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Review 1 of 20
Price Paid:
$100000.00
from Chigwell Cars, Londo Year / Model Reviewed: 1999 550 Maranello Summary: What a car! What an engine! The acceleration is fantastically linear, with a phenomenal amount of torque available from as low as 1,750 rpm. Driving through central London, every 30 seconds there's someone pointing at the car and screaming "Ferrari!!" whilst nudging their mate to have a look. Would be rude in the circumstances not to floor it...
Mine's in TDF Blue with a Tan interior - 9,000 miles on the clock but looks as good as new.
As a package, it's the best car I've ever owned (if not the best I've ever driven - my old 996 Turbo is unbeatable in that department) Strengths: Great sounding engine from 4,000 rpm upwards, linear acceleration, low down torque, "look at me" factor, bootspace (my last couple of cars were Porsche's, which were a lot less practical - I use the car as a daily driver), supportive seats, comfort - a true GT. Teaches you to drive smoothly (through necessity - see below). That gearchange (it's a manual).
TDF Blue/Tan colour combination looks great.
The only car I've ever owned that forces me to turn the stereo off just to listen to the engine noise/exhaust note. Weaknesses: My god, is the traction control really on? Are you sure??! Having come from a 4WD 996 Turbo where I got used to being able to give it a bootful of throttle in any gear and any weather conditions thanks to the incredible traction, the 550 spins its wheels in 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th and (once!) 5th gear if you give it anything more than 2/3rds throttle - the upside of this is that it does teach you to feed the throttle in smoothly rather than just stamping on it. Am about to change my Michelin Pilot Sport tires for the Pirelli P Zero Rossos like I used to have on the Turbo. Hopefully the traction will then improve.
Squeaky brakes if you just drive it around town (I live in London, so this is a pretty regular drive for me - does ruin the experience a little if you're looking great and just when you pull up to the lights, the car sounds like a broken london taxi thanks to the squeaks!).
Rear view could be better.
Is there any car that you can buy that has a worse mpg figure?? Still, I guess if its got 12 cylinders, they're going to take a bit of feeding...
Could do with a small digital speedo gauge at the bottom of the analogue speed dial, like Porsche. I know I'm over the speed limit, but by how much?!
Headlights could be stronger.
Handling is pretty heavy - whereas the Turbo drove like a go-kart, this drives more like a power-boat.
Small turning circle.
The world's most bizarre handbrake - whilst having it between my seat and my door makes the middle of the car look a lot less cluttered, it's not the easiest to use! Similar Products Used: owned - Porsche 996 Turbo, Porsche Boxster S
driven - 360 Modena
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