We hebben vaker ingezonden verhalen van spotters die vol passie over hun ervaring vertellen. Het komt alleen minder vaak voor dat we een mooi verhaal uit andere landen mogen ontvangen. Vandaag kunnen we jullie wel een verhaal vol passie laten lezen over een spotter uit Abu Dhabi. 24 uur op stap met een 4,5 liter grote Italiaanse V8 in een land waar de wegen zo glad als een biljartlaken zijn. 100 procent genieten!
On December 8th 2011 I received a call from the Delivery guy, at noon. It was one special call and he was not your ordinary pizza delivery guy. What he brought for me from Dubai in his special flat recovery truck was one red, hot, Italian, high performance sports car. I couldn't control the flow of adrenaline as it hit high peaks and almost gave me a concussion. Well, braving it all, I headed to Al Raha Mall to collect my special delivery.
It all started when my cousin brother decided to come to Abu Dhabi from India to attend a Bentley Driving event at the local Yas Marina F1 circuit. He wanted a special ride to take him to the event and I was asked to take care of his transportation. Myself, brought up in a family of genuine petrolheads, couldn't give him anything but the best. I told him a wild ride will be arranged no matter what may come.
The moment we reached Al Raha Mall, my eyes spotted a red silhouette at the far end of the parking area aboard the recovery truck. It was the mother of all deliveries. A red Ferrari 458 Italia.
Exchanging pleasantries and after handing over the documents, I was left along with my cousin in that corner of the parking lot with the Italian thoroughbred and its keys in my hands.
The following 24 hours with the Ferrari altered not only my dreams but also my perspective of life, for the better.
We started off with the regular supercar style entry, bottoms in the seat, first followed by carefully placing your feet over the drilled pedals. The interior of the 458 is designed to be functional, clean and innovative along the lines of a traditional Ferrari cabin. The steering wheel resembles a modern F1 car with the various dials, switches, shift lights and all the other gadgets which control the dynamics and settings of the car. A lot of precision cut hand stitched leather upholstery and splashes of carbon fiber made its presence felt. Once you get around the layout of the interior and all its satellite pods (there are two on either side to the speedometer cluster controlling two digital displays around the central yellow rev counter) you are set to move on. The key is inserted and turned on. Holding the brake pedal, I press the red ENGINE START button on the left side of the wheel. The eight pistons inside the dry lump 90 degrees 4,5 liter V8 explode to life with a clear, powerful and deep sound very much coming from an engine that was handmade with the utmost precision and latest technological innovations in Marenello.
Selecting the safest mode on the Manettino initially and pulling in the carbon fiber paddle to select first gear on the seven speed F1 Dual Clutch gearbox, we move the beast enjoying every millisecond of the moment and savoring all of the aural delight.
A Ferrari is meant to be driven. And boy did we drive. After getting the feel of it in what I prefer to call the safe mode on the Manettino we rotated it to sport and then even to race mode. The changes are obvious. Like graduating from kindergarten to high school and then to college. All the electronics controlling the vehicle dynamic assistance were on high alert in safe mode, coming into play when the slightest whisper of rear end slip was detected. The level of confidence it provides to novice drivers is overwhelming. More controlled slides out of the corners were allowed in sport mode and much more handful of opposite lock moments hinted the cars actual potential in race mode. Also the shifting points went up a few notches, the gear shifts felt more raw, the car felt more and more an extension of your body and those ultra low profile Potenza's communicated directly to your mind. The CT and CST off modes are there incase Michael Schumacher gets out of his Mercedes and decides to have some fun in a Ferrari 458. This is a vehicle that will reward the most experienced driver with his share of adrenalin shots in the same way it allows novice drivers to enjoy their share of fun exploring the 570 bhp of output in a highly controlled safe drive. Provided they know where to keep the Manettino.
All this excitement is well controlled by the 6 pot 398 mm front and 4 pot 360 mm rear Brembo carbon ceramic brakes. The simple process of lifting your feet from the accelerator and pressing onto the brake pedal is complemented by Ferrari's Pre Fill logic which moves the pistons inside the brake calipers closer to the carbon ceramic rotors once you release the accelerator to further reduce the impressive braking distance. For those interested in numbers, 100 - 0 km/h is done in 32.5 meters and when driving 200 km/h your can frighten your passenger silly by stopping just in front of a wall 128 meters ahead.
This is an exotic automobile where the second generation Magnetorheological suspension control system included with the double wishbone front and rear multi links, E-Diff, F1-Trac controls, high performance ABS and all the other track derived electronic technological innovations subtly hide under the Pininfarina designed aerodynamic skin and the ultra rigid aluminum and alloy chassis to give you a pure unique driving experience that will fulfill the highest expectations of the most passionate drivers.
