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Confirmed: Ferrari considering V8 for next supercar

11/29/2007, 9:22 AM

By Drew Johnson

Over the past few months, several reports have surfaced that Ferrari is considering a V8 powerplant for its next-generation supercar. While its displacement and output have remained a mystery — reports have varied from 550 horsepower to 900 — Ferrari GT technical director, Roberto Fedeli, has confirmed that the Prancing Horse is indeed considering a V8 for the next Enzo.

“For us, it’s not just a question of power. We have to choose whether we maintain the shape of the weight-to-power curve of the Enzo with more power or with less weight,” Fedeli told Auto Week. “If we do a [2200-pound] car with the same weight-to-power ratio as the FXX, then you want to save the maximum weight. The best packaging for that kind of car is an eight-cylinder turbo. That would have to be an all-new V8.”

Fedeli also revealed that Ferrari has not ruled out a V12. A decision will likely be made within the next 18 months.

If the engine is to produce the rumored 900 horsepower, it is likely that the V8 would have to be larger in displacement than the 3.0L originally reported. Fedeli’s comments also seem to rule out the use of the 4.3L V8 found in the F430 since he used the term “all-new.”

The SSC Ultimate Aero uses a twin-turbo V8 to produce 1183 horsepower, albeit from a 6.3L powerplant.

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09/20, 3:50 PM

posted by:

jamaicandude

900hp! Insane………. Now here come the horsepower war debate…………………………………

09/20, 3:53 PM

posted by:

Driven

That is great. I’d rather have 900hp from a Ferarri engine than 1000+ HP from these low production manufaturers with no history of true performance engine building.

09/20, 3:59 PM

posted by:

lyndon_h

A 900hp FCar? Not only could i not afford the car, i wouldnt be able to afford the insurance or scheduled maintanance.

09/20, 4:12 PM

posted by:

short shifter

900hp from a ferrari. So you get that fantastic ferrari growl, amazing smoothness, quick reving and insane power. What else could you ask for in an engine?

It’s gonna be tough to beat the enzo in performance but if these number are anywhere close to accurate… maybe it wont be so tough. Obviously I’m talking acceleration/top speed not handling.

09/20, 4:13 PM

posted by:

Driven

Its an Enzo successor so prices will be in the $1M – $1.5M+ range. Anyone buying this shouldnt be worrying about maintainence or insurance costs.

09/20, 4:48 PM

posted by:

Commodore

Why don’t they just make it 1000+ to beat the Veyron

09/20, 4:57 PM

posted by:

A4

because its not intended to beat the veyron, at all

09/20, 4:57 PM

posted by:

A4

two entirely different beasts

09/20, 5:00 PM

posted by:

jackjimturkey

lyndon: stop injecting reality into this!
Hell, the monthly payments would come out to an Aura a month for six years!
This is fantasy territory only for someone like me
bring it on!

09/20, 5:02 PM

posted by:

deutschetouring1337

Aww yes another reminder how the value of the dollar is dropping here in the US.

09/20, 5:34 PM

posted by:

nowei

I wonder if anyone that buys this type of car (Enzo, Veyron, Renventon, etc.) ever uses a financing option. I would hazard to guess they don’t.

09/20, 5:37 PM

posted by:

jackjimturkey

I don’t think any bank would finance it

09/20, 5:46 PM

posted by:

Kenny W

Nowei,
When I was in Vegas I visited a couple of the high-end dealerships. The ones that sell Ferrari’s, Lambo’s, Bentley’s, etc. I had the opportunity to talk to one of the sales people and he was kind enough to tell us a few numbers. To put it basically rich people get finance options out the ass and in many cases can get their monthly payments below BMW/Mercedes levels. When you make enough money to be able to afford a Ferrari it seems the world works in your favor to allow you to keep that money.

With all that said, when the Enzo was released Ferrari said it wouldn’t get caught up in any sort of HP wars. That the Veryon’s HP figures where stupid and that companies should focus more on weight, etc. If this rumor turns out to be true, way to **** where you eat Ferrari.

09/20, 6:44 PM

posted by:

Wickedated

Simply put, if you have 100million on your bank account, banks will finance you a Ferrari no problem. As fas as 900 hp Ferrari goes, yeah….. in the year 2015 maybe.

09/20, 6:59 PM

posted by:

Bryce

I wonder what a lease works out to be. $399/mo for 48 months w/ security, WAC.

09/20, 7:06 PM

posted by:

lotusfire

Banks won’t insure nearly 100 million dollars. Most people who have that kind of money invest it.

