Just got back from China and during the trip my Chinese pal let me drive his Bentley Continental GT around the countryside. It's a V12 twin turbo coupe' and the 520hp was amazing, even in such a heavy car. Sorry, I was too busy ooooh & ahhhing over the Bentley so I forgot to take a pic of his, but here is one from the net..........
My pal owns appx 20 cars, from exotics to top-end continental cars. One of his toys is a Ferrari 612 and as a Ferrari owner he was invited to Ferrari's track day in Shanghai at an abandoned airstrip. The purpose was for the launch of the new F430 and 3 examples were present to be driven by current Ferrari owners (probable prospects in buying the new model). Fortunately, my friend wanted me to come along and he made sure I got to take the F430 out on the test track........... :shock:
After a quick run around the track, with one of the Italian drivers, in full auto mode I climbed into another F430 and quickly switched it into "Sport" mode which allows paddle shifting. All I can say is ABSOLUTELY FREAKING AMAZING.........and........I HAVE TO HAVE ONE!!!
In full auto mode the Italian driver had the throttle pegged the whole way through the circuit and the car was always at the edge but never out of control. In sport mode I was also at full throttle bangin up through the gears and the car just screamed with enthusiasm. The handling was sublime (partially due to traction control) and the power, 500hp V8, was astonishing.
Besides the power, great handling & of course Ferrari styling, the stopping power amazed me the most. Massive ceramic discs and ABS allowed me the shear pleasure of going over 100mph to suddenly stomping on the brakes to stop in what seemed like 10yds. The highlight of the day came when I finished my run and was pulling the car around to a stop, and the Italian Ferrari co-pilot that ran the event said "thank you".....to which I replied, "why?".........and he said, "finally someone that knows how to drive, what a pleasure, thank you."
Pic below of the one of the 3 test cars.........
What a day.....and of course, what a CAR!!!
My pal owns appx 20 cars, from exotics to top-end continental cars. One of his toys is a Ferrari 612 and as a Ferrari owner he was invited to Ferrari's track day in Shanghai at an abandoned airstrip. The purpose was for the launch of the new F430 and 3 examples were present to be driven by current Ferrari owners (probable prospects in buying the new model). Fortunately, my friend wanted me to come along and he made sure I got to take the F430 out on the test track........... :shock:
After a quick run around the track, with one of the Italian drivers, in full auto mode I climbed into another F430 and quickly switched it into "Sport" mode which allows paddle shifting. All I can say is ABSOLUTELY FREAKING AMAZING.........and........I HAVE TO HAVE ONE!!!
In full auto mode the Italian driver had the throttle pegged the whole way through the circuit and the car was always at the edge but never out of control. In sport mode I was also at full throttle bangin up through the gears and the car just screamed with enthusiasm. The handling was sublime (partially due to traction control) and the power, 500hp V8, was astonishing.
Besides the power, great handling & of course Ferrari styling, the stopping power amazed me the most. Massive ceramic discs and ABS allowed me the shear pleasure of going over 100mph to suddenly stomping on the brakes to stop in what seemed like 10yds. The highlight of the day came when I finished my run and was pulling the car around to a stop, and the Italian Ferrari co-pilot that ran the event said "thank you".....to which I replied, "why?".........and he said, "finally someone that knows how to drive, what a pleasure, thank you."
Pic below of the one of the 3 test cars.........
What a day.....and of course, what a CAR!!!
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