Working as a valet in a Luxurious Hotel in Park City, Utah, I get to drive some pretty cool cars from time to time. For example, I got to drive a Ferrari FF last winter season. The owner asked me if I could fill up his tank and gave me the keys. He told me not to crash the car, and then I was on my merry way.
Here’s a little disclaimer first: This is not a proper test drive, this is more a first-time-a-man-gets-to-drive-a-car-of-this-caliber-on-the-road-for-about-an-hour type of review.
I never had the chance to drive a Ferrari FF on the open road before. But now that I have, let me tell you this: it’s an exhilarating experience. You can see, and feel, people looking at you everywhere you go; kids will point at the car in awe; grown men will stop walking to listen at the symphony coming out of the exhaust; fellow inthusiast will wave at you in admiration.
It is a great moral booster.
I was pleasantly surprised about the driving experience because Ferrari didn’t try to disguise the FF as a full-blown sports car. The weight and proportions of the car are similar to the one of a sport-sedans or sport-wagons, and I’m a huge fan of that. Because the FF is a shooting-brake and four-wheel drive, it’s the second heaviest Ferrari ever made. Supposed to fit four, the FF is basically the older, fatter brother of the very athletic Ferrari family, and it feels the same way it looks: A little bit bigger and heavier than its siblings, but just as fantastic.
300,000 US dollars. That’s, give or take, what it costs in the US. and right off the bat, the interior is not worth that price. Nothing felt like it was in the right place, not for that money. The material Ferrari used is premium, except for the few plastic bits here and there, which is a shame. More importantly, nothing is intuitive to use. From the climate control to the infotainment system – it’s all placed at random areas of the dashboard, thus, making the layout of the centre console look weird.
But on the other hand, the outside of the car looks incredible. This one is wrapped in a matte-red finish, but the original colour is a (much preferred) glossy dark grey.
What stood out to me the most, after spending a bit of time with this brilliant example of Italian engineering, is how eager the car was to push its limits at every corner you come across. It will make you want to break the law. I had a fantastic time driving the FF. Of course, in a perfect world I would have loved to take this beast on canyon roads to experience the car at its fullest… Maybe another time.
Nonetheless, I had an amazing time. The FF was the fix I wanted, and needed that day.
Max,
the-pit-lane.com 
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