+2.

Should I feel happy that I don't own a Ferrari?

 

You could have owned an OG Daytona. That would be awesome.

 

Is this any different from GM or Nissan? Let's face it, these manufacturers boast unbelievable ring times from pre-production cars driven ONLY by the factory driver and state they are representative of the production car. Then they won't loan a single press car to any of the media. Some time down the line, the media is able to get a loaned car from a private party and guess what? It performs well below the boasts. In the case of ring times, this can be 15-20 seconds below the boasts (ZR1 and GT-R).

At least Porsche has been pretty honest. They typically underrate their cars and performance figures, the opposite of Ford (99' Mustang Cobra) and Mazda (01' Miata and 03' RX8). Most of Porsche's production cars dyno higher than the rated numbers and production cars consistently outperform factory acceleration numbers. Ring times from the factory are consistently within 3 seconds of rings times of independent testers and the independent testers are occasionally even faster than the factory drivers.

 

Chris Harris has always seemed to be a true car enthusiast. Kudos to him.

 

He deserves a pat on the back. So glad I cancelled my 458. I'm tempted to email the dealer the article. The brand just gets more tainted year after year and I love Ferrari ... at least Ferrari of old.

 

As much as I like this review.. and despite the fact that it explains why F cars are slower and heavier than specs.

And playing the devil’s advocate for a minute,

why he didn’t post it in his blog or site or magazine(s) or..?

why it took him so long to make this accusations, and for some time played along with this status ?

Something is missing here that would explain this sudden attack, I hope it's not the hand that feeds him now..

As to the true value of this article. Yes manufacturers do try to protect their products, it’s normal; I am sure that they all do.. Can’t imagine Porsche or any other company sending a product for review without having it pass 100 “quality” controls.
But cheating and in a so obvious way is truly astonishing and apart from Ferrari's ethos or luck of it, it also shows the kind of world we live in. “Filters” everywhere and everybody are owned by a big corp in one way or another.

As a side note in my country, car magazines were able to test and compare the 360 and 430 against its rivals using cars owned by private individuals. An exemption that probably shows nothing more, than how much Ferrari values the Greek market of 11million population. : )


So my kudos to Savyboy again for asking AP real questions; for Chris Harris I will think about it and let you know.

 

To add more fuel to the fire, this is a direct quote from the EVO Car of the Year 2010 issue:

Notable Absentee: Ferrari 599 GTO

At times, Ferrari can seem like a 'glass half empty' sort of company. Having two Ferraris in the Car of the Year, the 458 Italia and the 599 GTO, would have meant one of them would end up a loser. So although we raved about this more focused, iconically badged 599, this 661bhp halfway house between the delectable standard model and the fabulous, track only 599XX, Ferrari declined the invitation, citing a lack of press cars. We offered to find an owner's car, but Ferrari said if we did they'd pull the 458...

 

Cheers to Chris Harris,

He really didn't monkey around in this article about Ferrari.

Just because he has some guts to write someting like this, I rate him one of my top auto jounalists that his articles will be must-read to me.

Keep up the good work, Chris.

 

Royal Brittania! Chris Harris makes me proud to be British. He is like Colin Schiller of Fast Bikes magazine back in the 90's/early 20's - spoke with honesty, integrity and said a spade was a spade. If only there were more.

 

+3. Btw - IIRC EVO's COTY comparison had the F458 but no GTO. Ferrari didn't want two cars competing for the title. Something that was mentioned by Harris in the article.

It has been going on for a long time. CH finally stood up to it. Look at F1 and you can see how FIA bends the rules for Fiat!

 

Preuninger is a bit of a spinner too in my opinion.... but thats business. Either way, Chris Harris rocks!

 

OT, but my wife's daily is an abarth. the little car is hellafun. definitely worth buying once its out stateside. we were given a spot to order the Abarth Tributo 695 but at 45K€ for a compact car it was a little much. plus we couldn't think of driving it in the winter. we were surprised that even the 695 only comes with the same 5-speed transmission as the standard abarth.

Thanks for the insight on your scuderia. I still love the car. sounds like you do too despite all the dealer/factory bs.

 

Respect to Chris Harris for telling it as he sees it... It is true that all manufacturers do this to various degrees but it would seem that Ferrari take it to an all new level... Shame that all the magazines don't just boycott Ferrari test drives... Lets see if no media exposure is good for car sales!!!

Ferrari= FIAT= short for "Fix It Again Tony"!

Explains why their cars need crews of mechanics to set them up and fix them!!!

ps. Maybe Porsche should post their times for NBR etc in two formats: time in standard street car set up (as you collect it from the dealer) which is what is currently quoted and time with an optimised set up (fastest track suspension setup without the trademark Ferrari engine manipulation) just to wipe that Ferrari grin clean off their faces... Then buyers can compare apples with Ferrari apples!

 

fixed that for ya

 

not tomatoes, lemons!