Ferrari

Ferrari's racing pedigree may be more commonly associated with Formula One, but unsurprisingly the Italian firm has also got a very impressive endurance car racing record. Last year the Ferrari F430 GTC of Scuderia Ecosse looked almost certain for a win, until a threaded wheel nut dropped them down to a third place. The winner from Ferrari's low was the slow but reliable Panoz Esperante - LeMans once again throwing a curve ball. Like the Porsche 911s the Ferrari F430 will be aiming to beat, as well as that Panoz, the Ferrari races in GT2.

That means it's closer to its road car relatives than the GT1 cars like the Aston Martin and Corvette.

Unlike Porsche with its 911 GT3 RS Ferrari F430 has yet to reveal a stripped for the road version of its Ferrari F430. We're promised it's coming, but really there's not a lot wrong with the standard car. How does 483bhp from a 4.3-litre V8 sound? Absolutely spine-tingling, that's how.

And you'll hear plenty of them at LeMans.

In terms of Italian cultural cornerstones, Ferrari is right up there with Dante. From America, we can't see the passion that the Italian automaker incites in its homeland, but that passion affects daily necessities such as walking and eating in the birthplace of the Renaissance.

We recently tested the newest Ferrari, the F430 coupe, on the twisty roads of Italy's Emilia-Romagna region. Throughout the day, pedestrians stopped dead in their tracks as we drove by. One teenage Italian boy, who had been riding his bicycle around the streets of Maranello, Ferrari's home, halted alongside the Ferrari F430 as we waited at a stoplight.

Smears of leather-bonding cement on seatbacks and chassis welds that would flunk a Federal Aviation Administration home-built airplane inspection used to be commonplace for Ferraris, despite their legendary status, performance and style. Such were the charming idiosyncrasies of a handmade exotic.

The current Ferrari F430 coupe and its soon-to-be-released convertible version, the Spider, are thoroughly modern and well-built sports cars that dispense with such "charms," despite still being largely assembled by humans and not robots.

Okay, the Ferrari F430 isn't quite up to the build standards of German super cars. Peer into the similarly configured engine compartment of a Porsche Carrera GT, which like the F430 has a mid-engine motor just ahead of the rear axle, and you'll find nothing but the most precise crafting and advanced materials. An Ferrari F430's engine bay may seem crude by comparison. Admittedly the $446,000 Carrera GT is well more than twice the Ferrari F430's $180,000 base price, but either of those numbers should buy perfection.

The Ferrari F430 is the least expensive and most exciting Ferrari. The company's other current offerings — the 575M Maranello, Superamerica and 612 Scaglietti — are substantially more expensive front-engine grand-touring cars. The Ferrari F430 coupe and Spider are more nimble with the best power-to-weight and horsepower-per-liter ratios of the bunch.

The Ferrari F430 rides the bumpy blacktop on the sinuous mountain roads near Ferrari's F430 Maranello headquarters amazingly well for a sports car that has nineteen-inch wheels and rubber-band tires. It's super-stable at all speeds, its only flaw a lack of wheel travel over the sharpest bumps, which occasionally cause the nose to pitch and scrape the underchin spoiler on the deck.

Full rear view of a Ferrari F430
Coming up to another series of hairpin bends, the Ferrari F430 turns in as eagerly as a kid choosing candy. The steering is so intuitive and so beautifully weighted that placing the car is a cinch, and the chassis is so fluent and poised that it's easy to dial out incipient understeer with power. Once you've switched the traction and stability control off via the steering-wheel-mounted selector, you can even unglue the tail on the exits of these 180-degree bends. The Ferrari F430 corners flat and true, the fat Bridgestones gripping hard. This is sensory overload, and it's great.

What things have gone wrong with the Ferrari 550 Maranello?

So far all faults have been minor:

Ferrari 550 Maranello steams up due to moisture in air conditioning.

Front speakers are intermittent.

