Ferrari GTC4 Lusso: A supercar you can take to the shops

published 8 July 2016

The Ferrari GTC4 Lusso is the replacement for the 2011 FF Ferrari's attempt to "get a slide on the even-then-burgeoning SUV market", says Andrew English in The Daily Telegraph.

Ferrari tells us that this is the closest we'll ever get to a Ferrari SUV a "shooting brake", or a cross between an estate and a coup. When the design is right, shooting brakes can be gorgeous and much-loved cars think of the Reliant Scimitar GTE. And Ferrari's design is "super".

Sadly, the execution isn't entirely perfect. The gurgling engine is magnificent, and the car "gathers speed like a foreign wind". But the handling is complicated by rear-wheel steering, which adds an abrupt, twitching sensation we could have done without. This should have been a simpler and better car.

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But still, it's hard not to love it nonetheless. Sean Carson in AutoExpress disagrees. The car is "mesmerisingly good to drive", he says, and "brilliantly useable with it". The rear-wheel steering effectively shortens the car's wheelbase, giving this vast four-seat GT the agility of a much smaller car. It takes some getting used to, but once you have, the car "shrinks around you" and inspires huge confidence to use all the monumental performance at your disposal.

It might cost nearly a quarter of a million pounds, but rivals can't compete with what the GTC4 offers: supercar performance and everyday useability in one package. This Ferrari is in a class all of its own.

Price: from £240,430. Engine: 6,262cc, V12, all-wheel-drive. Power: 681bhp at 8,000rpm. Torque: 514 lb ft at 5,750rpm. Top speed: 208mph. 0-62mph: 3.4 seconds.

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