About Ferrari California T
Six years after the introduction of the California model in its lineup, Ferrari has decided to give its best-selling model a boost and added a pair of turbochargers to the V8 engine under the hood and several other upgrades to the rest of the car.
Ferrari usually replaced its cars more often, but not the California. This model was the one that allowed the Italian sports car manufacturer to survive the world financial crisis and keep the company afloat. But after six years on the market, the original 460 PS (453 hp) engine started to lag behind the competition, so the automaker considered that it deserved a better heart and turbocharged it. Thanks to these upgrades, the Italian automaker managed to keep this car on the assembly lines until 2017.
At the front, the car sported the same smiling shape for the radiator grille that was mounted on the bumper. It was extended downwards in the apron and flanked by a pair of scoops that didn’t house fog lamps. Those were there to cool the front brakes. On the hood, the automaker placed two big extracting vents that clearly differentiated the California T from the California. From its profile, the coupe-cabriolet Italian sports car sported two vents behind the front wheel arches, which extracted the trapped air from the wheel wells to decrease aerodynamic lift. The retractable hard top was available either in the same color as the rest of the car or in black, in a two-tone paint job. From behind, the California T boasted a large diffuser underneath the bumper and was flanked by two pairs of round exhausts placed on the outer sides.
One of the reasons why customers were so delighted by the California was the interior’s quality. The Italian automaker struggled to provide them with the best quality materials, hand-crafted and carefully placed in the car to create a luxurious ambiance. Still, thanks to the optional carbon fiber trims on the center console, door cards, and steering wheel, that ambiance could look sportier. Moreover, Ferrari installed a pair of sport bucket seats with high-bolstered areas. Even though the California T was a 2+2 vehicle, the room in the back was very limited. In front of the driver, Ferrari installed a mixed instrument cluster with a large tachometer in the middle flanked by the speedometer on the right and a TFT for the onboard computer on the left. Another important upgrade compared to the regular California was for the infotainment unit, which was greatly improved. Furthermore, Ferrari offered customers the option for Apple CarPlay, but not Android Auto.
The V8 under the hood was similar to the previous engine used by the California, although, in the T version, it was fitted with a pair of twin-scroll turbochargers. As a result, the car gained an extra 100 PS (99 hp), reaching a total of 560 PS (553 hp). The new powerplant was mated to a seven-speed automatic (dual-clutch) gearbox that sent the power to the rear wheels via a limited-slip differential.