Rev counter occasionally gives up.

Bonnet warning light comes on at over 120 mph.

Suspension warning occasionally lights up.

Seat bolster has worn slightly.
General comments?

I am very pleased with Ferrari 550 Maranello. I have long hankered after a Daytona, but realised I would'nt be in a position to afford one for a few years yet and so settled on the next best thing!

I've gone for Rosso Corsa which I feel shows the Ferrari 550 Maranellos lines well. The paintwork is faultless, a tribute to Ferrari as this is a five year old car.

Performance of the Ferrari 550 Maranello is very strong, with diesel style torque low down and screaming madness higher up. I have a Tubi exhaust and mid section so the noise is truley astonishing.

Handling is good rather thans excellent compared to say a Ferrari 550 Maranello but as a cruiser Ferrari 550 Maranello works well. I have touched 175 mph and the Ferrari 550 Maranello feels as stable as it did at 70.

The Ferrari 550 Maranello is very well built and thus far I have had no problems with reliability of the Ferrari 550 Maranello. Other owners also report few problems and I have not heard of anyone who has broken down in one.

Overall a great Ferrari 550 Maranello and fabulous value for money for the second owner. (the first one suffered depreciations of £100k+).

What things have gone wrong with the car?

Usual Italian electrical glitches - a few blown bulbs, failed wiper relay, failed starter motor.

Clutch failed at 23,000 miles. This is a good life apparently (!)

Battery goes flat very quickly if the car is not used.
General comments?

A childhood dream was realised in the Summer of 2001 when Ferrari Testarossa from the dealership.

The surprising thing about driving the Ferrari Testarossa is the sheer width of the thing. From behind the wheel, it feels quite intimidating on first acquaintance, and the heavy steering, and heavier gearbox and clutch are pure old-school supercar, and a real culture shock to those used to more modern machinery. Ferrari Testarossa is a bit of a quirky car to drive in some ways too. For instance, you can't engage 2nd gear cleanly until the gearbox oil has warmed, and the electrics are temperamental to say the least. However as Ferrari Testarossa is a toy, and not an everyday car, I see these things as a reminder that I'm driving something a bit special. Call it character.

On paper, the Ferrari Testarossa isn't particularly quick by modern supercar standards, but one drive is enough to blow the figures out of the water. Ferrari Testarossa is one seriously fast car. The big flat 12 has grunt virtually everywhere, although really comes alive in the upper half of the rev range. The back squats, and the Ferrari Testarossa howls off towards the horizon with a force and noise that will make you grin for a week. If you can listen to this flat 12 singing its heart out as it spins past 5,000 RPM, and have a single hair not standing to attention on the back of your neck, you are definitely not in possession of a soul. Ferrari Testarossa's engines like this which will make me cry the day that oil runs out, and we're all wafting round in silent fuel cell powered cars. Ferrari Testarossa's engines like this which the internal combustion design will be remembered for.

Although Ferrari Testarossas are now relatively affordable to buy (by Ferrari standards), the running costs are still tragic. Services cost anything up to £2,000+ and the Ferrari Testarossa seems to deteriorate whether Ferrari Testarossa is used or not. As for insurance, even a specialist insurer on a limited (5,000 mile) policy still wanted well into four figures. If you do decide to realise the dream, look into all this first, and make sure you want it badly enough. Ferrari Testarossa's exotic, achingly beautiful, demanding, and sometimes a bit stroppy, but I'm head over heels.

Ferrari 599 GTB Fiorano Panamerican: Exploring the heart of South America's greatest civilization in Ferrari's latest

Statistically speaking, the world's most dangerous road is a 40-mile-long gravel ledge hacked into a Bolivian mountainside in the 1930s by Paraguayan POWs. It descends 10,000 feet from La Paz down to Coroico in the Amazon basin. Each year, roughly 150 people and a couple dozen vehicles topple off this 10-foot-wide path, plunging some 1600 feet to their doom. Almost immediately upon our arrival in La Paz, photographer Brian Vance and I head out to preview the Camino de la Muerte in a Toyota Town Ace van. We don't want any surprises when we set off for Lima, Peru, in a few days on our 1000-mile leg of Ferrari's Panamerican 20,000--an epic P.R. stunt in which two 599 GTB Fioranos will spend three months driving from Brazil to New York City, via Canada.

