DriveTribe‘s Jethro Bovingdon gets behind the wheel of the latest Ferrari GT car on a winding Italian road and finds out how it compares to its predecessors.
There are so many natural word pairings that we’re used to hearing – “peanut butter and jelly”, “peace and harmony”, “Simon and Garfunkel”. We don’t think twice about them. We just accept them. New and improved is another one of them, but there are times when both of those words shouldn’t be used to describe something. I’m a huge James Bond fan. To me, “Spectre” may be the latest 007 movie to have come out, but it certainly wasn’t the greatest. The Ferrari 812 Superfast is new. Whether or not it’s improved is a question that should be asked.
Although DriveTribe‘s Jethro Bovingdon may not ask that question in the above video, he certainly answers it. It’s safe to say his response is in the affirmative. He finds the 789-horsepower GT to be a trustworthy “pussycat” compared to the TdF, which was scary and unnatural. Thanks to improvements such as rear-wheel steering and increased downforce, the 812 Superfast is more controllable than the F12berlinetta and offers a great amount of usable traction, even though all of its horses charge through just the two back tires.
When they do that at full gallop, the 812 Superfast can hit 62 mph in 2.9 seconds and go on to a top speed of 211 mph.
If there’s one weakness to the 812 Superfast in Bovingdon’s opinion, it’s that its brakes don’t inspire the greatest amount of confidence at times. The left pedal’s travel is long to begin with and gets longer with repeated use at high speeds. Not a good thing when you’re hustling a nearly 800-horsepower supercar around curves.
That doesn’t keep the 812 Superfast from ultimately coming across as a natural and agile driver’s car with awesome balance that’s composed and polished at its limits. Those word pairings may not be thrown around as much as “law and order”, but Bovingdon’s use of them to describe the 812 Superfast seems completely natural.
Derek Shiekhi's father raised him on cars. As a boy, Derek accompanied his dad as he bought classics such as post-WWII GM trucks and early Ford Mustang convertibles.
After loving cars for years and getting a bachelor's degree in Business Management, Derek decided to get an associate degree in journalism. His networking put him in contact with the editor of the Austin-American Statesman newspaper, who hired him to write freelance about automotive culture and events in Austin, Texas in 2013. One particular story led to him getting a certificate for learning the foundations of road racing.
While watching TV with his parents one fateful evening, he saw a commercial that changed his life. In it, Jeep touted the Wrangler as the Texas Auto Writers Association's "SUV of Texas." Derek knew he had to join the organization if he was going to advance as an automotive writer. He joined the Texas Auto Writers Association (TAWA) in 2014 and was fortunate to meet several nice people who connected him to the representatives of several automakers and the people who could give him access to press vehicles (the first one he ever got the keys to was a Lexus LX 570). He's now a regular at TAWA's two main events: the Texas Auto Roundup in the spring and the Texas Truck Rodeo in the fall.
Over the past several years, Derek has learned how to drive off-road in various four-wheel-drive SUVs (he even camped out for two nights in a Land Rover), and driven around various tracks in hot hatches, muscle cars, and exotics. Several of his pieces, including his article about the 2015 Ford F-150 being crowned TAWA's 2014 "Truck of Texas" and his review of the Alfa Romeo 4C Spider, have won awards in TAWA's annual Excellence in Craft Competition. Last year, his JK Forum profile of Wagonmaster, a business that restores Jeep Wagoneers, won prizes in TAWA’s signature writing contest and its pickup- and SUV-focused Texas Truck Invitational.
