Ferrari Magic India Discovery: Hyderabad to Vizag
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Cruising into Hyderabad, also known as Cyberabad for its software technology park, I'm sweating. The temp is 90, the humidity is high, and the 612's air conditioning is blowing nothing but hot air-great for inflating balloons but not for driving an exotic in India. Fighting the muggy conditions all week, the A/C's been working overtime, and it apparently wants a day off. Andrea, a Ferrari technician and project manager for the 612, performs an inspection and discovers that the air con's filter is all filtered out. After installing a new one later that evening, he assures us that the system can once again negate India's most stifling conditions.
The next day, after a short stop at Ramoji Film City, the largest film studio complex in the world according to Guinness, we pay a quick visit to the toy town of Kondapally, where local families produce hand-painted puniki wood models. One hundred miles completed and twice as many to go until Vizag, our final destination, the four-lane divided highway meandering through the countryside is affording me one of the few opportunities to really test the 612. Simply put: traveling on these freeways is a never-ending exercise in overtaking slow-moving vehicles and animals, calling for the repetitive cycle of using 100-millisecond redline shifts to spur 540 prancing horses, only to rein them in with the carbon ceramic brakes every time a bike, bull, or bus occupies the lane ahead. On a few occasions, I'm able to get into somewhat of a rhythm, and it almost feels like I'm lapping at a racetrack -- wide-open throttle in second gear, a rapid 2-3 upshift, quick left then right steering inputs, a stiff stomp on the aluminum brake pedal, and then all over again. One big difference, however, is that, since I'm piloting a left-hand-drive car in a right-hand-drive country, I have to rely on my co-driver, Piet, a journalist from Belgium, to let me know when the coast is clear. With this in mind, the overtaking is a quasi combo of road and rally racing. "Cow!" "Bike!" and "Truck!" are Piet's most common warnings, while "Okay, you can go," is the most welcoming. The worst? "Okay, clear... Wait, a family of four on a bike!"
Seriously, the one predictable trait of India is its unpredictability. What's around the next bend? What's going to jump out from those bushes? What are those 20 million motorcyclists thinking? Why is that 12-ton bus going the wrong way? You never know. Staying alert and on your toes is the name of the game. Relax, and it could be game over.
Luckily, my trip ends without incident. No dents or scratches or scars or bruises, just incredible moments, unforgettable memories, and one curry dinner cum praying to the porcelain god. Unpredictable, for sure. With that in mind, Ferrari's India Discovery tour actually makes some sense; after all, who would have predicted that two $300,000 612s would amass more than 8000 thousand miles plodding around India? Magic, indeed.
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