Ferrari California Reviews

Just as I finished signing the press car loan agreement for the California, the pen ran out. I hoped it wasn't a bad omen of some kind.We've driven plenty of fast and expensive cars before (the two don't necessarily go hand in hand) but there's just something different about a Ferrari.It was raining outside and showed no signs of letting up as the weekend was about to unfold.Just my luck. But the weather didn't dampen the reaction everywhere I took the car, as you can see below.THE OFFICENot even the boss has one of these beauties.  As soon as it became known there was a Ferrari in the carpark the word went around. Then the questions started followed soon afterwards by the inevitable: "Can you take me for a ride?"CO-WORKER (female)What is it you like about Ferraris? "The sound of the engine and the fact that everyone looks at you."MCDONALDS"Gee. Nice car mate. How's it go?" Pause. "Sorry. What sort of coffee was that again?" "Black. Short black (what else?)"THE CLUBWe've always been intrigued by the way you see these cars parked right where you can see them at big hotels and other public places. Maybe it works differently in the Eastern Suburbs, but there were no special privileges in the offing a large Sydney football club in Sydney's west.THE WIFEShe's over it. She's been over it for years, what with the never ending stream of cars that I bring home. "But it's a Ferrari darl?" "So . . ."FRIENDSYou suddenly find you have lots of them (lots of female interest too).OUT AND ABOUTEveryone looks. It's hard not to. There's cars and then there's Ferraris. Even at idle, the note from the exhaust (there's four of them, count them) is loud enough and strident enough to cut through the Friday afternoon throng.SHOPPING?No way. You wouldn't even contemplate taking a car like this into a shopping centre carpark, let alone leaving it unattended. Beside's there's probably something about it in the agreement?WHAT'S IT GO LIKE?Who cares. I want one anyway. It's not the first time I've driven a California, but it's the first time I've got to take one home and that please God is where I'd like it to stay. With it's retractable metal roof and rear seat, it's a Ferrari for all occasions. But you'd be hard pressed to fit anyone with legs in those tiny back seats.HOW FAST?The 4.3-litre direct injection V8 pumps out 338kW of power and revs to an amazing 8000rpm. The noise from the vertically stacked quad tailpipes is sensational. With paddle shifts and a 7-speed robotised gearbox, you can rip through the gears incredibly fast.It puts away the dash from 0-100km/h in less than four seconds and has a top speed of 310km/h.THE PRICE?At $459,000 (plus on-roads) it's the one sticking point. It's way beyond the reach of most people, but I guess that's what makes it so special and to some extent the people that can afford to buy them too.FERRARI CALIFORNIAPrice: from $459,000Body: four-seat convertibleSafety: front-side airbags, anti-skid brakes, ESP stability control, pop-up rollover barEconomy: 13.1L/100kmEmissions: 305.6gm/100kmEngine: 4.3-litre V8Output: 338kW/7750revs, 485Nm/5000 revsTransmission: seven-speed dual-clutch manual, rear-wheel drivePerformance: 0-100km/h, less than 4 seconds; top speed 310km/h

Supercar makers are acting quickly to "green-up" their cars in the face of ever tightening emissions limits across the globe. But it's not a gloom and doom story for died-in-the-wool petrol heads as demonstrated by Ferrari with its California HELE (High Emotion Low Emissions) model.It's the vanguard of other HELE models in the Ferrari range that may eventually all feature the planet-saving technology used in the California. For some reason, Ferrari still makes a non-HELE version of the California though we don't know why.TECHNOLOGYA brief test drive of the HELE model emphatically demonstrates there is no down-side to this technology. It is exactly the same, possibly better to drive than the non-HELE model thanks to engine stop/start and other features such as a weight reduction, improved aerodynamics and an adaptive, seven-speed double clutch gearbox.Engineers went into detail to save emissions particularly via reduced electricity demands. They improved efficiency using an air conditioner compressor with variable displacement, brushless electric engine-cooling fans, an on-demand electric fuel pump and other little tricks.The net result is a significant reduction