Ferrari 612 Scaglietti 2005 Review

We can raise a "salutare" (salute) to that after seven superlative hours spent in a brace of new 612 Scaglietti Ferraris sweeping through South Australia's scenic Barossa Valley to beyond.

One was painted a somehow subtle gold, the colour named after actress Ingrid Bergman who ordered her unique 375MM Superamerica in the same livery in the 1950s.

This 612 had optional 19-inch wheels (as opposed to standard 18-inch) and ceramic brakes.

The other was decked out in look-at-me red and silver, complete with dragon motif and colorful signwriting as it appeared completing a history-making 24,000km promotional trek around China recently.

Both were left-hand-drive.

It's a rare opportunity to drive any Ferrari, but this gilt-edged invitation came about through the new official Australian and New Zealand Ferrari importers, European Automotive Imports Pty Ltd of Sydney.

Measuring 483cm long by 193cm wide by 132cm high, the 612 Scaglietti (pronounced say-chen to-do di-chi skahl-yet-ee) is the largest Ferrari ever made.

But there's good reason – this gorgeous sculpture was designed and built to be a genuine four seater, not a 2+2.

As such, it has 7cm more headroom and fractionally more knee room in the rear-seat area, plus 25-percent additional boot space compared with its predecessor, the 456M of 1993-2003.

To prove the point, EAI's national service manager Lenn Kench – all 190cm of him – fitted comfortably in the back.

The Scaglietti is nearly 60kg lighter than the 456M, with its aluminium spaceframe chassis clothed in a shapely superleggera (superlightweight) body engineered in co- operation with aluminium giant ALCOA.

The 612 also has a lower centre of gravity by almost 2.5cm and is 54 per cent stiffer in torsion.

Its 5.75 litre V12 engine (derived from the 575M Maranello) has been placed behind the front axle to help establish the rear weight bias crucial to sports-car dynamic handling, making for a 46/54 split front/rear.

Oh, and did I mention it has 397kW of power (that's nearly 540hp in old speak) and 588Nm of torque, enough to produce a 0-100km/h time of 4.2 seconds and a top speed a shade under 320km/h. Woosh!

Without a get-out-of-jail-free card in our wallet, we will have to take Ferrari's word on that, but let it be said the 612 goes as well as it looks.

The performance sweet spot kicks in at 4000rpm and continues all the way through to 7250rpm, with torque peaking at 5250rpm.

Feeding the big V12 enough road to keep it in this zone is another thing. But this is where enthusiastic use of the car's F1A paddle shift six-speed sequential gearbox is invited.

An additional synchronizing cone on each gear makes for quicker, smoother shifts – just 0.2 seconds a throw.

Even with the active suspension set to Sport mode, the 612 soaked up SA's country road irregularities with unfussed ease, all the while maintaining the direct connection between driver and car the world has come to expect from Ferrari.

Deliberate late braking failed to induce any hint of understeer and with the seemingly intuitive traction control on, oversteer was never an issue, just a grip like Tarzan's.

The 612's dynamics contradict its 1840kg curb weight and steering response is, in two words, "absolutely linear" – each revolution of the wheel moves the rack exactly 64 mm.

And in keeping with its grand tourer brief, there's a raft of creature comforts and active and passive safety features.

All this for $A556,000.

Oh, there was one thing we didn't like about the 612 Scaglietti – having to hand the keys back.