10 GT3

I First, overall I was not impressed with the California. It looks fantastic and sounds the part. That is where the love affair ended. Driving position is disappointing. The gauges are too high. Even moving the seat up all the way and adjusting the wheel, the wheel still blocked the top of the gauges. The rest of the controls, interior and seats fit the mission, but had nothing that just stood out. The shift lights on the steering look more cheesy than neat and seemed to indicate too early.

Driving the car can be summed up to 1 word: soft. The suspension is very soft with more body roll than you would expert. Turn in is soft. Every corner where I pushed it, I would try to step out the back end; but it would not slide smoothly. The issue could have been the computer holding it back or just some of the suspension dynamics. It would catch and slide a couple of times and never really settle. Power wise, it seemed a little slow. The engine does not feel to have a lot of torque. This may have been because it weighs considerably more than I would have expected: about 4200 lbs. It was simply not my cup of tea. To sum it up, it feels like a slightly more refined Mercedes SL.

The one thing that did work right, which is what this thread is about: the transmission. I only drove it in manual mode with the suspension in Sport mode. I have driven several PDKs from Boxsters/Coxsters to a Carrera S, so this is a comparison to multiple PDKs. Starting out from a dead stop, there was no drama; it just goes. Shifting up through the gears accelerating at different rates, were smooth and immediate regardless of rpms. The Ferrari simple shifts far more immediate at every gear change than the PDK, where I always notice a lag. Downshifting the difference is even more dramatic. With the PDK, I have consistently noticed that the revs seem to never be matched when down shifting under braking. It seems to blip the engine the same amount regardless of deceleration rate or gear. As a result, PDK downshifts always feel jerky to me. When decelerating hard, I feel a PDK car jump at every downshift. In the California, downshifts were immediate and perfect every time, even when hard on the brakes. It was like ESP with every down shift with a perfectly match blip. Finally, there is the lurch like with the PDK when you come to a stop. Every PDK I have every driven lurches about a foot when I come to a stop. With the California, it just comes to a stop with no lurching or drama. You can't actually feel when the clutch disengages when coming to a stop in the California, where it is highly noticeable in the PDK. Although the California was not my cup of, its transmission was quite impressive and a huge step above driving a PDK.

winkingchef

The California has been labeled "the girl's Ferrari" and I'm not sure it can survive that moniker.

Shame too, because the original 1960's California Spyder SWB is my dream car (sorry, Porsche)

DrJay

Mine too...

mdrums

10 GT3 I don't know what PDK you've been driving but in sport plus mode PDK shifts extremely fast and perfectly rev matches on down shifts. I've been living with PDK now for 2 years 8 months with countless track miles. I've driven a Ferrari Cali too...a few years ago and like you thought it shifted extremely well too. However it did not shift under performance any better than PDK...either in manual or auto mode.

I do notice with PDK in auto mode with the sport button pushed in around town driving coming to a slow slow crawling stop the PDK shift from 2 to 1 can have a jerk to it but this is only in auto mode and sport mode together....but you have to be going at a crawling slow stop. PDK normal mode auto is smooth and sport mode manual is smooth.

rijowysock

i liked the ferrari trans, felt like pdk with sport plus on... prefer that its manual default instead of auto like pdk.. we need the ferrari setup.. button for auto.. otherwise manual.

Edgy01

Okay Ferris!

stevepow

I don't notice any of that with PDK - I was hitting it in M/Sport+ today for a fun afternoon TotalWine run, and that's a fast shift - amazing really.

The Cali is a beautiful car though - too bad about the weight, although Ferrari claims 3600 dry/3800 kerb. There's also runflat and dual-mode suspension options which both could have effected the road feel - do you how your tester was equipped? Or you say sport, so I reckon it was the dualmode option...

Targa Tim

Right on. When we test drove it, my wife liked it way more than I did. I drove with F1 shifting for 5 minutes and then switched to auto. Neither F1 nor PDK can excite me.

markiii

interesting I hated the gearshift when i drove one last year

how did you find the steering? i found it lifeless and almost impossible to connect with what the front end was doing

rodsky

+1

In sport mode there is a slight jerk coming to a stop as it is seeking first in case you want to be on it. Although it can be a little "annoying", its like shifting a manual into first before you stop. Thats the feel. In normal it's like butter. Down shifts are perfectly rev matched. I was surprised by 10 GT3's assessment,it is not reflective of my experience.

gravedgr

I don't have a PDK, but I don't agree with your assessment of the Cali. I thought it hid the weight extremely well. It drives more like the little SLK than the heavy SL. Thumbs up to Ferrari for the shift light in the steering wheel too - that's a genius little touch, as I never had to disengage my sight from the driving line.

I would own one, but not for the money (I'd take an older 430 first).

10 GT3

It was very disconnected. Through the wheel, you could not feel what the front tires were doing. It was very direct though. It went where it was pointed. It felt very typical to a car with overboosted steering. It is really the back end that noticeably felt strange to me. It just did not want to slide smoothly.

kosmo

i didnt feel like the F1 was any better or worse than the PDK in manual mode.

BTW I would take a TTS PDK over the Cali any day of the week.