Ferrari 812 Superfast 2017 first drive


Obviously economy and emissions have to improve, too. The new cleaner injection system helps. So does the stop-start system cutting the engine when you’re decelerating past 5mph, although that does feel weird. Peak power is at 8500rpm while peak torque of 530lb ft is at 7000rpm, so you suspect this V12 will thrive on revs. Still, 80% of torque can be had from 3500rpm. And let’s face it, when peak power is 789bhp, even half of that is a fair chunk. 


The V12 is mated to a seven-speed dual-clutch automatic gearbox, and because the ’box is at the back, it gives the 812 the same slight rearward weight bias – about 53% – as the F12 had before it. 


The body structure is largely unchanged from the F12, too. It’s different at the front to accommodate EPAS, not HPAS, and at the back to fit the rear-steer. But, some stiffening fabrication differences aside, it’s little altered. 


Still, 60kg did come out of the F12’s construction: through lighter electrics and plumbing, sound proofing and endless pressure on suppliers. But the stronger engine and rear-steer has put the lot back in again. So claimed weight stays at 1630kg (call it just over 1700kg on our scales, given that we tested an F12 at 1715kg). Which is a fair whack. 

It’s aggressive to look at. There are aerodynamic details aplenty to pore over, plus a vast open frontal grille, or “smile”, Ferrari calls it, which is to friendly smiles what eating your kids is to childminding. Inside there are two seats, a driver-centric instrument stack, a supplementary instrument binnacle for the passenger (very cool) and a bit of oddment storage. Behind all that is a hatch with a decent-sized but high-temperature boot. 

The devil’s in the tuning, I’m sure. There are so many systems hooked up to an 812’s dynamics that it would be easy to get it wrong, to have a car that feels nothing like as natural and dependable as, say, Aston Martin a benchmark V12 front-engined handler like an Aston Martin V12 Vantage S or Vanquish S. But they’ve actually gone and done it, you know. They’ve made this thing quite brilliant – and feel relatively natural – to drive. 

The seat, steering wheel and pedal positions help, I’m sure. You can settle into an 812 easily. Yes, it feels wide, because it is, and yes, the nose feels long, because it is, and yes, the rear three-quarter visibility is pretty poor. But it’s not intimidating. 

The steering is light, as ever, with the same ratio as the F12, so it’s around two turns lock-to-lock and, while that makes it feel nervy just off straight-ahead, after brief acclimatisation you learn to live with its energy. There isn’t a vast level of feel, but there never was with Ferrari’s hydraulic system, either. What the steering does tell you is passed on in nudges and hints, so it’s better to release your grip on the wheel because the car appreciates smooth inputs. That way you can take it up to its limits without upsetting the balance of what is, let’s not forget, a relatively heavy car. You wouldn’t know that from its capability, or from its agility, or from its carbon-ceramic brakes’ seemingly unstoppable stoppability, but weight there is. 

The gearshift is probably the finest dual-clutch in motordom. Its easily flicked, fixed paddles unleash the fastest upshifts and most quickly brapped downshifts in the business. They’re so fast that at the end of a straight – on road or track – you find yourself waiting longer to activate them, taking advantage of the smoothness of braking in a single gear, then grabbing them one after another quickly as you turn. 

Turn in ambitiously, at low speed, and the 812 can understeer a bit, but at faster speeds the rear-bias makes it neutral at least, lively at most. Then, on the way out of any corner, at any speed, 789bhp makes the rear move as much as you like – and when the Superfast slides, it does so quickly but controllably. 

The engine’s sharpness means it’s better to stay strong on the accelerator and wait for the vehicle speed to gently match the wheel speed, lest it slip clumsily back into line. Unlike with a turbo, there’s no engine hang when you lift-off to keep the rear tyres spinning which, I think, is a reason the mid-engined 488 GTB is even easier to mess around with than the 812 Superfast. 

But that the 812 Superfast is this easy at all is absurd. When it does slide, the steering wants less torque to countersteer than it does to add more lock. If you do it naturally you’ll hardly notice; if you don’t, it’ll help you out. 

Only once in a day’s driving, not long after I got into it, did the 812’s steering torque build up when I wasn’t expecting it, which is probably me clumsily acclimatising. After that it felt entirely natural.