in fuel consumption now down to 11.5-litres/100km on the combined cycle. This in turn reduces carbon dioxide emissions to 270g/km _ or a little better than Falcon or Commodore sixes. This also represents a 23 per cent reduction compared with the standard California. All this with no loss of the exhilarating performance and driving experience for which Ferrari is renowned.California HELE is still capable of dispatching the dash to 100kmh in less than four seconds and going on to a top speed, where the law permits, of 310 kmh.The HELE package enhances driving performance by releasing torque (+25Nm) from more mundane purposes to lift responsiveness.DRIVINGOn our drive, the California HELE showed whip cracking performance and gear changes along with superlative handling qualities.It remains a joy to hear especially with the roof off.The stop/start system is unobtrusive and the fact that the HELE car uses less fuel is a bonus because you don't have to visit the service station as frequently.Ferrari has taken its green efforts further by implementing extensive environmentally sustainable systems at its Maranello factory _ solar power, rainwater harvesting, gardens in the factory.It is completely autonomous for its energy requirements. This reduction also means that Ferrari will meet the Kyoto protocol objectives a full 10 years ahead of schedule and with double the figure imposed on Europe.For some reason the California attracts a premium of $2750 for technology that should be adopted across the board and not cost any extra.FERRARI CALIFORNIA HELEPrice: $462,400Warranty: 3 years/unlimited kilometresResale: 63%Service interval: 12 months/15,000kmSafety equipment: ABS, EBD, EBA , TCCrash rating: 5 starsEngine: 4.3-litre V8; 338kW/510NmBody: 2-door, 2-seaterDimensions: 4563mm (L); 1308 (H); 1902 (W); 2670 (WB)Weight: 1735kgTransmission: 7-speed dual-clutch auto; RWDEconomy: 11.5L/100km; 270g/km CO2

As we — The Sunday Telegraph's elfin photographer and I — eased the Ferrari from almost completed new Elizabeth St showroom, one of the crew working on the joint gave vent to his disgust."There's another rich **** and his teenage girlfriend.''  Well, I suppose I should consider it a compliment that they thought we looked the part.  If $500,000 can get you into a spacious flat in an upwardly mobile Sydney suburb, that sum also gets you to the state's legal speed limit from a standing start in less than four seconds — and shreds your driver's license inside seven.The Ferrari California is the latest model to arrive in Australia from the fabled prancing pony marque after a year in which sales of ultra-prestige models braked hard, but in which even the big red light of the GFC didn't stop 104 Ferraris selling in Australia.  Though significantly down on the 163 that sold here in 2008, the new Ferrari is one of the just arrived or forthcoming models that is refuelling the desire of the five per cent or so of the population who can afford such things. The waiting list for the new California dream stretches past six months.Even in a second gear year, Ferrari's   sister brand Maserati sold 120 cars priced from about $270,000 apiece. While the ultimate brand, Rolls-Royce, sold ``only'' nine of its million-dollar plus land yachts in 2009, the arrival later this year of the so-called entry-level Rolls, priced around $600,000, is expected to at least quadruple sales of the world's most exclusive marque.Developed with the input of Michael Schumacher, the roaring V8 convertible retails at $459,650, though with onroad costs and an options list that's bound in a book 1cm thick, the average price of getting one out of the showroom easily surpasses the half-million mark.And while the California is not as intimidating as other Ferrari's, driving $500,000 of deposit taken machinery on Sydney's choked and crumbling streets is a forbidding prospect.  The California, said Edward Rowe spokesman for the importer Ateco, ``is a top end grand tourer that you can also take shopping''.Would you though?  