You join me on a crisp, cold English winter's day, which is perfect for using - apparently
- the everyday Ferrari. This is it. This is a Ferrari, but it’s a Ferrari you can use
even in crummy conditions like these. It’s called the GTC4 Lusso T, it’s a four seater
Ferrari, and this is the everyman version of the everyday Ferrari, if you follow me.
Instead of the big V12 engine it’s got a smaller V8, it’s a bit cheaper, it’s a bit
more normal and I’ll tell you what, we’ll pull over, I’ll talk you through some of
the changes between V12 and V8, tell you what it's like and then we’ll head back out for a drive.
What makes this then the practical Ferrari? Well, there is this large boot, which is big enough for - I
don’t know - some baguettes or a couple of set of golf clubs or something, but it doesn’t
have a flat floor because this has, as it’s a Ferrari and is sporting, has got a gearbox
at the back, it’s also got the fancy e-diff at the back and some underfloor aerodynamics.
But because there’s a lighter engine at the front and all that gubbins, what it
means is that the weight distribution is 1% further rear-biased than in the V12 and - it’s
like 1985 this, isn’t it? - we’re actually going to show you an engine. It’s Ferraris
3.9-litre, twin-turbocharged V8, which makes 88 horsepower less than the big V12, but because
it’s turbocharged, it has more torque and it makes it at lower revs. But what I really
want to show you is how far behind the axle line it sits. Because there’s none of that
front-wheel-drive shenanigans, because it’s got 4 fewer cylinders, it sits well back in
the chassis in a way you might, if you like the phrase, though I’m not sure I do, call
front-mid engined. But what it should do is give the GTC4 T a really sweet handling balance.
So what is it like? Well, ergonomically, I’m back up to sort of 50mph and I’m sitting here
and I’m comfortable actually. I get a decent view out .This is quite a wide car, no question,
visibility is not great down that left side. Visibility is also not great out of that rear
window, which I can’t clean because there is no rear wiper. But it’s a hatchback type
window, so when it’s got all the salt grime buildup on it, as it gets this time of year,
it’s just like driving a panel van where you can’t see out the back, you’ve only
got the door mirrors, but that’s okay. It’s got two seats in the back, they are pretty
large actually. Well, sort of super coupe standard. The boot isn’t huge but the rear
seats do split 40/20/40 to turn it into a tiny van, if you want to. I’ve got my slightly
off-shaped steering wheel, with everything on it, just everything's on it: indicators,
wipers, pull wiper for the squirt; I’ve got headlight main beam and I’ve got headlight
flash; I’ve got my soft damper mode, got my engine start-stop and then there’s a
telephone thing and a voice control and then the manettino from which, unlike in racier
Ferraris where you can go from Comfort, Wet through to Track mode, this doesn’t have
a Track mode. It just has Wet, Comfort, Sport, ESC off, which would be a brave button to
push when you’ve got 600 horsepower on a wet February day. I’m not going to. But
what I will use is the bumpy road mode because we’re in sport which firms up the dampers,
and this bumpy road mode just eases the dampers off, and lets the GTC4 ride over slightly
crummy surfaces like this with a surprising amount of breathing space actually. There’s
this sort of minor ripply thing going on all the time, but actually cabin insulation from
the ride is really very, very good. It’s relatively quiet as well, I’ve got the gearbox
in auto, it’s already changed up to 7th gear at sort of 1500 rpm, so you can’t hear
the engine, at all. If you want to turn it up, you just take it off auto and then it’s
a Ferrari V8. What could be better than that? So, although it’s short of power compared
to the V12, it’s not short on torque, because it’s turbo-charged, it has even more torque
and it has it at much lower revs. So it’s a really easy car to make quick progress with.
Because it’s a V8, because there isn’t that front-wheel-drive gubbins also going
on in front of the larger capacity engine, it’s that little bit more agile as well.
All that weight that has come out, you can just feel - and you don’t have to have driven
a V12 recently - you can just feel as you turn, with small inputs, it’s just that
bit more keen to turn, which is really terrific. When you do load it up it’s got that nice,
front-engined, rear-wheel-drive handling balance. It steers well, it stops well, around town
the carbon ceramic brakes, that are standard on all Ferraris, have pedal feel that isn’t
that easy to modulate but once you’re up to speed, it’s terrific, it really is. So
where does that leave the GTC4 Lusso T, other than slightly overnamed? Well, there's not
that much around it, you can have an Aston Martin DB11, there’s a new Bentley Continental
GT coming, they’re at slightly different ends of the scale. This is more down towards
the Aston, maybe it’s even a bit sportier even than the Aston Martin is. I like it, it’s
got a softer edge than the V12 GTC4, it rides nicely, it steers nicely, it goes nicely,
it stops nicely, it looks kind of weird but kind of cool at the same time, there’s not
a lot else directly around it in the market. I think if you’re thinking “yeah I want
as everyday a Ferrari as I can get, but that has also got a sporting edge to it”, then
maybe this is the very car for you.