Back down in old-town La Paz, we take the further precaution of appealing to the pagan spirits that Bolivia's indigenous majority still honors (despite attending Catholic mass faithfully). We head for the witches' market to stock up on good-luck charms and chicha, or corn beer, but demur on the desiccated llama fetus offered in the bargain. Then on the appointed departure day, we stage an elaborate cho'lla--a blessing asked of Incan earth-mother goddess Pachamama by pouring a bit of fizzy chicha on each of our Ferrari's tires.

The results are immediate. As we crest the rim of the amphitheater-like canyon-walled city of La Paz, Pachamama steers our entire convoy out of harm's way and in the opposite direction of the Death Road, out onto Bolivia's altiplano (high plain) and west toward the mythical origin of South America's great Inca empire, Lake Titicaca. We feel deprived, if slightly relieved.

Ferrari's own hedge against things gone wrong is an entourage of 11 technicians, drivers, photographers, and a doctor, following along in two Iveco trucks (filled with 1750 pounds of spare parts), a bus, two Fiat Doblo microvans, and two Fiat Idea cute 'utes. By the time we arrive in La Paz, the team has been galvanized by 15 days and 3000 miles of driving on incredibly challenging roads. The cars are still running perfectly.

Modifications to the two early-build Ferrari 599 GTB Fiorano Panamericans include raising the suspension an inch, armoring the underbody with 4mm-thick aluminum, installing high-altitude engine computers, and fitting Pirelli SottoZero tires custom designed for the 599 (they combine a snow-tire tread pattern with a rally-racing rubber compound). Between the starting line and La Paz, the Ferraris have suffered only one flat tire, a burned-out lamp, and a malfunction of the secondary gauge display in the blue Ferrari 599 GTB Fiorano Panamerican.

By Frank Markus

Ferrari Testarossa: Fabulous design and performance - an absolute classic , but over-priced at present

What things have gone wrong with the Ferrari Testarossa?
There are 2 engine management units in the Ferrari Testarossa - each one monitors 6 cylinders. Maintaining the 'equal balance' between the two to ensure correct fuel flow for smooth running, was a job that had to be done 3 times in 1 year.

A head-turning stunner - this was the largest road-going Ferrari made - a real big-boy's toy!

Acceleration and performance was absolutely phenomenal, and the car was as steady as a rock at all times.

The car can be driven at low speeds around town very easily - just use the gearbox as you would any other car - it's very docile and behaves nicely.

The design of the Ferrari Testarossa was magnificent - mine was Rosso/Crema (red with cream leather interior) which was the traditional Ferrari colours and the most popular.

Rearward vision of the Ferrari Testarossa is restricted unless you have the model with 2 exterior mirrors, (the early ones only had one exterior mirror which also made it look somewhat strange).

The lack of power steering in all Ferrari Testarossas makes the car very difficult to park or manoeuvre at low speeds.

Do not buy one if this is going to be your only car - the noise level inside is very high (forget the radio- you won't be able to hear it - ever!), and the lack of any sort of luggage space will soon get to you.

Brilliant as a second (week-end) car. Even washing and polishing it is an absolute delight.

Having had the car for nearly 3 years I have now got Ferrari's out of my system. Given the choice I would now go for something less aggressive, quieter, and more refined - such as an Aston Martin or Bentley, but it was great fun at the time.

If you can afford it - go for a post-1998 model of the Ferrari Testarossa - they had significant improvements, and even better: go for a Ferrari 512 - these were much more refined and had uprated styling.