Whenever someone does a review of his or her own personal vehicle, take it with a grain of salt. It’s a little too easy to use the analysis as a platform to justify ones own personal tastes, making the official announcement, surreptitiously at least, that you indeed made the correct choice with that purchase. Conversely, it’s a lot harder to admit when you’re wrong. Now, we’re not saying Chris Harris is hiding anything in his review of the Ferrari FF. We’re just pointing out that viewers should judiciously divide objectivity from subjectivity.
We first saw Mr. Harris review his FF near the end of last summer. Bought used, this example of the Maranello über-wagon was two years old, had 6,000 miles on the odometer, and came in Harris’ preferred spec of Tour De France blue with a tan leather interior. So, like most of us who spot their dream car just within reach, he made a deposit with as much as he could spare and borrowed a sizable chunk of change to cover the rest. Total asking price rang to a tune of a quarter million dollars U.S.
“I just wanted to live with an FF, and if it cost me s**t loads of money and everyone thought I was a pillock, well I just didn’t care,” Harris explains. “Sometimes, you just have to do stupid things because you want to do stupid things.”
The question remains: is purchasing an FF really all that stupid? For an automotive journalist, it’s certainly not very sensible. But given the high speeds and sideways antics that run rampant through most of his videos, sensibility is clearly not a strong point for Harris.
Throughout the review, it’s more than obvious that Harris has a deep affection for his FF. It might be a bit on the large side, and it blows through petrol like it’s going out of style, but for Harris, these are minor quibbles. Everything else about the FF fits his criteria for automotive sainthood: it’s fast, it has superb handling, it’s spacious, comfortable, it sounds amazing, and in a pinch, it’s even kind of practical (at least by Ferrari standards). But most importantly, the FF makes him feel “special." It’s certainly not everyone’s favorite car, but for Harris, there could be no other: “a Ferrari->ke252 that carries a mountain bike; that in itself is the coolest concept in the car world.”
Ferrari FF
The FF is not only the first four-wheel-drive car Ferrari has ever made, it’s also the marque’s first car to sport a rear hatch. Throw in seating for four adults, and you end up with one of the most unique vehicles to ever wear the prancing horse emblem. But don’t think for a millisecond that this thing can’t back the incredible racing heritage that came before it. Mounted extremely close to the front firewall, you’ll find a naturally aspirated, 6.3-liter V-12 that produces 650 horsepower and 500 pound-feet of torque. This engine just wails through the revs, while a seven-speed dual-clutch paddle shifter transmission is on hand to whip through the gears. The four-wheel-drive system sends most of the power to the rear wheels, giving the front tires short bursts only when extra traction is needed. Paired with world-class dynamic Ferrari suspension and carbon ceramic brakes, it’s every inch a sports car on the track. Hitting 60 mph takes 3.7 seconds and top speed is rated at 208 mph. Not bad, for a grocery-getter.