This is also the same model in which a motoring journalist was clocked doing 236km/h, resulting in him losing his license and his job. At the world launch in Sicily some 15 months ago, we exceeded that on the autostrada. The California is capable of 310km/h — 200 more than the state's legal limit.So what is the point of having such a thing in city where the roads are crumbling, the traffic choking and more people were been killed on the state’s roads last year than in 2008?Though driving this car in Sydney is the equivalent to reigning in a wild horse, or more accurately 460 horsepower, it would, Rowe claimed, fit through a McDonald's drive through.And so it can — just so long as you're cold-sweatingly cautious of the 20-inch alloy wheels, the four of which are worth the price of a decent used hatchback, encased in tyres each of which costs upwards of $600.  Reverse parking 4.5m by 2m is also calculated to open the pores. Even speed bumps give you pause, to say nothing of most driveways — you might want to have yours purpose-built to avoid painfully expensive scrapes, as you should a triple locked and alarm-fitted garage.Return the Ferrari having left it on the street for any length of time, and it's likely to be festooned with gawkers taking snaps. On the whole, the best solution might be to delete a few options a buy a lesser vehicle - say a Maserati Quattroporte - for doing the daily grind.All the caution in the world won't stop your joy toy with its operatic V8 being grazed by resentful glances.There's something about wealth this conspicuous that needles the already-irascible Sydney motorist the wrong way.Let you merge? No way. Cut you off? A pleasure. Tailgate you (or attempt to)? All the way.  And while in its home country, the driver of the humblest car greets the Italian aristocrat with manic gestures to give it some right boot, here it tended to be saluted with upright middle fingers.It's part of the price you pay — but if you've $500,000 to drop on a Ferrari and a seemingly-mandatory trophy girl in the passenger seat, you won't much care.

It's raining hard as the flight touches down in Sydney. On any normal day that would be a zero problem, and very welcome wetness, but this is not a remotely ordinary day. This is The One Day. A Ferrari California is waiting. It's now or never.Organising the one-day romp in the striking Italian droptop has taken months and for weeks I have been wondering how the new-age Ferrari convertible will feel and how it will stack up against other fast-and-dangerous cars I have driven through 2009 including the Nissan GT-R and Lexus LFA. And now it's raining ...The California has been around for a while in Australia, famously starring in a 231km/h romp near Perth that saw the car impounded and its motor writer driver hit with a monster fine and knock-on job losses.But its popularity means there is a waiting list stretching into 2011, despite a pricetag of $472,000 before on-road costs or insurance. Or any of the extra stuff from Carozzeria Scaglietti Personalization, which can tweak a Ferrari to look even hotter or go even faster. The reasons for the popularity are as obvious as the Ferrari badge and the folding hardtop roof over the two-plus-two cabin.The California hits a lot of firsts for Ferrari and its owners, from the front-mid mounting of its V8 engine to the company's first twin-clutch seven-speed gearbox, multi-link rear suspension, and an all-new engine with 338 kiloWatts and 485 Newton-metres of torque. It also comes standard with carbon-ceramic brakes and the sort of creamy smooth leather that has become a signature for the brand.The body was designed by Pininfarina, like so many Ferraris, and the folding roof — made from aluminium, like the rest of the body — will do its work in just 14 seconds.The California is officially a grand tourer, which means Ferrari has put the emphasis on easy driving and luxury. That explains a gearbox which can be a light-and-easy auto, as well as back seat spaces complete with child seat anchorages, and even the satnav.The GT focus also explains the name, which taps the likely home for many cars and also a Ferrari from the 1950s. An original California once owned by actor James Coburn sold for $11 million in 2009.But the dash is still dominated by a yellow-faced tachometer reading to 9000 revs and Ferrari's Manettino and F1-Trac systems are also fitted. The Manettino allows the driver to choose the way the car responds, right up to track maps, and the F1-Trac ensures maximum cornering grip in all conditions.As I first catch sight of the racy red California its top is up, the smiles are down, taxis are everywhere and - just to make things really tasty - a bus strike has created gridlock chaos in Sydney as I roll away from Mascot to form my first impression.So, how does it feel? The first two