It has taken a bit to get used to. Picked the car up from London and drove back to Scotland.
At first I thought there was something wrong with the car, the level of engine braking is huge and takes a bit of getting used to. A friend owned an F12 and now has a 812, quick phone call confirmed that a 6.2l V12 that shoves out 730hp has quite a bit of engine braking, you have to be really steady on the throttle on motorway cruising other wise your passenger becomes seasick. The easiest way to combat this is to have some level of cruise control on which keeps a mild level of throttle present and softens the engine pull the off throttle.
It wasn't until a 5 day trip to Italy up into Austria and back that I realised how good and welcome the engine braking is, its perfect when pushing the car - to be honest its needed. It replicates as much I suppose as you could a manual style of throttle control I have never experienced in an auto transmission. The car shrinks round you, steering is really quick and you feel like it rotates about you which again is very different to other cars I have driven. The power and the engine noise is addictive, I wouldn't say its too much. The manettino system is great, in sport the car has a good level of safety systems active and traction feels really stable and secure, in race you can feel it slipping at the heavier end of the right foot. I am happy enough in sport at 8/10ths for short bursts between hairpins. On the downhill sections in race under really heavy braking at high speeds the gears bang in which is incredible and gets the hairs on your arms and neck standing on end. It is an incredible machine!
Equally its a great car for cruising with the wife for a coffee on a Sunday.
Loving it so far.
