If one had to pick three adjectives to describe the Ferrari FF, “eco-friendly” would probably not be one of them. That is, unless the car was set up to run on bioethanol.
Ferrari is not planning on offering any bioethanol-powered models, but a Norwegian firm called Customized has developed a kit that enables the Ferrari FF to run on the grain-based alternative fuel.
Bioethanol has an octane rating of about 105, higher than standard gasoline, and burning it bumps the FF’s power output from 660 horsepower to about 875. Norway’s Customized claims that the added power enables the FF to sprint from zero to 62 miles per hour in less than three seconds. No stop speed figure was given.
The bioethanol kit also lowers the V12′s emissions by about 80%. A stock FF spits out 376 grams of CO2 per kilometer; that rating drops to just under 100 grams when running on bioethanol, putting the FF on par with a Peugeot 107.
Unfortunately no photos of the kit are currently available, so it is difficult to say what it consists of. Customized did mention that the driver can select whether the car runs exclusively on bioethanol, exclusively on gasoline, or on a pre-selected mixture of both.
The kit will set buyers back about $2,000. Customized has not mentioned how Maranello feels about the conversion, or how the FF’s engine will hold up to bioethanol in the long run.