kilometres are great and the car is surprisingly taut, beautifully sumptuous, nicely equipped and very, very easy to drive.The California is quiet and relaxed, actually. There is even a cruise control and a digital speedo.It's not remotely what I had expected but that's not a bad thing. In the past, Ferrari has been a name to conjure memories of grumpy engines, on-the-edge handling and quality which is ... well, sometimes about as good as an old secondhand Fiat.This California is different. And that has to be good. Everything works and works well, it has look-at-me styling and a cracking V8 engine note that could only come from a Ferrari. The boot has taken my luggage relatively easily and I notice the child seat anchorages in the crimped rear buckets.I settle in as we rumble towards the outskirts of Sydney and some favourite driving roads. It's still damp outside but I take the top down and there is surprisingly little wind noise or ruffle, and the spots of water flow straight over my head.So now it's time to get serious with this Ferrari. As I chase the redline for the first time the car delivers with a hard- edged sprint and an explosion of sound that includes a howling V8 rasp, a whip-crack bang for each paddle-triggered upchange, and a deep bass note as it takes the next gear. This is a brilliant soundtrack and the scenery rushes towards me. It is still damp yet I can believe Ferrari's claim of a 0-100km/h sprint in less than four seconds. But I have zero intention of trying for the 310 top speed ...As I spend more time in the California I become more confused. It's a Ferrari, but not the way I know them. It is relatively smooth riding, the engine is calm and refined, and the seat is comfy and the controls are easy to use. Ok, the boot is super-heating my luggage thanks to the exhaust pipes and it's guzzling fuel at around 16L/100km, but those are little things.So I find a couple of corners. Now the California shows it was designed for California. It has gobs of power and brakes incredibly late, but it is not as edgy or responsive as other Ferraris I have driven. Push too hard and the nose runs wide, but the latest electronics means the tail end never gets nervy despite the wetness. It also sits down a lot in the tail, improving traction but cutting response from the nose.Then it hits me. The California is one half of a Ferrari double-act deal, sliding in ahead of the new 458 Italia to ensure the company has something for everyone. Well, everyone with a $500,000 budget. The droptop is a softer car, built for cruising and relaxing trips. The 458 is designed to satisfy a need for speed.So, is the California a Ferrari dream machine. A sensational 10-out- of-10 winner? Not for me. It's tasty and special but I cannot stop myself from thinking it's a hairdresser's car — some sort of Italian supercar Celica.This is worrying, and not just because of the reaction I know will be coming from Ferrari, but I also know it is just the sort of Ferrari the world has wanted for a long time.The California satisfies the badge snobs and does it in a way that is — by Ferrari standards, anyway — as efficient as a Toyota. It's a car you could loan to anyone without every worrying that it will turn nasty on them. That makes the California a definite winner. And a Ferrari for everyday use, not just Sunday morning sprints.RivalsLamborghini Gallardo convertible - $515,000Mercedes-Benz SL 63 AMG - $409,000Porsche 911 Cabrio - from $247,100  

A new age of Ferrari convertibles has arrived, as the Italian marque's newest addition to its range has landed in Australia.Wearing a price sticker of $472,000, it's not going to be a segment volume leader but it does debut a dual-clutch automatic, a front mid-mount direct-injection alloy V8 and aluminium construction.Last sold in the mid 1960s, the California nameplate recently hit the headlines again as a car once owned by James Coburn sold at auction for a then-record rpice.The new version of the Ferrari convertible sports a folding metal hard-top that drops into the boot in 14 seconds. It takes less time than that to achieve a sprint to 100km/h and return to a standstill, with more than a few seconds to spare. The 100km/h is reached in a blistering four seconds.The California is more of an assault on the senses than its GT pigeonhole suggests. Ferrari are putting it in the same sales column as the 612 Scaglietti, with the 430 and 599 models boasting