[ENGINE REVVING]
Good evening, everyone.
A few weeks ago I bought a Ferrari.
Now why buy a Ferrari when you've, quite publicly, stated
that you don't like the company?
Well, because I like the cars and I miss
not driving the cars.
But really this is about value.
You see, 599 prices in the UK have dipped sharply in the
past six months, and I just thought it
looked like a good punt.
I mean, I know a car like this is only about 15,000 pounds
more than the best 575 Maranello.
Now don't get me wrong, the 575 is a lovely old thing, but
the 599 is on a completely different planet.
This is a fully fledged supercar.
It has a 620-horsepower [INAUDIBLE]
V12 with 448-foot pounds of torque.
And it weighs 1750 kilograms.
The front brakes are 398 millimeter carbon ceramics.
And the rear tires are 305 section Pirellis.
It's also a GT car that will hit 100 miles an hour in seven
and a half seconds, do over 200 miles an hour, and--
to me--
looks the absolute business in grigio silverstone.
It also uses fuel like nothing I've ever owned.
I think there's a hole in the fuel tank.
[ENGINE REVVING]
But what's it like to actually drive this 599?
Pretty spectacular actually, I have to say.
I'm a lucky swine in that I get to drive lots of nice cars
on a daily basis, but this thing-- every time I get into
it I think, wow.
I really do think, wow.
But I also think at full-noise, in second gear,
when it's right lit, I think to myself, it's got 620
horsepower and yet the car that's just replaced it and
made this the old Ferrari has got another-- what?
120 horsepower?
You do think to yourself, what does that mean on the road?
How can you possibly use it?
Because I can't use 8/10 of the performance of this car
most of the time.
Anyhow, I am a journalist, and I have to state on the record
that you probably never can have too much power when
you're in a supercar because that's what they're all about.
And this is a supercar and I quite like owning supercars.
I wouldn't say it's an easy car to drive slowly either.
The old flappy paddle gearbox is not to my
liking, I have to say.
Although this one isn't annoying me as much as I
thought it might.
At low speed you have to sort of just manage the throttle a
bit and watch out for the odd creep and junctions.
It's not as you want it.
I'd love to have bought a car with a stick, but in the UK,
apparently, none were delivered.
And that meant going down the route of buying one maybe in
Germany and shipping it over here.
And I just got a bit scared and thought, I won't be able
to sell it one day.
So I'm with paddles.
Once you're up and running, they are fairly impressive and
the shift is fast.
And actually, you do get into a groove, just having your
hands on the wheel.
[INAUDIBLE].
But there are maybe four or five important components of
driving a car.
And not having three pedals and a gear shift to wrestle
with, I feel I'm being denied that percentage of the driving
experience.
Maybe I'm an old bastard, but I feel it's quite important
and I miss it.
Rides pretty good.
I have to say I'd like to have a soft [INAUDIBLE]
with the fast gear change, and you can't separate that.
You had to have a [INAUDIBLE]
or 458 for them to start doing that.
Might have a button under there to be able to override
the function.
But other than that, my biggest problem here is how am
I going to avoid doing too many miles in it and making it
worth about 20 pence at the end of my ownership.
That's a pretty good problem to have, though, isn't it?
And, of course, when you switch all the stuff off, you
can do this.
It's just lunacy.
So I'll drive it a bit quicker now, and I'll try and tell you
what it's like to drive this car quite quickly.
Second gear, almost can't use it in the UK fully open
because it's got so much [INAUDIBLE].
I've got shift lights on the steering wheel, which are
quite helpful, because you can't look down at the rev
counter when you're on.
Big car but the steering is accurate so I can get it to
where I want it to be.
Listen to that noise.
Oh, yes.
It's very neutral.
And it's strange.
Even though your head tells you this is a front-engine
car, it doesn't feel that way, because it's got so much
traction when you just [INAUDIBLE].
If you smash the throttle open yeah, it's a problem.
It'll just spool up.
But if you feed it in it's got loads of traction and feels
really well-balanced.
It's a physically big car for the roads that
I drive it on certainly.
It's much bigger than I expected it to be.
It feels kind of [INAUDIBLE]
wide.
The 512 is a smaller car, and I think that's a really clever
development.
The weight, over 1700 kilograms, you can't feel that
because the car's so agile.
I've got lots of managing settings down here to go from
normal, to sport, to race.
But really when it comes down to it it's about dropping a
gear and overtaking stuff.
Oh, yes.
It's just awesome.
The motor, it's smooth, it's responsive.
But most of all, in my head, it's a D2 Enzo engine for the
same money as a new 911 Porsche.
That has to make it the bargain of the century,
doesn't it?
[ENGINE REVVING]
So for my money, this is the best value supercar
on sale right now.
It isn't as pure as the RS, but it's
something totally different.
And that's what I want from car ownership, as many
different experiences as possible.
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