And spent a glorious afternoon in Marinello on our way from Venice to Florence. We also went to Rome but since this is not a forum to share our vacation stories, let's get down to business.

As we're getting driving from Venice I told my wife that everyone says that you will start to see Ferarris when you get close to Marinello. Sure enough, about 5 mins later we can upon a LaFerrari. We were one car behind that bad boy and I tried to follow him into the factory area. I didn't get past security... I said to my wife that I hope you enjoyed the glimpse since we may never see one again. There was another one in the museum as it turned out.

My wife son and I toured the Ferrari museum and did the "factory tour" which entails riding around on a bus through the Ferrari campus. We also got to take the bus around the Fiorano test track which they said doesn't happen every day. Even though we probably didn't get about 30 mph taking the test track in that bus was pretty cool.

We actually saw two more LaFerraris during the factory tour. Cool looking car. Shame on Ferrari for not allowing it to be compared to a 918 or P1. But I digress...

Next to Ferrari are a couple of shops in which you can rent various Ferraris. You could test drive one for 10 mins to all-day. I got to choose from a variety of models but had my heart on a 458 Italia. And yes that had a 458 Speciale. And yes it costs more to drive. But I wanted the purest comparo for our GT3s and since I had never driver a Ferrari before, let alone the 458 I figured that the Speciale would be lost on me. I chose the 30 min test drive.

As I'm driving down the streets of Marinello my co-pilot said "Punch it." Who is going to argue with that? So I punched it and got to such ludicrous speeds that I care not to share with you. Lol. At any rate I got my moneys worth and got to experience some high g's in the turns with my lead foot. My copilot actually got scared for a minute.

I was originally going to do a long comparison of our beloved GT3s with the 458 Italia. But I decided to do a short one instead and post more pics of cars. We all like pics.

Looks... Subjective I know but the 458 is beautiful. It really is a work of art that is put on wheels.

Sound... Different that the GT3. Maybe higher pitched is the way to describe it. Scintillating.

Interior... Probably a notch above the GT3 but not by much. My car is full leather with extended leather dash. The Ferrari is all leather and alcantra. I would say that the Ferrari leather is slightly better. Gotta love Italian leather!

Speed... I dunno which car is faster. My butt says that the GT3 is but if I had to guess I'd assume that the 458 has slightly more power if you punch it while driving at moderate speed. Truthfully I couldn't see any difference though. In a race that lasted for anything longer than 5 mins around a track, I would put my money on the GT3 as at least I know that it's reliable. lol

Handling... Another tough call. The 458 felt like a smaller vehicle to me, probably because the engine is right behind you vs that empty cavern in the GT3. I personally like small cars. The biggest complaint I have about the GT3 is that it feels "big." Certainly bigger than my 997S. Anyhow, I feel like the 458 sits slightly lower than our cars.

I think that I would like to own a Ferrari one day. But for now, I want to own the GT3 just a bit more. :-)

Anyway, enjoy some pics...

 

Here are some more pics.

 

Even more pics.

 

More pics... Not sure why some come out sideways.

 

That's a small sample of all of the pics that I took in the museum. Hope you enjoyed!

 

Fantastic!

 

Great thread and pics!