more hard-core sports credentials.With the direct-injection variable-valve 338kW/485Nm V8 emitting a soundtrack worthy of a racecar, the California looks striking without being pretty like its predecessors. Gearchanges are lightning quick, smooth and accompanied by a whipcrack bark from the engine, which also crackles delightfully on over-run.The bite correlates directly to the bark, with full throttle acceleration dispatching straights in short order, bringing corners on that show off the car's 53 per cent rear/47 per cent front weight distribution.The California might weigh 1735kg before occupants are added, but it drives like a much lighter machine, providing ample entertainment in and out of bends, if not supplying masses of feedback.The black over tan cabin is a little snug for headroom but the leather-clad seats are comfortable and firm in support; most of the switchgear feels solid, although one window switch became dislodged but never repeated the offence once properly put back in place.There's a little less headroom than would be ideal, but there's room enough for two tallish adults in the front and their bags in the little back seats. Four smaller occupants could make do for a short trip, but the back pews aren't treated to acres of space.Ferrari has around 200 orders for the car and that will probably translate to an 18-month turnaround if you're planning to win the Oz Lotto jackpot - if your numbers come up it would be well worth the wait.SnapshotFerrari California Price: from $472,000.Engine: 4.3-litre 32-valve V8.Transmission: seven-speed double-clutch automated manual, rear-wheel drive.Power: 338kW @ 7750rpm.Torque: 485Nm @ 5000rpm.Performance: 0-100km/h under 4 seconds, 0-400 m 12.2 seconds, 0-1000 m 22.1 seconds, Top speed 310km/h (governed).Fuel consumption: 13.1litres/100km, tank 78litres.Emissions: 305g/km.Suspension: double wishbones (front); independent multi-link (rear); optional magnetorheological damping suspension system.Brakes: four-wheel ventilated and cross-drilled carbon-ceramic discs, with anti-lock and stability control systems.Dimensions: length 4563mm, width 1902mm, height 1308mm, wheelbase 2670mm, track fr/rr 1630/1605mm, cargo volume 340/240litres, weight 1735kg.Wheels: 19in alloys (optional 20in).In its class:Mercedes-Benz SL600, from $404,413.Aston Martin DBS Volante, $527,100.Lamborghini Gallardo, from $515,000.Porsche 911 Turbo Cabriolet, from $386,800.

We haven’t got give five clicks down the road from the six star pub Ferrari is using as a launch pad for its all new California before its carbon ceramic brakes come sharply into play.A posse of Sicilian urchins, apparently inflamed by the ripping V8 of the first car out that morning, essentially bushwhack us, scampering out in front of the oncoming missile, hands upheld. Bandit country though this once was, these pre-pubescent Don Corleones mean us no harm. Gesticulating, grinning and gibbering, they want to touch and feel the unobtainable for just one moment.We’ve been lent this circa $450K motor by Ferrari with the thinly veiled implication that our continued well-being hinges on its safe return. Realising that it’s not going to be boosted, we lower the windows – the retractable lid’s still up - shake each of the half dozen out thrust hands and suggest that standing back might now be wise as we oblige their wishes by taking off as though we had indeed stolen it.There’s an instant of fishtailing, deftly curtailed by electronics, a stunning engine blast, and four seconds or so later triple kilometres an hour have been obtained.So it is that before the fifth klick has been reached, we’ve grasped both the fulsome aural and accelerative response of this marvellous 4.3-litre direct injection V8 and the efficacy of Ferrari’s traction control system, without which the hideously expensive ultra low profile tyres would soon be incinerated.All day the California does its work of widening eyes, dropping jaws and exciting sessions of barely understood yammering. This Mediterranean island might be at the toe of the Italian boot, but this week Sicily is getting all the kicks.Yet for all the fulsome response and over excited locals, this is the Ferrari that according to all forecasts is supposed to be the dully pragmatic take on the prancing pony marque. The lack of an alpha-numeric name’s no accident. This one’s supposed to be for the state that gave us soft rock (and a certain “dreamy” song