So this is a smash-and-grab trip
to Fiorano in Italy, Ferrari's home. We've got the circuit ourselves.
Not much time. About 45 minutes to go
and flash this thing around, and the thing we're driving is...
It's over there. Go and have a look. It's the new Ferrari 812 Superfast, the replacement for the F12 which already
had 740 horsepower. This car has 800 horsepower
from an enlarged 6.5-litre V12 and 529 foot-pounds of torque. The red line is set to 8,900 rpm. The gearbox is the same dual clutch unit
as before, but gears one to six are much shorter. Shift times are 30 per cent faster
on the way up and a huge 40 per cent faster
on the way down. The chassis is best described
as nine tenths F12 TDF with rear-wheel steering
and increased spring rate. The 812 also inherits that car's
crazy wide 275-section front tyre. Dry weight is 1,525 kilograms. The aerodynamics are
very different to the F12's with a front-diffuser system that
can stall or accelerate the airflow. With a smashing of options,
it's a 300,000 pound machine. Oh, as you're about to see,
I either forgot to do up my chin strap or I did it deliberately to give you
something to chatter about in the comment section. Crash home. It's on. New rules at Fiorano. An 800-horsepower
front-engined Berlinetta. Well, what a thing that is. What have we got here?
We've got four-wheel steering now. The rear axle is doing that.
Some clever stuff goes on here. So, for example, if you get yourself into
a terminal understeer situation, the rear wheel can actually turn
to help you get that movement change into a corner, which I thought was--
I think it's very clever. Power. Does it feel faster than an F12? Do you know what? It does, and it does
because of the gearing and the power. It's on a normal p0 tyre, which is just fighting so much temperature
and pain on this circuit. Think of this as an understatement
on the way in. Traction for a car of this type, you know, front engine, rear-wheel drive. I still think it's snake oil the way
they make these things feel. Well, they have so much traction.
They just fly around the corners. I'm really noticing the gearing. This is
so fast, this thing. Brakes immense. You can hear the engine noise.
How good does that sound? Yes, please. The balance of the car, really good.
The electric power steering, interesting. To me, it feels exactly the same as
the the old hydraulic rack in the F12, which, for, me still, well it was
the weakest part of the F12, and I think
it's the weakest part of this car. The steering just a little too quick, and I don't have a great sense of
connection either, but what an exciting car. And the fact that it's a road car
and it's spitting out these numbers. Let's turn everything off.
See what happens when we do that. So when you slide, the rear wheels
still steer in this car, which they don't in the GTC4Lusso. But it's very, very subtle. I mean, think how much is going on here. There's a computer thinking
about the depth, the dampers. I mean, it's...the four-wheel steering. Fiorano flat, it doesn't get much better
than this. It's very fast fun and slidy on the track,
but it also has a number plates, so you really should trundle
onto the road with it for a bit. Because even though it's fantastically
fast and capable on circuit, the 812 is after all, a street car.
So what's it like on the road? Well, first of all,
like all modern Ferraris, you have to press the little button here and it brings up a logo,
it says bumpy road on the dashboard. Slackens of dampers off, and then you have on a car that's
so civilised, giving its full potential that it is quite difficult to fathom how
they've done it, and the best thing about this sort
of F12 family car... because let's face it, it is
an improved F12, It's smaller than the old 599, so it's
not that wide a car, because there's nothing worse than driving
a supercar, a big GT car, worrying that you're going
to get sideswiped by a lorry, and then both wheels are in the ditch. You don't have that problem in the 812 as you did in the 599. Honestly, how different does it feel
to an F12? Well, not massively. all this has been
redesigned, and it's a bit a bit swankier, and a bit nicer, and there's more carbon, and more architecture, and the drive environment
is still pretty complicated with the control split either side, and you've got the new indicators that you
can flick from behind the wheel that were on the GTC4Lusso and you got your Manettino redesign
and you've got your windshield wipers, which you can now just use
on a rotary control. My little practical advice on how to use
the new 812 Superfast. Look, if you have to drive to Nice
and back in this thing, it would be no hassle whatsoever. It would be comfortable and it would be
a pleasure. That's what this car's all about. Covering distance at great speed and with a surprising level of refinement.
What have they done with this car? They've made the F12 faster
and more capable, and whether you like the look of it
or not, it's a better car than an F12. I don't know where they'd go from here. Can you get more power and torque through
a pair of driven rear wheels? Is this the last normally aspirated
V12 front-engine Ferrari? Most people seem to think it is. Either way, I have a funny feeling
the 812 Superfast will represent a high-water line
or maybe the end of an era for a particular type of Ferrari. I'm just going to drive around
until they ask me to come back in, and when they do that,
I'm gonna ignore them and drive more. Oh where's good pasta at? My only real criticism with the on-road
performance is the ride comfort. The car feels stiffer than an F12, and even with
the soft-damper mode engaged, the ride is pretty busy at low speed. I need to drive it in the UK to see
what it's really like.
