Reviews

Ferrari FF first drive, video and picture gallery

We drive the new Ferrari FF. Do its practicality and four-wheel drive spoil the Ferrari experience?

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11 Apr 2011

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Evo rating

Price

from £227,026

Four, four, forza!

Power oversteer not on the menu

What is it?

Priced at £227,026 The new Ferrari FF is a four-seat, four-wheel drive, V12 replacement for the 612 Scaglietti.

Technical highlights?

This is the first four-wheel drive car that Ferrari has ever made and the 4RM system is in no way conventional. To get power to the front wheels it takes drive directly off the front of the crankshaft and then channels it through a small gearbox and two wet clutches. It’s claimed this configuration weighs 50 per cent less than a normal centre-diff arrangement. (There are masses of other tech highlights but you’ll have to read the magazine for those!)

What’s it like to drive?

The traction from the 4RM system is phenomenal. In the dry at least, big power oversteer slides are definitely off the menu because just when you’d expect the tail to let go the front wheels imperceptibly receive drive and transform a slide into forward momentum. It’s quite incredible the first time you experience it.

The typically light and responsive Ferrari steering makes the car feel much smaller than it is and the pace it can achieve up or down a bumpy Alpine pass must be every bit as quick as a 599 GTB. Amazingly it also fulfils the GT role, riding sublimely and cruising in a hushed and reverential manner at big speeds on the Autostrada.

If you are expecting something that has the ultimate over the limit dynamic edge of a 458 or 599 then you will be disappointed. However, the FF wasn't designed simply to be a four seat version of a 599. It can tackle terrain and roads that you wouldn't think about taking a 599 across, so small compromises in the driving experience are inevitable and in this case, I think, not unhealthy.

How does it compare?

There’s more room in the back than an Aston Martin Rapide and it is significantly faster and more agile than a Bentley Continental GT. Admitedly it’s also quite a lot more expensive.

Anything else I should know?

You can fold the rear seats down and put a bicycle in the back! For a full report buy issue 157 of evo.

Ferrari FF video and picture gallery here

Configure your own Ferrari FF supercar

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