Ferrari 612 Scaglietti GTC-H : FOUR TO THE FLOOR

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Ferrari's fastest four seater is now even more focused. Andy Enright reports

On the face of it, it appears to be chutzpah of the highest order to charge £174,745 for a Ferrari 612 Scaglietti and then ask another £15,675 for the GTC Handling Package. Shouldn't the 612 handle well to begin with? The truth is that though the standard 612 is brilliantly judged for most of its target customers, there will always be those who will forgo a little of its long distance cruising ability for something that's got a bit more attitude when flung at a corner. That's where the surcharge comes in.

This is a similar tack Ferrari adopted with the old 575M and, when taken as a percentage of the 612's overall price, it represents a big step up in ability for less than 10 per cent extra. What you don't get is more power. Ferrari has wisely chosen to leave that V12 powerplant alone, feeling that 540bhp is probably adequate. The changes that have been made to the GTC-H model will get you from A to B a good deal faster without further tweaking the engine. The big ticket item in the GTC-H package is the carbon ceramic braking system. The composite discs save a whole lot of unsprung weight and improved resistance to fade when given a proper pasting. Huge monoblock callipers bite down on these discs to give eye-popping retardation from a car that weighs in at a not inconsequential 1,835kg. The ball-polished five-spoke alloy wheels supplied with the GTC-H give a good view of the braking set up but aren't much to look at in themselves. What's wrapped around them is infinitely more interesting if you're the sort of person tempted to drop over fifteen grand on making your car handle better. The Michelin Sport tyres are a revelation. We've tried them on any number of different cars and the difference they make to a lap time is astonishing. Fitted to the 612 Scaglietti, they will reduce understeer in what is already a pleasantly pointy front end, although we've managed to get through a set of fronts on an afternoon of determined lappery. Factor the replacement costs of these and the bill for replacement brake discs into any equation when considering taking your Scaglietti with GTC-H pack anywhere near a race track.

"Potential Ferrari 612 Scaglietti owners in search of a dose of attitude queue hereâ€¦ "

What else is offered? A freer-breathing exhaust system probably liberates a few bhp that are off the spec sheet, while a specific suspension control ECU keeps things shipshape in the twsities. The F1 gearbox software has also been optimised to offer even snappier gearshift times. But why would you want to subject such a big, cumbersome car to this sort of punishment in the first place? The truth is the Scaglietti feels anything but big and cumbersome. Delve into the rich and convoluted history of Ferrari and you'll discover that all their finest Grand Touring coupes had something in common - an engine at the front driving the rear wheels. Even in the late Seventies when mid-engined coupes were almost de rigeur, Ferrari persisted with the 400GT, a four-seat front engined smoothie. The 400 developed into the 412 and that in turn was replaced by the delicious 456. The 612 Scaglietti that now takes its turn in that lineage offers something of a departure. Ferrari claim it's front-mid engined, hence its added agility. This sounds something of a contradiction in terms but the engineering behind the claim is sound. Hang a heavy engine out at either the front or the back of a vehicle and you're asking for all sorts of negative handling aspects. It took Porsche years to tame the handling of the 911 due to this pendulum effect. Bring the engine's weight inside the line of either axle and you've got a car that's a good deal lighter on its feet. That's exactly what Ferrari hope to have achieved with the 612 Scaglietti. The name refers to the Ferrari-owned coachbuilder who fashions the car's all-aluminium body, and harks back to the days that Sergio Scaglietti himself hammered out body parts for prototype Ferrari models. The man responsible for the shape is Japanese stylist Ken Okuyama at Pininfarina with the assistance of Ferrari design guru Frank Stephenson. Although striking, it lacks the feline elegance of the 456 it replaces. The front overhangs are minimal and the need to house the huge 5.7-litre V12 engine means that the cabin is set well back. If you're at all sensitive to what some people reckon of those who drive cars with long bonnets, the Scaglietti may not appeal. The most distinctive aspect to the design are the scalloped flanks which are reminiscent of early Corvettes. This feature gave rise to the car being referred to as `Ingrid' at Pininfarina because this feature was shared with the one-off 1954 Ferrari 375MM `Berlinetta Aerodinamica Sergio Scaglietti', commissioned by legendary Italian film director Roberto Rossellini as a surprise present for his missus, one Ingrid Bergman. Otherwise, much of the exterior design is unmistakably contemporary Ferrari, including the metallic grille at the front and a rear end that many will struggle to distinguish from the 575 Maranello two-seater. Of course, the major difference between the cars is the fact that the 612 Scaglietti will seat four. The rear seats are a good deal more spacious than the rather token affairs in the old 456, although they're still not a place you'd opt to spend any great time. Any car with 540bhp under the bonnet and 1835kg to haul up the road is going to be extremely rapid and the 612 Scaglietti doesn't disappoint. It'll hammer to 60mph in 4.1 seconds and hit a top speed of 196mph where conditions allow, making it marginally quicker than its Bentley and Mercedes rivals. Although the Scaglietti's styling hasn't found universal acclaim, it's a car that you grow to respect rather than fall in love with. A Ferrari that appeals to the head rather than the heart has to work that little bit harder to justify the additional expense of the GTC-H pack, but the 612 is a worthy recipient.

Facts At A Glance
CAR: Ferrari 612 Scaglietti with GTC-H pack
PRICE: £190,420 - on the road
INSURANCE GROUP: 20 CO2 [g/km] EMISSIONS: 475g/km
PERFORMANCE: Max Speed 196mph / 0-60mph 4.1s
FUEL CONSUMPTION: (average) 15mpg
STANDARD SAFETY FEATURES: Twin airbags / ABS / tarction and stability control WILL IT FIT IN YOUR GARAGE ?: Length/Width/Height 4902/1957/1344mm