MisterCorn
Fuji
- Joined
- 8 Jan 2011
- Messages
- 9,411
One Wednesday evening back in May I was looking online for a replacement for my Range Rover which had recently had an engine issue. I wasn't particularly looking at spending much money on something, it needed decent luggage space, room for 4, and not horrific fuel consumption. After a few beers and some helpful suggestions from friends on a WhatsApp chat it was decided that a Ferrari FF would fit the bill. It does at least have room for 4 with luggage, fuel consumption not great, but 2 out of 3 isn't bad.
A quick search the next morning reveals that there is one available in the dealer network, and it happens to be at my local dealers, which I drive past on my way to work every day. A quick phone call and viewing arranged for later that day.
Thought about it overnight and called in on the Friday to sort out the paperwork. I was off to Israel for a week and then 5 days driving to Stuttgart and back with my son, so collection was scheduled for the day after we returned from Stuttgart.
Stuttgart trip was fantastic, we went in my R107 300SL, not fast, but a great cruiser. We spend the days talking about what car we should get to replace the Range Rover, the FF was to be a suprise. By the end of our trip it had been decided that the FF was a sensible choice and I should arrange to view the car near us. My son did like the Taycan, which we did the production line tour for, but after a quick check for Taycan and FF engine sounds the FF came out on top. Plenty of time for scalextric cars when we can't get petrol ones....
So what my son thought was going to see the car for a test drive was to pick it up and drive it home. Fair to see he was pretty happy
I did a couple of hundred miles in the car before it was time to head over to Spain. Ferry from Portsmouth to Santander, 2 hours from Santander to our place and Gijon, and that would be our base for the next 3.5 weeks.
My wife knew I had bought a new car, but hadn't seen it, so this was the first time she had sat in the car when we set off.
Off the ferry and off to Gijon, with a stop on the way for breakfast. Got decent underground parking, cost us 66 Euro for the 3.5 weeks, great value.
I won't go in to great detail on the trip, I did a few drives out on my own around the local area. There are some absolutely fantastic roads, particularly up in the mountains. We had a week heading west to La Coruna, then down to Porto, over to Segovia, then back up to Gijon. These are the places we covered.
Over the course of the nearly 4 weeks we did a total of around 2000 miles. The car didn't attract a huge amount of attention, but it did get positive reactions from everybody who saw it. Never had so many photos taken when just plodding around. The important bit though, the driving impressions....
The car is very comfortable for long journeys, the seats are supportive but the side bolsters aren't really high, so you don't get support like in a bucket seat. The rear seat space is fantastic. My son who is now 13 couldn't get in the back of the DB9 we had, the rear of a 996 is now a stretch, and the rear of the R107 is for short journeys only. I can sit in the back of the FF and have the driving seat in a position I can comfortably drive from. The luggage space is also excellent. Not Range Rover excellent, but if needed the rear seats fold down in a 40/60 split, we didn't have to do that. This does contribute to what is a big car though, just an inch or so shorter than the Range Rover, and slightly wider. Car parks can be an issue. I was concerned with the entry/exit ramps on some, with the fear of grounding the middle of the car. This one has lift which operates front and rear for exactly this and we had no issues. Front and rear parking sensors and cameras helped. Front has 3 cameras, one for each corner and one in the centre. Startup sound is superb, properly loud. My wife wasn't impressed but I pointed out there was nothing I could do about it...
Steering is very fast and very direct, I was a little suprised just how fast it was to start with but soon got used to it. The car uses a 7 speed DCT, similar to the one used in the 458. Changes and fast and smooth, unlike the single clutch SMG I used to have in my CSL which I never used in auto mode because it was terrible, this is genuinely useful and was left in auto in Comfort mode most of the time. Only issues were at very low speeds such as crawling around in a car park. When on a blast it would be put in sport mode and the bumpy road button used to soften the suspension a touch. In sport mode it would often shift down under braking and would hang on to the gears, the car tops out at 208mph so has long gearing, on most spirited driving it stays in 2nd or 3rd with the revs up. Engine sound is superb, great in tunnels in any gear. In the higher gears it is a nice rumble, building to a properly loud screen in 2nd.
Traction is very good, the car for 4wd in the first four gears and felt very sure footed. I wasn't exactly giving it the bean through corners though but never saw the traction control on in a straight line. The FF will happily cruise along from 1400rpm in top gear, around 45mph, and sits at about 2k rpm at the UK limit. A tiny extra throttle and the speed will build build quickly and effortlessly, the engine has masses of easily accessible torque. As a true GT car it is very quiet and comfortable at all speeds, the right pedal acts like a volume control Suspension was in soft more pretty much all the time and felt firm but good.
After nearly four weeks we returned. Ferry arrived in Portsmouth at 8pm, it was 9pm before we were on our way. Speed had to be watched on the motorway to stop it creeping up, we listened to podcasts streamed on bluetooth from my phone and my son fell asleep for nearly two hours.
