes on turn in has the back end around slightly more than I'd have liked, truth be told I was almost on the lock stops gathering it all up again, however with the quick steering rack and nice balance, even in snap oversteer the car is (fortunately) controllable.
On the second flying lap I really threw everything I had in my abilities to try (selfishly) get the most of the experience. The gearshifts both up and down the box are hair-trigger fast and it does what you want, when you want! The noise is slightly down on my expectations, while all the notes are right for a Ferrari, it does sound almost like you're listening to the engine noise being played through a racing sim like gran turismo, I guess synthetic is the word I'd use..synthetic, but 100% recognisable as a Ferrari.
Unfortunately the brakes faded on the start of the next lap and I immediately backed off, (I don't know what fluid they put in the lines as every car was serviced before the event, but I was very suprised that after only 2 hot laps at speed they gave up).
In summary, the Ferrari California T... sublime GT car, I can't express enough how competent this car is for the job it has been designed, while it won't set the hairs up on the back of your neck, it will stop you from snapping it should you choose to try impress a blonde lovely with some flamboyant oversteer on a roundabout exit! As we say up North, not too shabby!
Anyway here are some pictures from the day as a reward for reading the above drivel!
First impression: while you can sit 2 adults in the front, you would not be able to fit anything resembling a human with legs unless the front 2 passengers are very short. For reference I am 6ft tall, sit bolt upright with good access to the controls and in that postion my seat was less than an inch from touching the rear seat, to be honest its more of a seat shaped bench. That being said, the seats had the best blend of comfort and support of any car I've been in. For me, its the type of car you could easily hoon for mile after mile, and still feel fresh at the end of your trip, or equally, you could do lap after lap and never need to brace your arm or leg for additional support.
...onto the more fun stuff. The car doesn't have a "race" mode, primarily because it isn't one of Ferraris sports/super/hypercars. You have a choice of Comfort/Sport/ESC off. The car I drove had Ceramic Brakes and the adjustable suspension, while the suspension was never less than absolutely composed, the brakes turned out to be a major weak point in the car for me, but more on that later...
Now I fully accept that the Cali T isn't meant to be taken on track and thrashed, however if someone hands you the keys and allows you to do exactly that...who wouldn't!?
The car had been sitting for over 2 hours when I got the keys so we fired it up and we let it warm up while having a walk around, on the warmup lap I set the car to sport and let the automatically adjusting suspension do its thing.
It immediately becomes apparent, that even in "sports" the car wants to shield you from a world of oversteer, no matter what you do with the throttle, if you have any kind of steering lock on, the car will not return the power to you until all the wheels are pointing straight again...given the market this car is entering, this is probably a good thing!..however I quickly got frustrated with this and as soon as I got onto the back straight for the first time I went to turn off the ESC. This allowed me to get the car moving around alot more and to really feel how well the car is balanced.
I still gave the car a very healthy amount of respect and didn't go chasing drifts but I tried to get my head down and see how well it could be hooned... you can pitch the nose and the car reacts superbly, if you carry a little extra speed into a sharp corner like I did a dab of the brakes on turn in has the back end around slightly more than I'd have liked, truth be told I was almost on the lock stops gathering it all up again, however with the quick steering rack and nice balance, even in snap oversteer the car is (fortunately) controllable.
On the second flying lap I really threw everything I had in my abilities to try (selfishly) get the most of the experience. The gearshifts both up and down the box are hair-trigger fast and it does what you want, when you want! The noise is slightly down on my expectations, while all the notes are right for a Ferrari, it does sound almost like you're listening to the engine noise being played through a racing sim like gran turismo, I guess synthetic is the word I'd use..synthetic, but 100% recognisable as a Ferrari.
Unfortunately the brakes faded on the start of the next lap and I immediately backed off, (I don't know what fluid they put in the lines as every car was serviced before the event, but I was very suprised that after only 2 hot laps at speed they gave up).
In summary, the Ferrari California T... sublime GT car, I can't express enough how competent this car is for the job it has been designed, while it won't set the hairs up on the back of your neck, it will stop you from snapping it should you choose to try impress a blonde lovely with some flamboyant oversteer on a roundabout exit! As we say up North, not too shabby!
Anyway here are some pictures from the day as a reward for reading the above drivel!
Thank you. I really enjoyed that. It was not boastful or overblown but gave me a real sense of the car. Real talent in the description. Much appreciated that you took the time to writ it up.
But for slipped discs (mine, not the car's) I would now be off looking for a wet, cold blast in my little Caterham. As it is I will keep wandering the Internet for others' experiences.
Have a great day and thanks again
Cheers.
Stu
But for slipped discs (mine, not the car's) I would now be off looking for a wet, cold blast in my little Caterham. As it is I will keep wandering the Internet for others' experiences.
Have a great day and thanks again
Cheers.
Stu
Stuart70 said:
Thank you. I really enjoyed that. It was not boastful or overblown but gave me a real sense of the car. Real talent in the description. Much appreciated that you took the time to writ it up.
But for slipped discs (mine, not the car's) I would now be off looking for a wet, cold blast in my little Caterham. As it is I will keep wandering the Internet for others' experiences.
Have a great day and thanks again
Cheers.
Stu
No problem, I was being filmed the whole way around and the video should be up by Friday with a bit of luck. I was told to talk constantly so they can cut what they want out. I have no control over the editing, so I may come across as a baffoon, however it will be funny to see if my voice went up a couple of octaves when I say to the panic stricken camera man "I've got it" as it snapped sideways on me or if I sound like a calm collected hero But for slipped discs (mine, not the car's) I would now be off looking for a wet, cold blast in my little Caterham. As it is I will keep wandering the Internet for others' experiences.
Have a great day and thanks again
Cheers.
Stu
I tell you what though, it really gave me an insight into how frickin professional the journalists are who get 3-5 laps on press launches like I did and still manage to produce a review worth watching... Harris et al, I doff my cap sirs!
red_duke said:
Yes, excellent and concise review. Thank you for covering the noise aspect. You mention it sounded a little synthetic. Presumably you had the top down?
The top was up for track duties I'm afraid. Yes, the noise sounded that way I'd guess primarily because its well insulated against road noise for super cruising, so any noise that makes it into the cabin sounds slightly muffled giving it a synthetically generated quality.
Yes, I would agree with your overall commentary having driving it at Millbrook. I was offered later to use it at a track day, but chose to go out in the 458 instead.
It's never going to be that amazing round a track or driven at 100% given the nature of the car, but it does hustle around well enough to use as a sort of 'party trick' every now and again and when the right road, weather and traffic conditions all align themselves and you want some fun, I think it does a pretty decent job. You feel it's not a true sports car, but you still enjoy it.
As a GT car I think it is just perfect.
It's never going to be that amazing round a track or driven at 100% given the nature of the car, but it does hustle around well enough to use as a sort of 'party trick' every now and again and when the right road, weather and traffic conditions all align themselves and you want some fun, I think it does a pretty decent job. You feel it's not a true sports car, but you still enjoy it.
As a GT car I think it is just perfect.
Gassing Station | Supercar General | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff