FERRARI 812 SUPERFAST
TOPGEAR.COM → JULY 2019 037
10
10FERRARI 812 SUPERFAST
Engine: V12, 6496cc, naturally-aspirated
Power: 788bhp at 8500rpm
Torque: 718Nm at 7000rpm
Transmission: 7A, RWD with 4 wheel steer
Fuel tank: 92 litres
Kerb weight: 1,630kg
Weight distribution: 47-53 per cent
0-100kph: 2.9 seconds
0-200kph: 7.9 seconds
Top speed: 340kph*
Pros: Engine performance, exhaust noise,
dynamics, design, tech
Cons: Sat-nav frustrating to use,
low-speed ride could be better
Bottomline: A super GT that tilts more
towards blowing your lids off rather than
playing its practicality card. And we don’t
mind that one bit
redline in one clear but fierce fashion. I almost soiled my
pants the first time I launched the 812 , it just kept building
up speed at great velocity, something that I wasn’t ready for. I
was sweating even with the AC blower at full blast. By the end
of three complete runs, up and down the hill, my heart rate
was shooting off the roof and limbs visibly shaky. It’s not a
sensation I’ve had very often while driving a car.
Just at the foothills of Jebel Jais, there are four long
straights that you encounter before you hit the small village.
And since you’d be the only one on that piece of tarmac
for maybe 3 kilometres on either side, it makes for a great
occasion to try out Ferrari’s simplistic launch control. The 812
just takes off with a brutal force that you can feel in your lower
back and neck muscles – it just zips through the gears and
before I knew it, the speedo read 270 kph. It was scary at first.
But not during the next three rounds.
If all of that wasn’t enough, there’s the exhaust note. It’s
one of the angriest notes I’ve ever heard. Sure, it pops and
crackles around lifts, but it’s the roar at full swing that hit the
right chords. The brutal acceleration accompanied by that
roar is proper go-weak-in-the-knees material. Obviously,
I’d not had enough of it all, so I went for one final run up the
mountain and this time, decided to drive all the way up to
the peak for that majestic view. I attacked the corners with
the same intensity and the 812 obliged with its mechanical
precision to make me look like a damn good supercar driver.
I made my way up to the final two corners in record time,
only to be told by a sign post that it’s the end of the road.
Resurfacing work had my stint cut short. However, that sign
post perfectly summed up my time there. Not just with the
Ferrari, but also doing what I did for a living. My dream had
just turned into reality. I’d finally driven a Ferrari, and a
spectacular one at that. As Enzo Ferrari had once said, ‘we
charge you for the engine, rest of the car comes free’. And
that’s what the 812 is all about. The Ferrari V 12 is an engine so
full of character that it makes everything else seem perfect.
Looking at the way things are moving in the automotive space,
I’m sure they aren’t going to make cars like the 812 Superfast
any more. And I’m privileged to have tasted a part of what
will go down in history as the last of its kind. So as promised, I
shall hang my boots up as soon as I head back to my family. Oh,
and what are the odds. This also happens to be the end of the
road for TopGear in India. Truly, the end of an era.* claimedPHOTOGRAPHY: MANUFACTURER