Getting a prime-position parking spot in a mall on a Friday afternoon is a rare opportunity, but getting to sit at the wheel of a Ferrari 812 Superfast and floor all of its 800 horses? Well, that is once in a lifetime.
Without turbos or ‘kompressors’ (as the Germans call it), Ferrari’s rather magnificent—if not bluntly-named—steed has a legitimate claim to be the most powerful naturally-aspirated engine found in a road car.
The Italian marque’s two-seater rear-wheel drive Grand Tourer (GT) is designed to take you down the winding corniche in Alpes-Maritimes and eventually to Hotel de Paris Monte-Carlo, and it would do it in true GT style and speed. But any vehicle brave enough to sport the title ‘superfast’ is just begging to be taken to the track and have its metal tested.
Abu Dhabi’s Yas Marina Circuit is no stranger to ear-piercing, laps of adrenaline-fueled automotive joy, so it would seem like the logical place to start—also, none of those pesky speed cameras.
This feat engineering packs 800hp but still only weighs a limber 1525kg. With a 6.5 litre V12 under the hood it allows it to rocket up to 100kmh in
a mere 2.9 seconds, red line at 8900rpm and if you keep your foot planted it’ll go all the way up to 340kmh. What that translates to is an all-hands-on-deck-at-all-times roadster.
Yes, going around the 5.5km circuit will be as close as you’ll ever come to being Lewis Hamilton (or, more correctly, Ferrari driver Sebastian Vettel) but that should be expected for the cool AED1.5 million that you’d be forking over for the privilege.
When Ferrari launched the Superfast in 2017 replacing the F12 Berlinetta, the marque clearly stated that it was to be an everyday kind of car. So following our dream-sating hot laps, we took the car on its ultimate test: a cruise down Sheikh Zayed Road.
This is where we encounter what could be this magnificent cars only short coming: its high performance credentials during rush hour. Built for a mind-numbing level of performance, the fact that this car has so much power can actually work against it, especially when you’re toddling along at 60 kmh in daily traffic. It can feel angry and the tyre noise is somewhat irritating, the short gearing ratios at low speeds makes the ride a little less comfortable than one would hope but none of the above really is enough to put you off the Superfast.
Like other members of the rather illustrious Ferrari family, it shares several elements including the carbon-ceramic Brembo breaks of the all-mightly LaFerrari, and the dual-clutch seven-speed F1 automated manual gearbox used in the 458 Italia. Add to that its F1-learned driving aids and the Superfast feels like it has been built by a Ferrari-obsessed alchemist —but one who wants to park in prime positions.
