2018 Ferrari 812 Superfast Review

There are cars beyond the reach of most of us — cars that are made from the finest materials, that produce unimaginable levels of performance, or both. They typically carry a price tag exceeding the cost of your average house. The Ferrari 812 Superfast is one of those cars, and if you're fortunate enough to be in the market for one, you're certainly in for a treat.

Ferrari has long been in the business of producing grand-touring cars, and the 812 Superfast is its newest and most technologically advanced offering. Making 789 horsepower from a 6.5-liter V12 engine, it's also unbelievably fast. And thanks to heady amounts of driver assistance technology, it's not a complete brute, allowing the driver to exploit its considerable limits all the while transporting a custom set of golf clubs in the trunk.

But the price to fly in this rarefied air is knocking on $350K, and prospective buyers have quite a few alternatives, most at a lower price, to the 812 Superfast. Porsche would be happy to sell you a GT2 RS for about $100,000 less. And if your checkbook is ready to go, Bentley, McLaren and especially Lamborghini would like a word with you. Then again, if you're in the market for an 812 Superfast, you might own at least one of those cars already.

The 2018 Ferrari 812 Superfast is a rear-wheel-drive, two-passenger exotic coupe powered by a front-mounted 6.5-liter V12 engine making 789 horsepower and 530 lb-ft. The only transmission available is a seven-speed dual-clutch automatic.

As befitting a car with a starting price near $350,000, the Ferrari 812 Superfast comes impeccably trimmed with high-quality leather, carbon fiber, aluminum and faux suede. Performance hardware is equally impressive, and along with the monstrous 12-cylinder engine comes an adaptive suspension, four-wheel steering and an electronically controlled rear differential. Among the nearly inexhaustible list of options are more ordinary ones such as an upgraded 1,500-watt JBL Professional audio system, Apple CarPlay, a performance telemetry system, a nose-mounted camera, more aggressive seats with additional power adjustment (eight-way power seats are standard), and a myriad of wheel designs. Ferrari provides prospective buyers with a personal concierge to navigate all of the available options.