Here's What It's Like To Live With The $316,000 Ferrari F12berlinetta [PHOTOS]

 

 

                   

By Alex Davies  

 

@ YAHOO AUTOS      

 

The Ferrari F12berlinetta has been around since 2012, but now that the LaFerrari — the brand's fastest and most expensive production car ever — has completely sold out, it's once again the best car with the prancing horse logo money can buy.

Which is why we were pumped to spend the better part of a week with the beautiful F12, which starts for a whopping $315,888.
What do you get for that not so small fortune? Two seats, a top speed over 210 mph, a 0 to 62 mph time of 3.1 seconds, and a huge amount of fun.

And a few headaches as well.

Ferrari let us take the F12berlinetta wherever we wanted — but begged us to keep it away from potholes. It's not meant for the mean streets of New York.

So we fled Manhattan for a more fitting locale.

Connecticut.

On the way north, we stopped to clean up. We had no choice but to cough up the money for the hand wash.

Worth it. The paint job is "Rosso berlinetta" — a special red made just for this model.

Only two people can ride in the F12 at any given time.

There isn't a lot of trunk space, but this isn't a car meant for traveling, anyway.
 

The seats are supportive but not soft. The leather is fine, but if you want to ride in comfort, buy a Rolls-Royce.

This car is meant for the track, or at least roads where other drivers and cops are scarce.

Unlike most new fancy cars, you need a physical key to turn the ignition.
 

But there's a button to actually start the engine. Just be ready for the roar.
 

It's designed so that you rarely have to take your hands off the wheel.

The turn signals are operated by two buttons, one under each thumb.

Space behind your hands is reserved for the paddle shifters, which put the car into gear even when it's in automatic mode.

The Ferrari Manettino dial switches the car between driving modes, including wet, sport, and race.

And there's a button to soften the suspension if you insist on driving on bumpy roads.

Instead of a speedometer in front of your face, you get a huge tachometer. If you push the car too hard in manual mode, lights on the steering wheel tell you switch gears.
 

The passenger gets his own display to see the car's speed and RPM — making the ride either a lot more fun or a lot more frightening.

Not everything is logical. Simple things like tuning to a specific radio station are surprisingly difficult.
 

And there's no conventional gear shift. The "R" button puts you in reverse, and the shifter paddles put you back into drive.

The plastic used for the air vents is so light, it almost feels cheap.
 

Under the hood is a naturally aspirated V12 engine that generates over 700 horsepower.

That makes the F12 the second most powerful production Ferrari you can buy, after the sold-out LaFerrari.

Just be ready to be photographed — when the F12berlinetta rolls down the street, people tend to notice.

Now see where to fly in style.