Is The Ferrari 812 Superfast Too Powerful?

The Ferrari 812 Superfast is the latest creation of the Ferrari front-V12 GT cars. Those GT cars go all the way back to the 1940s when Ferrari revealed their first proper road car, the 166 Inter.

Silver exterior, red interior

I met up with the founder of AARK Racing to take some pictures of their new Ferrari 812 Superfast. They acquired the car through HR Owen Ferrari and configured it with salesman Garry O’Dea. The outside is finished in Grigio Ferro, a stunning shade of silver. The wheels are finished in black and most carbon options were ticked.

The inside, finished in Bordeaux, is a bit more bold: ‘’I really wanted something different and when Garry told me I could, we went for it! I love the contrast with the rather plain exterior. I used to own an Ferrari F12tdf which I bought in silver with black wheels and a full red interior. We had to pull some strings, but this interior is one of the first tailor made parts you can find in any 812 Superfast.’’

Too powerful?

The Ferrari 166 Inter - a spiritual successor - was intended as a luxurious way of driving from A to B. The ride was comfortable and it wasn’t as focused on performance as the GT cars of today. The V12 in the 166 Inter produced around 90 bhp and the car could reach a top speed of 150 kph (93 mph). The latest successor of that 166 Inter is the 812 Superfast, a proper supercar that packs 789 bhp and is capable of going 340 kph (212 mph).

But, did Ferrari went a bit nuts? In my opinion they didn’t. Although the car lives after its name, it really knows how to put the power down. I asked the owner to accelerate at a stoplight and impressed me how the cars keeps grip. Both the engine and the tires were cold - we definitely left some tire marks - but we reached 108 kph (67 mph) in under 4.5 seconds. In Central London.

You could use this car to get to the track, drive it on the track and get some milk at the grocery shop while on your way back. I would need to spend more time in one to give a proper answer, but in the few minutes I sat in the passenger seat, the car felt like it had tons of potential, but it could also turn into a Grand Tourer, with the switch of just one button.

Thanks to AARK Racing for allowing me to spend some time around this magnificent piece of engineering.

Written by Max Lammers