Hi there
Most of course know that I've made this move but for those who don't follow my SVR ownership thread the SVR will almost certainly be sold by the weekend and if not sold shall be traded in.
I've being test driving numerous Huracans and 458's, Mclaren 570S was also a firm favourite but purely ruled out at these stages simply due to the huge depreciation they are facing, even a 720S was considered but again the levels of depreciation are simply frightening, plus Mclaren due sound not so special and do have a lot of reliability issues. Plus nothing is selling, which says prices will drop like a stone.
So I drove a Huracan and its outright pace and performance was nothing short of staggering, it is a properly fast car than can deploy all 600 horsepower plus even in adverse condition, but even in low grip conditions its ability was so good there was no real feel of engagement, it was simply too easy, to go too fast making it lack engagement at legal speeds. However the looks were outrageous good, the sound was phenomenal and it felt truly special, I also drove an LP580-2 and though the front-end was a bit better it was still felt very safe and just lacking engagement, it is great cars are so capable, so fast, but where is the fun if the car at 80mph down a back road just feels slow and to feel excited you have to truly go insanely fast, I still feel I will end up in a Huracan in the future as its a properly special car, but they seem to losing money each month, nothing as outrageous as Mclarens but they are still depreciating though I can't see them ever under 100k except for very high mileage examples, also watching cars for months only the LP580-2's seem to be the ones actually selling.
I then drove a 458, the car felt more bespoke, the interior was a masterpiece and so focused about driving, shortly afterwards and I don't know if true but Michael Schumacher played a big role in the cars design, hence a driver focused interior, the LED's on the steering wheel work so well, your eyes are literally never off the road as you simply have no need to monitor rev counter etc, just use the LED's which light up at 5k, 6k, 7k, 8k and 5th and last LED at 9k to prompt the gear change.
The sound was so loud in the cabin in race mode it felt like something very special and had a real old school F1 pitch as the revs built to 9000rpm, very addictive and the gear shift firm and brutally fast. I was flying down country lanes, it felt like I was doing 80-100mph, looking down on the speedo and I was only at 50-70mph, the car feels insanely fast, when your not going fast, it reminded me of driving a 911 GT3, it is so precise and so full of feel but with the advantage of you not needing to rev it out, I found myself short changing as early as 5-6k because of the incredible sound and the engine develops fantastic torque so the rev range is pretty strong from as low as 2000rpm and screams all the way too 9000rpm.
After this drive my heart was set on a 458, in either black, yellow or maybe red. So I drove some more as Ferrari made quite a lot of updates post 2012 which I could certainly feel. In short pre 2012 cars sound better, louder, pops, gurgles etc, have a scary brake pedal (very long), the gear box is more brutal in race mode at full throttle upshifts but very smooth all other times and has a higher risk of failure and the suspension supposedly not as capable on limit. Post 2012 cars had a different engine map, so quieter, the brake pedal is more confidence inspiring, the gearbox was updated to include inertia shift for artificial thumps and faster acceleration, thus more reliable but not quite as engaging when pushing hard in race mode and the mag ride suspension gained more sensors to further improve handling. I could certainly feel them all, but the brake pedal is most noticeable and certainly very preferential on newer cars, but in fairness no matter the year, buying on spec and price is more important as these cars are just an event to drive.
So after driving a few and all seem to have their niggles I decided to drive a car I'd being eyeing up for a while but dismissed as I was trying to limit my budget but it was simply the cleanest and best optioned car, plus newest. I drove it and well I decided to buy it!
Of course 458's also have best residuals as well generally due to not only being the last NA Ferrari but heralded by many as the best Ferrari ever made, they are also incredible lookers and supposedly pretty bullit proof too.
Ferrari also had other major advantages over a Huracan which is a 2yr warranty on any car purchased from Ferrari and servicing is remarkably cheap at £900 for a minor and £1200 for a major and servicing is once per year or 10k miles and as the car I've purchased is a 2014 car the next three services are free of charge as another major update on post 2012 cars was they all came with 7yr service packs.
Enough babbling, let some pictures do the talking:
So its a 2014 car, 14,500 miles, 2 owners and has very desirable options such as carbon bucket seats, yellow stitching, alcantara interior, satnav, tracker, shields, forged wheels, full carbon interior race package, front and rear parking sensors, full service history etc.
I was able to gain some discount simply because the car has worn ceramics with a rough surface due to the car doing several track days, mainly Donnington but there is a chance I can repair these with special uprated pads which are designed to do so and several owners report them working, worse case I can fit a full set of the superior surface transform ceramic disc.
The plan is to enjoy the car and drive it almost daily, so yes for sure in 2-3yr with 30-40k miles its going to worth less, unless 458 values really explode and as my car is in the extremely rare and rather expensive option Giallo Triplo Strato paint which is a triple layer paint full of pearl effect making it far nicer than the typical flat Yellow Modena paint, seeing a Modena Yellow and now this the Triplo is in another league and in the sun looks incredible in the flesh as it does some awesome stuff with sunlight.