In summary, I'm massively impressed with this car. It can be a quick cruiser or drop it down a few gears and throw it around where it really comes alive. Only downside really is the size.
Assorted photos of the trip.
MC
A quick search the next morning reveals that there is one available in the dealer network, and it happens to be at my local dealers, which I drive past on my way to work every day. A quick phone call and viewing arranged for later that day.
Thought about it overnight and called in on the Friday to sort out the paperwork. I was off to Israel for a week and then 5 days driving to Stuttgart and back with my son, so collection was scheduled for the day after we returned from Stuttgart.
Stuttgart trip was fantastic, we went in my R107 300SL, not fast, but a great cruiser. We spend the days talking about what car we should get to replace the Range Rover, the FF was to be a suprise. By the end of our trip it had been decided that the FF was a sensible choice and I should arrange to view the car near us. My son did like the Taycan, which we did the production line tour for, but after a quick check for Taycan and FF engine sounds the FF came out on top. Plenty of time for scalextric cars when we can't get petrol ones....
So what my son thought was going to see the car for a test drive was to pick it up and drive it home. Fair to see he was pretty happy
I did a couple of hundred miles in the car before it was time to head over to Spain. Ferry from Portsmouth to Santander, 2 hours from Santander to our place and Gijon, and that would be our base for the next 3.5 weeks.
My wife knew I had bought a new car, but hadn't seen it, so this was the first time she had sat in the car when we set off.
Off the ferry and off to Gijon, with a stop on the way for breakfast. Got decent underground parking, cost us 66 Euro for the 3.5 weeks, great value.
I won't go in to great detail on the trip, I did a few drives out on my own around the local area. There are some absolutely fantastic roads, particularly up in the mountains. We had a week heading west to La Coruna, then down to Porto, over to Segovia, then back up to Gijon. These are the places we covered.
Over the course of the nearly 4 weeks we did a total of around 2000 miles. The car didn't attract a huge amount of attention, but it did get positive reactions from everybody who saw it. Never had so many photos taken when just plodding around. The important bit though, the driving impressions....
The car is very comfortable for long journeys, the seats are supportive but the side bolsters aren't really high, so you don't get support like in a bucket seat. The rear seat space is fantastic. My son who is now 13 couldn't get in the back of the DB9 we had, the rear of a 996 is now a stretch, and the rear of the R107 is for short journeys only. I can sit in the back of the FF and have the driving seat in a position I can comfortably drive from. The luggage space is also excellent. Not Range Rover excellent, but if needed the rear seats fold down in a 40/60 split, we didn't have to do that. This does contribute to what is a big car though, just an inch or so shorter than the Range Rover, and slightly wider. Car parks can be an issue. I was concerned with the entry/exit ramps on some, with the fear of grounding the middle of the car. This one has lift which operates front and rear for exactly this and we had no issues. Front and rear parking sensors and cameras helped. Front has 3 cameras, one for each corner and one in the centre. Startup sound is superb, properly loud. My wife wasn't impressed but I pointed out there was nothing I could do about it...
Steering is very fast and very direct, I was a little suprised just how fast it was to start with but soon got used to it. The car uses a 7 speed DCT, similar to the one used in the 458. Changes and fast and smooth, unlike the single clutch SMG I used to have in my CSL which I never used in auto mode because it was terrible, this is genuinely useful and was left in auto in Comfort mode most of the time. Only issues were at very low speeds such as crawling around in a car park. When on a blast it would be put in sport mode and the bumpy road button used to soften the suspension a touch. In sport mode it would often shift down under braking and would hang on to the gears, the car tops out at 208mph so has long gearing, on most spirited driving it stays in 2nd or 3rd with the revs up. Engine sound is superb, great in tunnels in any gear. In the higher gears it is a nice rumble, building to a properly loud screen in 2nd.
Traction is very good, the car for 4wd in the first four gears and felt very sure footed. I wasn't exactly giving it the bean through corners though but never saw the traction control on in a straight line. The FF will happily cruise along from 1400rpm in top gear, around 45mph, and sits at about 2k rpm at the UK limit. A tiny extra throttle and the speed will build build quickly and effortlessly, the engine has masses of easily accessible torque. As a true GT car it is very quiet and comfortable at all speeds, the right pedal acts like a volume control Suspension was in soft more pretty much all the time and felt firm but good.
After nearly four weeks we returned. Ferry arrived in Portsmouth at 8pm, it was 9pm before we were on our way. Speed had to be watched on the motorway to stop it creeping up, we listened to podcasts streamed on bluetooth from my phone and my son fell asleep for nearly two hours.
In summary, I'm massively impressed with this car. It can be a quick cruiser or drop it down a few gears and throw it around where it really comes alive. Only downside really is the size.
Assorted photos of the trip.
MC
