Residents of Maranello, Ferrari’s home town, have an almost Mafioso-like family bond with the brand, but the cars themselves won’t get a local to lift his head from a plate of tortellini.
As I depart from the front gate of the famed factory here in a shiny red, and new for 2012, California with optional Handling Speciale package, I’m expecting traffic to stop. But no. No finger pointing. No oohs. No aahs. Nada.
People here have been jaded by more than 60 years of supercar sightings, and the fact that I’ve been flown to Maranello to sample the now more powerful and sharper handling GT convertible, means little to them. Besides, the California is Ferrari’s entry-level model (sounds strange doesn’t it?) and in this part of town they’re almost as common as Hi-Ace taxis to us South Africans.
It’s what you’d call a “conquest” model that since launch in 2008 has brought many customers to Ferrari, and of all California clientele, around 70 percent have been stolen out from behind the wheels of cars like Porsche’s 911, Bentley’s GT and the California’s most likely competitor, the Mercedes SL.
For 2012, the California’s 4.3-litre V8’s been updated with new ECU mapping, fancy machining in the piston tops, and a clever new reed-valve to alleviate pressures down in the crankcase. The changes add up to around 23kW extra and I’m anxious to feel what the 360kW and 505Nm in total feel like, so I impatiently hoof it up to its 8000rpm redline in first gear before I’m even out of town.
“Sounds like a Nascar on helium”
With typical Ferrari exhaust tuning and such a short stroke, the engine sounds like a Nascar on helium. I’ve just created one hell of a high-pitched ruckus, but the local polizei, whom I expect to give me a bollocking, just tip their hats in my direction and smirk. Maybe they think I’m an official test driver or something.
The power increase has brought 0-100km/h times down to 3.8 seconds from 4 flat, says Ferrari, and top speed is 312km/h. It pulls strongly through all seven gears, and I’m especially impressed with the amount of low-down torque from such a high-revving V8, but even so I suspect acceleration claims to be a bit ambitious. Especially at reef altitude. I’d most closely compare this kind of performance with Merc’s (now discontinued) 6.2-litre SL63 AMG model.
As I head out of town I push my luck again. I’d say the California's size and dimensions are again about the same as Merc’s SL, maybe slightly smaller, so the narrow and very twisty roads in this part of the world are the perfect playground for chassis testing. I’m hurtling from one hairpin to the next, giving Ferrari’s first ever dual-clutch gearbox a workout, tyres moaning in agony, when I encounter a cyclist peloton at an almost unsafe rate of speed. But, just as I expect to be beaten with a bike pump, the gang shimmies to one side and waves me past as if near death experiences by way of Ferrari happen all the time.
This year’s model weighs 30kg less, and is more structurally rigid thanks to some new aluminium construction techniques, and the end results are good. Scuttle shake is almost imperceptible but, as in any open-topper, is still evident. The California would make a fantastic coupé methinks, but even with the slightest of chassis twist it is still the best performance convertible I’ve ever driven.
MORE RESPONSIVE
An optional “Handling Speciale” suspension package that includes stiffer springs, a quicker steering rack and sportier shock absorber internals, is a must for enthusiastic drivers. I’m told that Ferrari only expects 10 percent of all new Californias to be sold as HS models, but I’d be surprised if this were true, especially in our market.
The changes make for a much more responsive car, and while the special springs do create a firmer ride, they’re still well within realistic road-going rates. I drove the two cars back-to-back and found the standard California just a tad on the soft side with a slightly over-assisted steering feel. If you’ve got R2.9-million to spend on a new California, throw in the extra R88 000 for the Handling Speciale edition. You’ll thank me. Just don’t expect local South Africans to be as friendly towards your purchase as the Italians. Jealousy can be a bitch.
South African customers can order the new California and California HS now but, in usual Ferrari fashion, it’ll take six months to build. Patience, I’m afraid, is a pre-requisite of Ferraristi. -Star Motoring
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