Quote:
nberry said:
Here is what an owner of a 997S had to say:
>> The Turbo (IMHO) just doesn't have the looks and the passion (compared to Italian alternatives) that a Pounds100k+ supercar should have. Plus my current Carrera S is just as good a GT car as the TT given the speed limits here outside of German Autobarns
You must admit he has a point.
He has NO point. This is just an excuse, same as some Ferrari drivers use when it comes to serious performance driving over here in Germany. C'mon, a car is for driving, not for putting it in the living room and looking at it.
If I want beauty, I look at my wife. If I want passion, I have fun with her. And if I want to drive fast and have fun driving, I use the 997 Turbo. The problem is that some of the enjoyment of Ferrari driving is actually not the driving itself but the being seen driving. It is a poser's car, no doubt about it but of course there are people who enjoy the driving itself too but unfortunately not that many. And don't tell me where I know this from, I know dozends of Ferrari and Porsche drivers. Getting back to the F430: the F430 is a fantastic sportscar and it looks very good, no doubt about it. Whoever says something else must be out of his mind. But when it comes to choosing ONE sportscar for my enjoyment, I have to choose the best one for driving. And the comparison with the 996 GT2 MkII actually showed how fast even older Porsches are. Or take the tuned 993 Turbo who joined us, I could hardly pass him and this guy never had technical issues. We also had a F355 Spider with us, a beautiful black one with black painted wheels. Gorgeous car. The most ugly Ferrari is actually the F360 Modena, never understood why people liked it. Same applies to the Mondial, horrible car.
I agree, the 997 Turbo is no beauty but it always attracts attention and I actually never heard somebody saying: oh boy, this car is ugly, on the contrary. But I agree, women love the Ferrari most, which actually should give Ferrari owners a little hint what it is all about.
The F430 is the first "affordable" Ferrari which is both, beautiful and fast. All the "affordable" Ferrari models before the F430 were crap in my opinion, even my "beloved" F355 wasn't a very good performer. The Enzo is a different story, I heard even Porsche engineers dreaming of this car and showing respect. The 599 still have to prove it's capabilities but after my 550 Maranello encounter with my 996 Turbo back in 2000 (a famous german opera singer with Monaco license plates), I was pretty disappointed with Ferrari. I outran him in the 200-300 kph speed range pretty easy and this guy was actually explaining it with "more luggage" he had onboard. I had two large Samsonite in the rear, so he couldn't be serious.