Drum roll please… Ferrari has shared the first official details of their all-new, mid-engined supercar that effectively takes over from where the Ferrari F60 Enzo left off last decade. Ferrari is now calling the car the F150, not the F70 as many had anticipated. Although this is just an ‘internal code name’ for the moment, we do expect Ford to get a bit uppity again with Ferrari after Ford chose to sue the Italian manufacturer for calling its 2012 Ferrari F1 car the F150. Enough about that, however, because following a few teaser and spy shots of the F150 test mule, now we can bring you some official details.
Like the Ferrari FF we had the privilege of driving earlier this year, the F150 features Ferrari’s 6.3-litre, normally-aspirated V12 engine and dual-clutch gearbox. Ferrari were the first and only manufacturer in the world to mate a V12 with a dual-clutch transmission in the Ferrari FF, so the F150 will be the only mid-engined supercar of its kind with the same drivetrain and much more power, naturally.
The engine in the F150 is a derivative of the 544 kW 6.3-litre V12 used in the F12 Berlinetta and FF, but now boosted with latest evolution of Ferrari’s HY-KERS electric hybrid system. Final numbers are yet to be confirmed, but power output is almost certainly more than 597 kW.
Designed by Scuderia Ferrari chief designer Rory Byrne, the structure will be built by Ferrari’s F1 composites department. Incredible packaging comes thanks to a structure made from four different types of carbon-fibre, making the F150 27% lighter, 22% stiffer, stronger and faster than the Enzo it replaces.
The HY-KERS system in the F150 works both as a performance enhancer and clean CO2 device. HY-KERS make the 6.3-litre V12 10% faster to 200 km/h than a non-KERS version and the system purportedly cuts CO2 emissions by 40%. HY-KERS system redirects the kinetic energy from regenerative braking or lifting-off on the overrun, to recharge the batteries and power many of the F150’s electronic devices. The Ferrari F150 will be packed with loads of electronic features of course, like a torque vectoring system, dynamic traction control, intelligent brake force distribution and all the computers that control the chassis in ‘real-time’.
Roberto Fedeli, the Ferrari Technical Director behind the F150, had this to say about the car: “The F150 will be the Ferrari with the greatest transfer between F1 and a road car that we ever did. We are trying hard to achieve the technical limit of every single component we are using.” To adopt a perfect weight distribution in the car, Ferrari decided to use a fixed seat, which will be made to measure for the car’s owner, with an adjustable pedal box and steering wheel.
That might sound a little OTT but only 399 F60 Enzos were ever produced by Ferrari, so we’re guessing the Ferrari F150 might not be a car you’re going to flog to the second-hand market just for the fun of it. Hopefully Ferrari will unveil the car at Geneva in March 2013, and with it some official performance figures as well.
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