Ferrari 599 GTB Fiorano, Most Powerful Front Engined Ferrari

Ferrari has done it again! This time it has set a new benchmark for front-engined cars with the brand-new Ferrari 599 GTB Fiorano. This is one of the most exciting cars to come out of Ferrari ever!

It is a two-seater, sporting a 600 bhp engine similar to that of the Enzo, and replacing the superb F575M. Top speed is over 205 mph, and the car will shoot to 60 mph in under 3.6 seconds, pushing it up into the exotic car class. As Ferrari fans know, Fiorano is Ferrari's own test track, hence the name. Why 599? Well, it would probably have been 600, but Ferrari doesn't like to name its cars the same way as the snoop photographers do when they see a prototype. No one outside Ferrari thought of 599, so 599 it is the engine capacity divided by 10!

There are not many ultra-powerful front-engined two-seaters, so this new car gives drivers who want a practical exotic car more choice. Like the F430, this elegant car has intelligent use of electronics to improve performance. The highlights in the Ferrari 599 GTB Fiorano are:

• Continuously-variable magnetorheological (MR) damping
• A new type of traction/stability control able to improve performance all round, boosting the acceleration out of corners by 20%.

Pininfarina's up to the minute style

Pininfarina has done a superb job in designing an up-to-date style for the Ferrari 599 GTB Fiorano, which is unmistakably Ferrari and combines classic and new ideas and makes the car look very fast. It starts with the classic Ferrari grille, flanked by small intakes for the brakes. There is a modern sloping front end with headlamps faired into the front fenders, and classic lines with up swept rear fenders and a short roof.

Short coach roof, sporty two-seater shape

Air from the radiators is exhausted through two small outlets in the hood, and there are a pair of outlets from the engine compartment just forward of the sharply raked screen pillars. There is a short coach roof, showing the car is unmistakably a two-seater, but the pillars flare back like flying buttresses so the car looks like a fastback from the side.

But this is a cunning illusion. The rear window is more upright, and sharply curved to leave space for a good trunk lid. A small spoiler at the back gives the tail some definition, and there is a circular rear lamp and twin exhaust pipes each side. Overall, this is a great looking car, reflecting the way that Pninfarina and Ferrari work together these days. The styling makes the car look dynamic, all ready to go fast. The elegant five spoke wheels, unmistakably Ferrari, set the car off. It looks just brilliant. And the Aerodynamics are good, with fairly low drag the Cd is 0.334.

Enzo-style V-12 Engine

The 6.0 liter V-12 engine, derived from the unit in the Enzo, is tuned to 607 bhp at 7,600 rpm compared with 660 bhp at 7,800 rpm in the Enzo. That makes the Ferrari 599 GTB Fiorano one of the most powerful exotic cars you can buy. Who would buy a Mercedes Benz SLR McLaren when you can get a 620 bhp Ferrari that looks as brilliant as the 599 GTB Fiorano?

This is a classic 65 degree Ferrari engine, with chain driven twin ohc per bank and four valves per cylinder. To give good low speed torque as well as high speed power, the valves have variable timing. Maximum torque is 448 lb ft (608 Nm) at 5,600 rpm, which emphasises the sporty nature of the engine. However, this engine is so powerful that plenty of urge is available from around 4,000 rpm, and the red line is at 8,400 rpm, so there is a wide power range. The engine has virtually the same performance as the unit in the Maserati MC 12.

To reduce the center of gravity, the engine drives through a twin-plate clutch and is coupled to a manual or sequential gearbox mounted at the rear.

Faster shifts with F1 SuperFast

The sequential box is controlled by Ferrari's new F1 SuperFast system, which uses a parallel control system to speed up shifts to just 100 ms, which is amazingly fast. What this means is that instead of waiting for one operation to be complete before starting the next, the controller initiates different actions required to shift the gear at the same time.

The rear-mounted gearbox gives the car a weight distribution of 47% front to 53% rear, which is ideal. That extra weight on the rear wheels gives plenty of traction, but the near 50:50 set up is a good basis for fine handling.

Light frame and body gives good power to weight ratio

The aluminum frame, and double wishbone suspension are similar to the Ferrari Scaglietti, but the 599 GTB Fiorano is 10 inches (250 mm) shorter, and the wheelbase is 8 inches (200 mm) less, so the new car is lighter and will handle more sharply. Curb weight of the Ferrari 599 GTB Fiorano is 3,722 lb (1,689 kg) compared with 4,056 lb for the Scaglietti. This is pretty light for a 6.0-liter car, and gives a power-to-weight ratio of 360 bhp per ton very good.

As on the F430, there is a Manettino control switch on the steering wheel so the driver can change the mode of the F1 SuperFast system at will, going from automatic through the normal sequential model to Launch Control for the fastest start from rest.

F1-Trac, the new traction control

F1-Trac, the new traction control, results from thousands of miles of testing and racing by Ferrari to predict how the car and driver will behave in all conditions. It measures the speed of the front and rear wheels all the time, and estimates the maximum available grip. This information is compared with the data of how the car can perform in these circumstances, and optimizes traction. It does this by reducing the amount of torque transmitted if necessary.

F1-Trac is integrated with the Manettino, so the car can be set up to handle as the driver wants . The Sport mode gives a good balance between stability and performance, but the Race mode gives the maximum performance. The new system is said to improve acceleration out of corners by up to 20%.

So here is a sports coupe that sets new standards, benefiting from Ferrari's enormous experience in racing. The interior also benefits from racing experience with the clear instruments, centered around the big rev-counter, the multi display which shows the settings for the Manettino including lap times and tire pressure, and improved seats designed to hold the driver and passenger during high-g cornering. There are also a large number of personal options.