Scaring The Boss
I seem to get some kind of preverse pleasure out of scaring my boss. I’m not too sure why, but on two separate occasions I have enjoyed watching his facial expressions while scaring him than actually doing whatever it is I’m doing that is scaring him.
The first time was when he hired an Aston Martin DB9 for the day. I got to take it for short spin and about half an hour into the drive it started to rain. It was about 5pm so the opportunities to open up the throttle were limited, so I instead chose to try and kick the back end out. This I managed while pulling onto a roundabout and flicking the steering wheel round to pull off. The face said it all to me and I enjoyed the power I had, both under my right foot and over my passenger.
Today I was given the opportunity to drive a Ferrari 430. Now that is one helluva beautiful vehicle. It is – quite simply – a work of art. Unfortunately though, it is a glorious day down here on the South Coast, so I was just going up and down some quiet A-roads, giving the car some gas and then backing off as soon as I reached the national speed limit.
Towards the end of my time in the car, I joined a short strip of motorway to head back into town, and it just happened to be empty. I opened the throttle and took her up to a speed I won’t say. But it wasn’t the speed that freaked my boss out, it was the lateness of the braking into the roundabout that made him grip the interior door handle like a 4 year old on a rollercoaster. The conversation went something like:
Boss: She accelerates well, doesn’t she?
Me: Yeah, I would even say it upshifts better than the 360.
…
Boss: Okay, brake now.
Me: (Silence)
Boss: Brake.
Me: (Still silent)
Boss: Braaaaake!
Me: Okay. (Brake)
…
Boss: Fahking hell!
Me: She stops well, doesn’t she?
Admitedly, I hadn’t taken the slight left kink that led onto the roundabout into consideration, but all given, the 430 does stop well. I felt the front right slip a little but everything was slowed down sufficiently in the time I wanted it to. And the V8 makes a wonderful noise.
Better than the 360? Definitely. The 430 is less twitchy and actually drives well at 30mph. It is also much more comfortable and I felt much more confident in its ability to stick to the road.
Of course I do not condone such driving, but if the road is empty and you happen to be sitting in one of Maranello’s finest? Well, it’d be rude not to!