FERRARI FF on Jebel Hafeet Mountain Road Review

If you've made it here without laying your bumper, rim or entire car down, then you're given a chance to do this in a whole new manner. Exciting.

From this point on, the corners become much wider and. Speaking of bends, the Ferrari gives us plenty of steering feedback and while we were a bit bothered by the lightness of the 458's steering, we found less of that here.

The way up here, with those technical snake-like bends, exposed all of the car's behavior. While there's no actual body roll in the Ferrari FF, you do feel the weight of the car a little bit as you change direction swiftly.

And if you want to slide the thing, it will comply, but you'll have to go through a period of initial lobbying, where you'll find plenty of neutral handling and a fine trace of understeer.

Once you get the rear end of the Ferrari FF out, you'll experience the unique charter of its all-wheel drive system. The car feels more like a rear-wheel driven one that comes back more easily rather than a 4WD machine. You don't get that all-wheel sideways acceleration of the latter kind. Instead, the front axle helps you bring thins back in a straight line easier, but only after letting you live one or two hyper-emotions for a brief moment.

Nevertheless, the adjacent behavior only reveals itself if you clim past the "Sport" Manettino position. Up to that point and including it, the Ferrari FF shows phenomenal road holding, allowing you to play nicely within the grip limits.

Whereas the Ferrari 458 always seem to be one Manetinno state behind, as it slides a bit too much for its own good, the FF has things under perfect control. We have to explain that it’s not just the four-wheel drive that makes the difference - even the Ferrari F12 Berlinetta seems to be less tail-happy than the 458, it’s more of a setup matter.

We did mention wide corners above, but don't imagine that these bring any relief. Their presence only means that if we'll do any boo-boo, it will all take place at a speed we don't want to talk about.

The lines are straighter and the incline is softer here in the upper part of Jebel Hafeet. While the first section was basically an immersion into the car's characteristics, here's where you'll get to asses less and enjoy more.

The broader trajectories allow you to plan your moves further ahead. The naturally-aspirated powerplant is pulling us up with an otherworldly determination.

Here's where the Ferrari FF's GT assets start shining. The car is doing a great job at keeping us unaware of all the strain the mountain is placing on it.

The road surface is perfectly flat - it was built by the Germans, so we wouldn't have expected anything else from it. If you listen closely, you'll hear the typical Ferrari V12 high-pitched voice accompanied by the violent sound of the engine sucking air through its twin massive boxes up front.

At full throttle, the dual-clutch transmission, which acted like a harmful kitten coming here on the highway, shakes the entire body as it shifts.

One or two gear changes later we enter the parking close to the summit. We’re eager to throw ourselves downhill before we return to enjoy the view here, but we shouldn’t rush. The FF demands just as much respect as the rocks around us, so we allow the car to cool down for ten minutes or so.

Being able to watch the desert from such a high point makes one feel extremely powerful, not a wise state when you're about to tackle 21 corners while going down.

From up here, all the agitation in Al Ain is muted, the city only shows its splendor. Move your eyes around the horizon and you'll see the border with Oman. So many pieces of desert culture, but there's no time to talk about wisdom of the dunes, that FF has to meet the mountain again.