that only dullard journalists play on), a state of the union which happens to be Ferrari’s biggest market. That the roof is made, not of fabric, but aluminium, is a gesture to the freezing winters of the US north-east - their second biggest market.Moreover, the California comes with a seven speed twin clutch transmission, which essentially means it’s going to be an automatic just about all of the time. While the lines are svelte by the mark of its siblings, the newcomer weighs in at a porky, all-too American, 1735kg. And perhaps worse in the eyes of Fazza fanatics, the newcomer courts illegitimacy by having that 338kW/484Nm V8 mid-mounted at the front. Yes, the California rides the rutted road surfaces of Sicily (all too reminiscent of our own) with quite exceptional poise. Yes, induction and exhaust noises come from opposing ends, not both from the rear. And, yes, it is almost too easy to drive purposefully. And so what? The California embodies not compromises, but improvements in terms of daily usability and even future viability. That engine has the same 4.3-litre capacity as the F430, but the resemblance to that assault weapon end there. This is an almost entirely new unit which feature, for the first time in a Ferrari, direct fuel injection. The chief purpose of this is to improve fuel efficiency and lower emissions – down to 306 grams of Co2 per km – but it also imbues the California with a chest-punching bottom end without cheating on the glorious revability so synonymous with the marquee.You’re going to love how it looks or damn it with faint praise. It’s probably fairest to suggest that they’ve done a pretty good job of designing a package that has a metal roof which folds in without eating boot space while retaining an exotic veneer. Suffice to say, it looks best in black rather than traditional testo rosso or the new kind of blue shade.Any misgivings that the Italians have gone PC on us are rapidly blown away. Capable of dispatching the 0-100km/h sprint in a tested time of less than four seconds, the California is blazingly fast for a road car, thanks going in no small part to the brilliant transmission. It’s a twin-clutch a bit like a common Volkswagen’s DSG, but the difference is immeasurable. Designed by Getrag to Ferrari’s design, this one is devoid of the least hesitation, a blindingly slick mechanism abetted by the manetinno mechanism mounted on the steering wheel.You can keep grabbing gears through the paddle shifter, achieving speeds that might as well be science fiction for all the application they have in Australia. But then you can always just paddle about at 80km/h in seventh and still the California will pull with immense assertiveness. That’s all in Comfort mode.Flick manetinno to sport and it’s a whole different ball game. It instantly feels more alive. Suspension is tauter and traction control looser. Response sharpens. Margins diminish. Gears hold on redline. It points into corners with altogether greater authority.Mind you, get on the gas too enthusiastically on the way out, and you’ll know it. As to going into CSD mode, which withholds all electronic safeguards, well, not on the greasy roads of Sicily, grazie very much. Maybe not even on the track at Fiorano unless you’re a certain Michael Schumacher who participated in the California’s development.Indeed, unless you are him, you’ll surely find this all the car you can handle and a whole lot more. It also happens to be one which is not ashamed to hold comfort and driver accessibility as virtues not vices. While those on the 200-strong, two-year waiting list that already exists in our apart of the world won’t be given access to the 2+2 version with its joke back seats, the two-seater is almost decadently luxurious within.If only it were a bit easier to see out. Pretty much impossible to reverse safely, fat A-pillars and the high waistline restrict forward and flank vision as well. At least you can see up soon enough – the roof drops at a button’s push in 14 seconds.A Kiwi colleague joked that the California is Ferrari’s first multi-purpose vehicle. So it is; a relaxed boulevard cruiser, a freeway eating grand tourer and a B-road bully to boot. And it’s completely beguiling in any guise - if not quite enough to make you want to step out in front of it.FERRARI CALIFORNIAPrice: $450,000 (estimate)Engine: 4.3L/V8; 338kW/484NmEconomy: 13.1L/100km (claimed)Transmission: 7-speed twin-clutch