Ferrari 812 Competizione review

Opening the 812 Comp’s taps and unleashing all 819bhp is a near-spiritual experience. This V12 is even better than the standard 812’s, which in turn already had more character, soul and performance than its twelve-cylinder rivals from Aston Martin and Lamborghini.

This one is a naturally-aspirated wonder with a broad and usable rev band that builds momentum the more you push your limits. It not only produces brutal speed but a symphony of noise and anger like no other. Rev gauge ripping around to the highest point of any Ferrari V12 ever, you’re given a visual cue and physical translation of the thrashing mechanical spectacle going on up front. As an experience, there’s really nothing like it.

But the internet and your mates seemingly don’t care about emotions. They like numbers. Well, try these: it does 0-62mph in 2.85 seconds, 0-124mph in 7.4s, tops out at 211mph and can lap Fiorano in 1min 20sec – three-tenths off a LaFerrari. What’s harder is making a car agile, stable and inspiring in fast corners. And from the exit of Fiorano's Turn One, through its fast sweeping section to the big braking zone before the bridge, the 812 Comp is spectacular and exhilarating.

The steering gives you delicious feedback while downforce becomes your invisible friend feeding you g-forces that tease and punish your body. Plus, you’ve got that engine asking for more, a gearbox that throws gears at you with precision, vigour and speed and brakes that lack bite at the top end but can make you vomit up your lungs.

So it's a hardcore track machine?

It’s not too hardcore. Strangely soft and useable compared to other track-focused stuff. Ferrari’s developers and engineers did this on purpose – that’s why there’s a bit of give at the top of the brake pedal, the suspension isn’t made for billiard tables and there are two tyres available: a Michelin Cup 2 R for track use and a friendlier Pirelli which is a better all-rounder. You can also get that set painted with fancy tyre writing if you’ve got some money to burn.

A word on the Michelins: they need to be warm to work. Otherwise the car doesn’t work at all. The front end will push, the traction light will put on a show and you’ll end up scared and going home sulking. So work some heat into them. And when they are suitably putty-like and switched on, the grip is spectacular, with those 275-section front tyres able to manage all that weight up front and tuck the car in with little understeer and unbelievable precision.

The real ace Ferrari has up its sleeve is its handling of electronics. It definitely feels like Ferrari’s boffs dissected the criticisms thrown at the F12tdf's skittish and scary rear end. Amazingly, the uncertainty and spikiness appears to have been coded out with wizardry, a clever differential and new independent four-wheel steering. Where the tdf had the first generation of Ferrari’s virtual short wheelbase, the Comp has advanced to the stage where the rear wheels have a mind of their own; individually adjusting toe-angle to help stabilise the car or rotate it to get the front end tucked in to minimise understeer. It’s bonkers.

What about Side Slip Control?

You mean Hold My Beer Mode, surely. First launched on the 458 Speciale, this voodoo gives your driving ability and confidence an Instagram filter style glow-up. Ferrari’s systems aren’t like any others – not only do they make 819bhp to the rear wheels useable (in Race mode you floor it before the apex and just let the electronics manage all the dangerous stuff) but also entertaining, gifting you more potential from the car with each twist of the dial.

But don’t get cocky. The 812 Comp pities the fool who gets cocky. With the throttle being sharp, steering quick, tyres wide and engine massively powerful, it doesn’t like to be provoked or prodded. Get greedy with your inputs when no safety net is around and it'll quickly show you the fastest way to the Armco. If you engage with it and show the car respect, it's surprisingly driveable and entertaining in a way that a McLaren 765LT is too serious and single-minded to be truly enjoyable. Well… on a dry track with warm tyres, that is. I don’t envy the person who has to drive an 812 Comp on a wet British B-road in mid-November. That might be, um, exciting.