Weekend with a 599
Had the chance to spent the weekend with a 599. I made a test drive on Thursday and while doing it the brakes failed. Dealer fixed the car and drop me on Friday night to spend the weekend and see if I wanted to keep it.
What an amazing great looking car, so much better than on pics. The presence on road is superb while being very discreet. I can even say that for a super car I can´t find anything more discreet, the color helped a lot. In city center people barely looked at the car, only engine sound would steer some folks and their looks.
Suspension is harder than my 911 but still comfortable, driving position is the best I ever had, I´m 1,92Mts / 6,3 and there´s lots of space, seats are wide, firm and very very comfortable, the steering wheel just falls on your hands like a perfect glove, the felling of engagement is total, you really feel you´re in the car instead of on the car. Steering wheel with carbon application is a must, wonderful feeling to the touch, I can say the driving position was the thing I liked most on this car, you just want to seat there forever. The interior quality and specially the design is a joke for 350K euro car, buttons and general layout are not proper for an exotic like this, the buckle that grabs the suitcase behind the front seats were both rusty, I mean really BROWN rusty . Engine sound is great, love the way the ignition fires the engine. Brakes are good and handling seemed great, I didn´t went to limit but made some high speed curves and also a little of mountain road and there were no strange behavior, everything went smooth and predictable. On the mountain road the mix of screaming engine sound at 8400rpm, the red lights popping on the steering wheel, the hard clunk of the F1 gearbox on your back passing gears and great handling made it an amazing driving experience than only a super car with this power can provide.
Car is BIG and wide, but on the road due to the unbelievable torque and very direct steering you don´t feel the size that much, it almost makes the car feel light. The gearbox is a disaster, you feel every gear entering in full auto, and while in manual you have to take of the foot from throttle in order to have a smooth gear change, something from the passed.
I ended up not buying the car, today dealer made a proposal that didn´t attracted me, but the bug is definitely here and next year I may pull the trigger for an exotic like this, I love a big V12 in front with RWD layout.
The plus:
Driving position, Torque, wonderful timeless exterior design, discreet looks, engine sound, Ferrari V12 and general great feel while driving ( that´s really what counts most )
The minus:
F1 gearbox, consumption, equipment, interior design and quality, exhaust tips (they´re not pretty and stick to out of the bumper)
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J.Seven