Ferrari 812 Superfast

The 8 in this car’s name denotes the 800 horsepower the engine generates on the metric scale. As measured on this side of the Atlantic, though, it’s a mere 789, an extra 59 over the F12berlinetta that this model replaces. The 12 is on the badge because there are a dozen cylinders beneath the hood, and Superfast is both a name from Ferrari’s history and a promise delivered.

Compared with the F12’s engine, the 812’s is 75 percent new. Displacing 6.5 liters versus the F12’s 6.3, the V-12 makes its 789 horsepower at 8500 rpm on its way to an 8900-rpm maximum. Peak torque, 530 lb-ft, crests at 7000. Below 5000 rpm, the 812 is a pussycat, but as the revs rise, power seems to build exponentially. There is about 600 horsepower at 6000 rpm, 700 at 7000, and as the tach winds up, the compounding sensation of acceleration is stupefying. The engine revs so far past the initiation of insanity that each redline upshift is almost a relief. Expect the zero-to-60-mph sprint to be over in just 2.8 seconds and the quarter-mile to pass in 10.8 ticks or so. And then there’s the sound. It’s your very own Formula 1 fantasy, heaven’s own chain saw.

Agile? Must Be Italian
The handling, too, is something out of a fantasy. Ferrari’s first ever electrically assisted power-steering system directs the 812, and it’s a solid effort. As we trundled through the streets of Maranello just outside the factory gates, it felt maybe a touch overboosted. But once the town gave way to hills and fields, we realized that the steering matches the feeling of the entire car. Agility we expected, but the whole car feels unbelievably light, like the world’s most furious Mazda Miata. Here is a roughly 3900-pound car with a giant 6.5-liter engine in its nose, but it is unbelievably dextrous, like a V-12 wingsuit. The steering is immediate and effort builds faithfully, but there’s very little feedback from the road surface. Given how great the steering is in other respects, though, we’d give it just a couple of years before Ferrari perfects it, making access to the best steering on the planet another reason to resent the 1 percent.