FERRARI California Review

Ferrari’s California knows how to be civilized, but only up to a point. Somehow, that pleasureful long-distance experience is not here. Oh and by the way, whatever you do, avoid the passive suspension.

Compared to that in a Gallardo, for example, the setting here is obviously biased towards comfort. This may not seem so bad at first, but it actually ends up ruining the car - while you could live with the comfort, the amount of body roll it allows is simply unacceptable for a Ferrari.

There is an exit coming up, so we put our foot down, rushing to get to the twisty part of the test drive. Despite the power-to-weight improvement, there’s still a bit of an issue here. If you’ve driven fast cars before, you will be tempted to say that the California needs more power. Well, the power is not the issue, the gearbox is.

As you hit the kick down point, the double-clutch gearbox needs a bit of time until it downshifts and lets the V8 do it job. If it would just allow the power flow to come earlier, everything would be fine.

The V8 engine comes to save the day, providing a pleasant experience. Ferrari explains that 75 percent of the torque is on tap from 2,250 rpm. In the real world, you will feel its vigor from about 3,500 rpm. From that point on, it serves a deliciously linear experience, but there is still something magic going on above 6,000 rpm. When it comes to the in-gear acceleration, the California feeds you well, just don’t expect it to reset the sportscar threshold.

The old car played the 0 to 62 mph game in under 4 seconds, so expect a 0.2s difference. As for the top speed, Ferrari doesn't mention any change to the previous value of 193 mph (310 km/h).