Most of course know that I've made this move but for those who don't follow my SVR ownership thread the SVR will almost certainly be sold by the weekend and if not sold shall be traded in.
I've being test driving numerous Huracans and 458's, Mclaren 570S was also a firm favourite but purely ruled out at these stages simply due to the huge depreciation they are facing, even a 720S was considered but again the levels of depreciation are simply frightening, plus Mclaren due sound not so special and do have a lot of reliability issues. Plus nothing is selling, which says prices will drop like a stone.
So I drove a Huracan and its outright pace and performance was nothing short of staggering, it is a properly fast car than can deploy all 600 horsepower plus even in adverse condition, but even in low grip conditions its ability was so good there was no real feel of engagement, it was simply too easy, to go too fast making it lack engagement at legal speeds. However the looks were outrageous good, the sound was phenomenal and it felt truly special, I also drove an LP580-2 and though the front-end was a bit better it was still felt very safe and just lacking engagement, it is great cars are so capable, so fast, but where is the fun if the car at 80mph down a back road just feels slow and to feel excited you have to truly go insanely fast, I still feel I will end up in a Huracan in the future as its a properly special car, but they seem to losing money each month, nothing as outrageous as Mclarens but they are still depreciating though I can't see them ever under 100k except for very high mileage examples, also watching cars for months only the LP580-2's seem to be the ones actually selling.
I then drove a 458, the car felt more bespoke, the interior was a masterpiece and so focused about driving, shortly afterwards and I don't know if true but Michael Schumacher played a big role in the cars design, hence a driver focused interior, the LED's on the steering wheel work so well, your eyes are literally never off the road as you simply have no need to monitor rev counter etc, just use the LED's which light up at 5k, 6k, 7k, 8k and 5th and last LED at 9k to prompt the gear change.
The sound was so loud in the cabin in race mode it felt like something very special and had a real old school F1 pitch as the revs built to 9000rpm, very addictive and the gear shift firm and brutally fast. I was flying down country lanes, it felt like I was doing 80-100mph, looking down on the speedo and I was only at 50-70mph, the car feels insanely fast, when your not going fast, it reminded me of driving a 911 GT3, it is so precise and so full of feel but with the advantage of you not needing to rev it out, I found myself short changing as early as 5-6k because of the incredible sound and the engine develops fantastic torque so the rev range is pretty strong from as low as 2000rpm and screams all the way too 9000rpm.
After this drive my heart was set on a 458, in either black, yellow or maybe red. So I drove some more as Ferrari made quite a lot of updates post 2012 which I could certainly feel. In short pre 2012 cars sound better, louder, pops, gurgles etc, have a scary brake pedal (very long), the gear box is more brutal in race mode at full throttle upshifts but very smooth all other times and has a higher risk of failure and the suspension supposedly not as capable on limit. Post 2012 cars had a different engine map, so quieter, the brake pedal is more confidence inspiring, the gearbox was updated to include inertia shift for artificial thumps and faster acceleration, thus more reliable but not quite as engaging when pushing hard in race mode and the mag ride suspension gained more sensors to further improve handling. I could certainly feel them all, but the brake pedal is most noticeable and certainly very preferential on newer cars, but in fairness no matter the year, buying on spec and price is more important as these cars are just an event to drive.
So after driving a few and all seem to have their niggles I decided to drive a car I'd being eyeing up for a while but dismissed as I was trying to limit my budget but it was simply the cleanest and best optioned car, plus newest. I drove it and well I decided to buy it!
Of course 458's also have best residuals as well generally due to not only being the last NA Ferrari but heralded by many as the best Ferrari ever made, they are also incredible lookers and supposedly pretty bullit proof too.
Ferrari also had other major advantages over a Huracan which is a 2yr warranty on any car purchased from Ferrari and servicing is remarkably cheap at £900 for a minor and £1200 for a major and servicing is once per year or 10k miles and as the car I've purchased is a 2014 car the next three services are free of charge as another major update on post 2012 cars was they all came with 7yr service packs.
Enough babbling, let some pictures do the talking:
So its a 2014 car, 14,500 miles, 2 owners and has very desirable options such as carbon bucket seats, yellow stitching, alcantara interior, satnav, tracker, shields, forged wheels, full carbon interior race package, front and rear parking sensors, full service history etc.
I was able to gain some discount simply because the car has worn ceramics with a rough surface due to the car doing several track days, mainly Donnington but there is a chance I can repair these with special uprated pads which are designed to do so and several owners report them working, worse case I can fit a full set of the superior surface transform ceramic disc.
The plan is to enjoy the car and drive it almost daily, so yes for sure in 2-3yr with 30-40k miles its going to worth less, unless 458 values really explode and as my car is in the extremely rare and rather expensive option Giallo Triplo Strato paint which is a triple layer paint full of pearl effect making it far nicer than the typical flat Yellow Modena paint, seeing a Modena Yellow and now this the Triplo is in another league and in the sun looks incredible in the flesh as it does some awesome stuff with sunlight.
).
