Belt are used to drive the twin overhead camshafts, and the all-alloy block has wet cylinder liners. There is an oil cooler. with its own fan, located behind the air intake just ahead of the right-hand rear wheel. The water radiators, with twin electric fans, are at the front of the car, behind the three-slat grille.
To anyone who is sitting behind the wheel of a Ferrari for the first time. the prospect of coping with all that potential power might seem a little daunting. But in practice the Mondial is an amazingly easy car to drive, thanks in no small way to the flexibility of that V8 engine and the curiously low gearing.
The Bosch K-Jetronic petrol injection gave first-time starting even when the engine was very hot after a long, high-speed run. Cold starting too, admittedly during some fairly warm weather, gave no problems. But until the gearbox had warmed up a little, it could be difficult to select second gear. The gearchange pattern follows the classic racing type, with first (needed only for starting from a standstill) on its own down to the left and opposite reverse. The pencil-thin, chromium-plated gear lever, with a large, black spherical knob, working in a six-slotted gate, is of a design which has hardly changed since the days of the legendary 250GTO.
It does not take long to realise just how low-geared the Mondial is. Top gear pulls a mere 20.9mph/1000rpm, which means that the car can be trickled around in traffic in this gear, and then rocket up close to a glorious-sounding 7000rpm and 144mph.
Much of the safety in cars like the Ferrari Mondial starts with the chassis. Give a car of this performance indifferent handling and roadholding and insufficient braking and you have a recipe for disaster. The Mondial's chassis, braking and aerodynamics make it an inherently very stable and safe car. The tubular steel chassis provides immense strength combined with carefully calculated deformation characteristics.
