2023 Ferrari 812 GTS: Glamorous Ferocity

by Andrew Maness

September 2, 2024

Is there anything more exotic, more glamorous, more sophisticated than a Ferrari with a front mounted V12? Certainly not in the present automotive ​marketplace. One would also be hard pressed to find a car that outpaces the likes of the 250 SWB, 275 GTB, 330 GTC and Daytona in those three categories, ​which is a key reason why they cost what they do. Having only driven one of those models and ridden in another, I’m nowhere near an authority on vintage ​V12 Ferrari’s. In fact it’s only in the past couple of years that I’ve really started to warm up to the brand in general. I was born in the second half of the ​1980’s, so while I eventually knew what the F40 and Testarossa were, I was too young to have the posters on my wall. For me it was the F355, F50 and 550 ​Maranello that first piqued my interest in Ferrari. I didn’t “get” the 360 when it was new, I was among the crowd who cheered when Dom told Brian to ​“smoke him” after the 360 driving douche replies “more than you can afford pal. Ferrari” in The Fast & The Furious. What can I say, I like an underdog and at ​the time I was subscribed to Super Street and Import Tuner, not Forza or Auto-Italia.

TJust about 10 years later I drove a Ferrari for the first time, a Dino, ​and a seed was planted. Shortly thereafter I drove a 328 GTS, which ​was wildly underwhelming as a sports car, but fun as fuck to just be in. ​I felt the same way the first time I drove a Testarossa, then I drove one ​with the Capristo sports exhaust and it was like driving a completely ​different car. I’ve had canyon seat time in a 360 Challenge Stradale, ​458 Speciale, 488 and GTC4 Lusso too. All wonderful and each ​delivered unforgettable memories. The same goes for more recent ​models I’ve driven, 296 GTB, Roma, Roma Spyder, and Purosangue. ​However, about a year ago a good friend put me behind the wheel of ​his 812 GTS, first on Sunset Blvd and then for a blast around some of ​my favorite roads in the Santa Monica Mountains. This was a pivotal ​moment in my time as a driver. A 6.5L V12 has no business revving so ​freely. A car with a hood this long and a seating position so far back ​has no business being so trustworthy. Paired with the fastest shifting ​7-speed dual-clutch transaxle transmission you’ll find anywhere(and I ​do mean anywhere) you might think the power and drivetrains are in ​the starring roles. Wrong. The 812 GTS is a true ensemble show. The ​handling is shockingly buttoned down, with sharp turn-in coming via ​ultra-precise steering that’s big on feedback but not on weight. ​Admittedly it does take some getting used to, as does the feeling of ​the V12 being between you and the front axle, but the benefits of a ​true front-mid engine vehicle cannot be understated. Once you get the ​rhythm, it’s a beautiful dance.

Between the rear-axle steering, Ferrari’s exceptional traction and stability control, and 275 width Michelin Pilot Sport 4S FRONT tires, you can trust the ​812 to go where you point it. Well, provided that you’re smart enough to put the tire temperature display up on one of the two digital gauge cluster ​screens and make sure they’re warm before you really dig in. Having had multiple sets of Michelin’s PS4S on personal vehicles I’m quite familiar with ​their limitations, which are far beyond what a reasonable driver needs to enjoy themselves on a public road.

If there was one aspect of the 812 I was wary of after my brief first encounter, it was the weight. It felt rather lithe bombing around the sweeping ​mountain roads I knew so well, but how would it fare on the much tighter and bumpier roads in the northeast? Quite well actually. The 812 GTS weighs ​189 lbs more than the 812 Superfast, arriving somewhere just below 4,000lbs(depending on who you ask), but it sure as shit doesn’t feel like it. Taking ​mass, scale and “vibe” into consideration, one would hardly think to categorize the 812 GTS as a “driver’s car” and yet it oddly declares itself as such by ​way of an addictive experience. I can’t think of another car I’ve driven that simultaneously makes me want to keep going all day and lay down on the ​couch for a restorative nap. It’s mentally taxing, it encourages the best kind of bad behavior and it’s just…So.Fucking.Fast. That’s not to say it isn’t usable ​as regular transportation though, provided you have heaps of self-restraint. Employ it and together with “Bumpy Road” mode, as well as the manettino ​set to the most docile setting, you can amble along country roads in comfort and relative anonymity. The former is primarily achievable thanks to the ​always fantastic MagneRide suspension, sadly Ferrari’s “comfort seats” don’t quite live up to the name. They look cushy enough, but a lack of bottom ​seat cushioning, thigh bolstering and adjustable rake left me with real discomfort in both legs at the end of each day. I know people generally want to ​have things their way, Ferrari customers especially, but the only seats that should be available in the 812 are properly bolstered buckets. As far as the ​relative anonymity goes, that mostly comes down to the spec. I was overjoyed to find my loaner vehicle painted a gorgeous metallic earth tone that ​Ferrari calls “Brunito” with the typically requisite fender mounted Cavallino Rampante shield nowhere to be found. The interior was equally tasteful with ​the special leather option box having been ticked in “Grigio Budelli”, which is somewhere between Jay-Z’s mauve suit and baked clay. It works, works ​very nicely.

With the exotic dialed down and the glamor and sophistication cranked all the way up, the 812 GTS firmly takes its place in the line of future Ferrari ​classics. At present, the model is on its way out, discontinued as of this year to make way for the Daytona-tribute “12 Cilindri”, which some speculate will ​be Ferrari’s last front engine V12 model. I’m not convinced that anything short of the government marching in to personally pull the plug would stop ​Ferrari from doing what they do best, which is put a naturally aspirated engine with 12 cylinders in front of the driver. Few automakers love and respect ​their heritage the way Ferrari does. It comes across in some fashion in every model they make, but especially so in the 812 GTS, which is as much about ​emotion as it is performance. Whether you put the folding hard-top down or simply drop the small glass window just behind the driver and passengers ​heads, the sonorous exhaust note stirs your soul. From the bottom of the tach all the way to the top of nearly 9,000rpm, nothing has quite the range as ​an Italian V12. It echoes with all the mechanical wonders of Maranello that have come before it and links the driver to a community of professionals, ​amateurs and passionate unknowns who’ve had the good fortune to find themselves in the driver’s seat looking at that black prancing horse on the ​center of the steering wheel. I don’t care about the perceived prestige, the personal clout or the exorbitant cost. Those are trivial matters to a driver and ​the 812 GTS, like any other car, is meant to be driven. Indeed it can be enjoyed by merely observing it, but to experience it, to wield it, that brings ​something to the table that driving(not car) enthusiasts have sought since the dawn of the automobile…fleeting moments of bliss where the mechanical ​and the organic are in perfect harmony.