FERRARI California Review

At the other end of the luggage compartment sits a rather wide opening, basically inviting you female companion to shop for that new coat. And on your way to the shops, you will notice that Ferrari’s California feels less uptight than most supercars.

The visibility is decent too, so you can drive this thing in the city. To put it another way, this is somewhere in between a Ferrari 458 and a Porsche 911.

The roof offers the right thermal insulation and the same can be said about the aural protection, despite this falling a bit short of what a coupe has to offer. Unfortunately, the rear section of the roof doesn’t seem to like the metallic base it is sitting on - as we went over some bad road sections, it kept squeaking more than expected.

Despite this, we were all ears trying to hunt for a change in the engine / exhaust noise. After all, the 30 extra HP and 14 lb-ft (19 Nm) increase came from much than just an ECU remap. The 4.3-liter V8 received redesigned exhaust manifolds, a special valve that allows gas and oil in the crankcase to exit and updated pistons. Overall, the naturally aspirated unit now delivers 483 HP (490 PS) at 7,750 rpm and 372 lb-ft (505 Nm) at 5,000 rpm.

That muscle has 66 lbs (30 kg) less to carry around and it’s all thanks to Ferrari’s aluminum alchemy. The space frame now uses 12 alloys instead of eight and even the core casting process is different. Unfortunately, the California isn't exactly light at 3,750 lbs (1,700 kg). As for the weight distribution, this has remained unchanged, siting at 47:53 (front:rear).

Right now we are on the highway, with the powertrain having slipped into seventh gear. We’re cruising at a little above 2,000 rpm and the exhaust is not exactly present, so we’ll have to wait before we can tell if the tech wizardry has made any difference.