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  • [ENGINE REVVING]

  • Good evening, everyone.

  • A few weeks ago I bought a Ferrari.

  • Now why buy a Ferrari when you've, quite publicly, stated

  • that you don't like the company?

  • Well, because I like the cars and I miss

  • not driving the cars.

  • But really this is about value.

  • You see, 599 prices in the UK have dipped sharply in the

  • past six months, and I just thought it

  • looked like a good punt.

  • I mean, I know a car like this is only about 15,000 pounds

  • more than the best 575 Maranello.

  • Now don't get me wrong, the 575 is a lovely old thing, but

  • the 599 is on a completely different planet.

  • This is a fully fledged supercar.

  • It has a 620-horsepower [INAUDIBLE]

  • V12 with 448-foot pounds of torque.

  • And it weighs 1750 kilograms.

  • The front brakes are 398 millimeter carbon ceramics.

  • And the rear tires are 305 section Pirellis.

  • It's also a GT car that will hit 100 miles an hour in seven

  • and a half seconds, do over 200 miles an hour, and--

  • to me--

  • looks the absolute business in grigio silverstone.

  • It also uses fuel like nothing I've ever owned.

  • I think there's a hole in the fuel tank.

  • [ENGINE REVVING]

  • But what's it like to actually drive this 599?

  • Pretty spectacular actually, I have to say.

  • I'm a lucky swine in that I get to drive lots of nice cars

  • on a daily basis, but this thing-- every time I get into

  • it I think, wow.

  • I really do think, wow.

  • But I also think at full-noise, in second gear,

  • when it's right lit, I think to myself, it's got 620

  • horsepower and yet the car that's just replaced it and

  • made this the old Ferrari has got another-- what?

  • 120 horsepower?

  • You do think to yourself, what does that mean on the road?

  • How can you possibly use it?

  • Because I can't use 8/10 of the performance of this car

  • most of the time.

  • Anyhow, I am a journalist, and I have to state on the record

  • that you probably never can have too much power when

  • you're in a supercar because that's what they're all about.

  • And this is a supercar and I quite like owning supercars.

  • I wouldn't say it's an easy car to drive slowly either.

  • The old flappy paddle gearbox is not to my

  • liking, I have to say.

  • Although this one isn't annoying me as much as I

  • thought it might.

  • At low speed you have to sort of just manage the throttle a

  • bit and watch out for the odd creep and junctions.

  • It's not as you want it.

  • I'd love to have bought a car with a stick, but in the UK,

  • apparently, none were delivered.

  • And that meant going down the route of buying one maybe in

  • Germany and shipping it over here.

  • And I just got a bit scared and thought, I won't be able

  • to sell it one day.

  • So I'm with paddles.

  • Once you're up and running, they are fairly impressive and

  • the shift is fast.

  • And actually, you do get into a groove, just having your

  • hands on the wheel.

  • [INAUDIBLE].

  • But there are maybe four or five important components of

  • driving a car.

  • And not having three pedals and a gear shift to wrestle

  • with, I feel I'm being denied that percentage of the driving

  • experience.

  • Maybe I'm an old bastard, but I feel it's quite important

  • and I miss it.

  • Rides pretty good.

  • I have to say I'd like to have a soft [INAUDIBLE]

  • with the fast gear change, and you can't separate that.

  • You had to have a [INAUDIBLE]

  • or 458 for them to start doing that.

  • Might have a button under there to be able to override

  • the function.

  • But other than that, my biggest problem here is how am

  • I going to avoid doing too many miles in it and making it

  • worth about 20 pence at the end of my ownership.

  • That's a pretty good problem to have, though, isn't it?

  • And, of course, when you switch all the stuff off, you

  • can do this.

  • It's just lunacy.

  • So I'll drive it a bit quicker now, and I'll try and tell you

  • what it's like to drive this car quite quickly.

  • Second gear, almost can't use it in the UK fully open

  • because it's got so much [INAUDIBLE].

  • I've got shift lights on the steering wheel, which are

  • quite helpful, because you can't look down at the rev

  • counter when you're on.

  • Big car but the steering is accurate so I can get it to

  • where I want it to be.

  • Listen to that noise.

  • Oh, yes.

  • It's very neutral.

  • And it's strange.

  • Even though your head tells you this is a front-engine

  • car, it doesn't feel that way, because it's got so much

  • traction when you just [INAUDIBLE].

  • If you smash the throttle open yeah, it's a problem.

  • It'll just spool up.

  • But if you feed it in it's got loads of traction and feels

  • really well-balanced.

  • It's a physically big car for the roads that

  • I drive it on certainly.

  • It's much bigger than I expected it to be.

  • It feels kind of [INAUDIBLE]

  • wide.

  • The 512 is a smaller car, and I think that's a really clever

  • development.

  • The weight, over 1700 kilograms, you can't feel that

  • because the car's so agile.

  • I've got lots of managing settings down here to go from

  • normal, to sport, to race.

  • But really when it comes down to it it's about dropping a

  • gear and overtaking stuff.

  • Oh, yes.

  • It's just awesome.

  • The motor, it's smooth, it's responsive.

  • But most of all, in my head, it's a D2 Enzo engine for the

  • same money as a new 911 Porsche.

  • That has to make it the bargain of the century,

  • doesn't it?

  • [ENGINE REVVING]

  • So for my money, this is the best value supercar

  • on sale right now.

  • It isn't as pure as the RS, but it's

  • something totally different.

  • And that's what I want from car ownership, as many

  • different experiences as possible.

  • [MUSIC PLAYING]

[ENGINE REVVING]

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