This car has the wheelbase of a limo, but, from behind the wheel, it feels nothing of the sort. I've steadily been upping the pace around corners in this quiet corner of Italy, but while I've been focusing on the engine, the extremely high levels of agility catch me unaware. The Ferrari, however, punches hard in other areas. Those long hard pulls to the redline, the wide 6,000rpm powerband, they're just not part of the Ferrari V8 experience anymore, and that smarts.
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So, while this motor gets full marks for many things, the feeling of ever increasing engine acceleration and sharp responses at high speeds – max power at just 7,500rpm – means it feels like someone has lopped off the best bit of the powerband. Yes, that explosive torque-laden mid-range is great but there's also nothing quite like a naturally aspirated Ferrari motor that sings all the way to 9,000rpm. It's just rolling hills and corner after corner after corner here.įirst up, a tinge of disappointment. Some of the best driving roads in Tuscany are before me, and since this corner of Italy seems surprisingly devoid of any real traffic, this is not an opportunity to be missed. The short travel spring and those attractive 20-inch rims, however, do get caught out on a particularly poorly patched section of the Autostrade.īut enough of canter, it's time to up the tempo and switch to a full gallop. The suspension is actually supple even when roads are pretty bad. Ferrari has been using the Magneride active damper system for years, and it seems to work a treat here too. Even the ride is surprisingly good over regular potholes. The GTC4Lusso T also impresses at low speeds with its smooth and fluid steering and the nicely weighted brakes make driving it in traffic super comfy.
Get a load of this: the turbos use twin-scroll technology making them feel like a quad turbo setup this engine uses a flat-plane crankshaft for better responses and cylinder scavenging and each cylinder uses up to five pulses from the spark plug per power stroke to ensure all the fuel is burnt. How has Ferrari managed this? Simple, it uses technology to cheat physics. And that's despite a specific power output of 158hp per litre. Progression is so smooth and friendly, I barely detect any lag. Sure this engine has plenty of grunt once the turbo comes in, but responses just off idle speed are quite good too. This cavallino rampante also possesses plenty of soft skills. The max torque comes in at around 3,000rpm and once you get onto that, all that weight just melts away. It's what the turbos and direct injection have delivered – masses and masses of torque. I'm barely using an inch and a half of throttle, but the GTC4Lusso T is already vaulting towards the horizon like I've mashed the throttle into the pedal box. There was a time when four-seaters were a lot more ponderous and lethargic than their two-seater cousins there was also a time when a roughly 250kg weight penalty was a death knell for agility, but today, with Ferrari's V8 pumping iron and blasting out 760Nm of torque, upping the pace is just effortless. What's causing all those fabulous colours to blur, however, is Ferrari's new GT, the inverted-shovel-like nose ripping apart the scenery. Rolling hills, olive groves, vineyards, tall needle-like Italian cypress trees and mansions made of centuries-old stone – time seems to have stood still here you can all but imagine Renaissance masters sitting in the fields with easels, paintbrushes and oil paints. A tiny Fiat 500 it isn't.Įventually, we break through – straight into what looks like an Impressionist masterpiece. Yes, the visibility from that big windscreen is good, and that does make it easier, but this is a 4.9m long car with an almost three-metre-long wheelbase. The first hurdle involves negotiating some cobblestoned back streets that seem to randomly snake through one of Tuscany's most haphazardly planned villages.
Then, of course, comes the slightly more difficult bit getting to grips with it. The square-bottom steering wheel adjusts to exactly where I want it and getting that relaxed-but-attentive driving position isn't difficult either because there's plenty of legroom. This is no sweat on Ferrari's new GTC4Lusso T. Step one of driving any 610hp car involves getting comfortable behind the wheel.
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