FERRARI ART HOUSE

Text: Irina Malkova | Photo and video of Yakub Islamov

CALIFORNIA T - ONE OF THE LAST FERRARI SUPERCARS, PERFECT EXTERNAL AND GORGEOUS INSIDE. THIS LUXURY ROADSTER IN ONE CLICK TURNS FROM A FLOWED COUPE WITH A RIGID ROOF TO A CHIC CONVERTIBLE. AND WANTING TO DRIVE, FOLLOWING UP, UNCERTAINLY FUN, WITH AERODYNAMIC ROOF THE CAR LOOKS BETTER.

The creators of California T took all the most romantic and sensual that is in Ferrari’s mythology, added overclocking, which, in comparison with the 458 Italia Spider, felt quite easily, and a powerful car with beautiful, smoothly curved lines was cast from this divine brew - perfect for driver and passenger. The convertible with a rigid folding roof is ideal for both sybarites living on the seashore and couples who decide to take a car ride on the weekend. California T boasts not only a power of 560 horsepower, but also a torque of 755 Nm. Compared to the previous model, the indicators are increased by as much as 49%!

How did the talented masters from Maranello succeed? Everything is very simple - California T is equipped with a 3.8-liter V8 engine with a pair of twin-scroll turbochargers on both sides of the engine. Twin-scroll technology assumes that each turbine has not one but two channels for exhaust gases: a large and a small one.

California T instantly picks up speed and quickly accelerates to illegal speeds, spending a few seconds on gear changes. If you do not slow down for a long time, California T can accelerate to 200-250 km / h, which she demonstrated to us on a long straight stretch of road in the Emirate desert on the way to Fujairah.

Frankly, it was difficult to restrain surprise when looking at the speedometer. California T, despite the impressive speed, moved smoothly, like a car for leisurely trips.

Such high power and torque values were made possible by the installation of a dual-clutch gearbox, which also made the car easy to drive. To switch to "neutral", you need to click both paddle switches to reverse, press the "R" button on the center panel. If you need the first gear - press the right "petal". When you remove the car from the electric hand brake (small drum brakes are installed in the hubs of the rear wheels), the lightest touch of the pedal is enough - and the gearbox is ready for operation.

Plus, aerodynamic engineers did a great job this time too. Stylish bends besides improving aerospeakers give the design more dynamism. With a raised roof, the car is almost indistinguishable from a coupe, and with a lowered swirling air flows in the cabin are almost not felt. The fairly high rear of the body and the configuration of the front seats allow you to block incoming flows. Behind the windshield, a real zone of tranquility is formed, and the wind blows into the salon only in order to picture the hair.

The roof folding mechanism has remained unchanged: the convertible top hides in the trunk for 14 seconds (however, only when the car is on the handbrake - for safety) and at the same time there is enough space for your belongings. If you have a lot of them, compact rear seats can be used as additional baggage.

As a result, California T will look perfect both in the garage of a luxury villa on Palma, and is quite suitable for driving to a sushibar or Thai restaurant, taking a ride along the coast under the moonlight and returning to a cozy house preparing for bed. California T is a kind of art-house, romantic version of Ferrari.

The dimensions of the car remained the same, but thanks to such carefully thought-out details as, for example, replacing a conventional exhaust system with horizontally paired pipes, the very impressive rear of the car now looks much more compact. And elongated arrow-shaped headlights, an aggressive grille and a pair of ventilation holes on the hood of the California T gave her a slightly manic "smirk" to her older "sisters."

At the same time, it moves with special majesty, especially if it is made in a noble silver “metallic”, which seemed to us to be a much more advantageous color compared to traditional red. This car has an unexpected side effect, turning the men sitting at the wheel of Robert Redford or Brad Pitt in their best years. A similar effect - a la "Hollywood" or "Monte Carlo" - the machine has on women. Grace Kelly would have looked flawless at her wheel.

The front seats, covered in luxurious red leather, are surprisingly comfortable and convenient, which you would not normally expect from a sports car. The knobs and buttons on the dashboard are simple and intuitive. Inside, the supercar received a new center-mounted 6.5-inch touchscreen display for the infotainment system and Turbo Performance Engineer - a separate touchscreen displaying engine data. There are also buttons for turning on the Race and Launch Control modes. If you are a fan of iPhones, you can connect the phone directly and use the special AppleCarPlay system to display your music and applications on the touchscreen located on the control panel.

And this model also has a real ignition key, which, perhaps, is rare in our time. Insert it, turn and press the big red button on the steering wheel with the inscription "Engine Start". There will be a roar and the adventure will begin. Moreover, they will learn about your approximation long before the appearance of the machine in the field of view - the motor makes such a loud and powerful sound. However, this is one of the main pleasures of owning a Ferrari.

Ferrari CALIFORNIA T