09/20, 7:27 PM

posted by:

Commodore

A4 – i suppose it isn’t. But Ferrari needs a car like that. It’s an image booster. Bugatti was put on the map after the Veyron. I mean, I knew who they were but now I don’t even remember their older cars off the top of my head

09/20, 8:08 PM

posted by:

jacko5

900 horsepower is unnecessary, and i bet they wont do that, by guess would be 700.

i know its not at all the same, but a 500 hp mistu evo or r34 can run train on an enzo.

i would favor a 600 hp ferrari over a 1000 hp bugatti any day.

09/20, 8:23 PM

posted by:

Scott Kempton

Yet another sign that I’m getting old: my reaction to this is “So? Another ridiculously fast, ridiculously expensive car that I’ll never even see, let alone buy.” Totally irrelevant, as far as I’m concerned.

Maybe I’m showing my redneck roots, but I just can’t understand how anyone could possibly get more driving enjoyment than can be had with a $75,000, 500HP Corvette Z06.

Having said all that, plant my ass behind the wheel of any of the exotics, and I’d probably have to go “clean myself up” after just a short drive. :)

09/20, 9:12 PM

posted by:

1c3d0g

Driven: that’s the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard. Oh, and b.t.w., those “low-production manufacturers” still beat the crap out of your precious Ferrari. :-P

09/21, 2:18 AM

posted by:

wushuhsu

Man, this will really embarrass the arrogant greedy executives at Porsche who are so miserly with horsepower increases that the Cayman S and the 911S can’t even break 400HP.

09/21, 2:29 AM

posted by:

LP640

wow 900bhp now combine that with a superlightweight carbon fibre body and what you’ll get is blistering acceleration

09/21, 6:00 AM

posted by:

Carnut4ever

I wonder why Ferrari is shying away from their traditional V12 configuration? They say V-12s sound better than turbocharged V-8s. Maybe this car is the true spiritual successor to the legendary F40 with its whistling small capacity twin-turbo V-8. They should name it F60 Schumi LoL….

09/21, 7:33 AM

posted by:

e46Ne90

wtf?!? no 1100 veryon-whipping horsepower? pshhhhhhhh…

09/21, 8:12 AM

posted by:

Z06ified

“That is great. I’d rather have 900hp from a Ferarri engine than 1000+ HP from these low production manufaturers with no history of true performance engine building.

Comment by Driven, posted on September20 at 3:53 pm ”

You know not what you say.

The Bugatti engine is mostly designed by VW, which is the same as Audi, and indirectly related to Porsche. I think they all know a thing or two about performance engine building.

The SSC Ultimate Aero is built by Shelby. The engine is derived from the Corvette C5-R racing engine. The C5-R and C6-R Corvette engines have a winning history that speak for themselves. Proven, durable, and reliable.

09/21, 8:21 AM

posted by:

Z06ified

“i know its not at all the same, but a 500 hp mistu evo or r34 can run train on an enzo.
Comment by jacko5, posted on September20 at 8:08 pm ”

jacko – step away from the rice crack pipe. There is no f-in way a 500hp evo or r34 would even come close to beating out an enzo. The only chance those cars would have is 0-60. After that, the only thing those cars would see are Ferrari taillights in the distance.

Modded Evo’s and Skylines are 0-60 machines only. They’re launch beasts thanks to their AWD. They get crushed anywhere north of 60 mph due to their peaky powerbands, narrow torque curves, and sub-par aerodynamics.

09/21, 8:39 AM

posted by:

RicardoHead

Have the know-it-alls in Brussels and the EU parliament approved this unnecessary increase in horsepower?

09/21, 9:31 AM

posted by:

Piablo

Haha, I’d love to know who the so called ’source’ is. LLN gets so much bad information on Ferrari, it’s hysterical. Either their source is a fake, or LLN Italian translator needs a brush up.

Considering the performance of the Enzo and it’s 650hp(ish), why in hell would they feel the need to boost it an additional 250? Annggggg. Ferrari has already publically stated they will be “greener” with their cars and facilities. A small turbocharged V8 fits that much better than a monster V12.

09/21, 10:14 AM

posted by:

Veda

“Simply put, if you have 100million on your bank account, banks will finance you a Ferrari no problem.”

If your business assets is worth $20m, you can get a $10m lease with 20% downpayment. It’s not that hard to lease a Ferrari.

09/21, 12:06 PM

posted by:

short shifter

Real car guys don’t lease cars like ferrari. We buy them. This isn’t the car that loses its appeal after 3 or 4 years. Ferrari doesn’t try to “outdo” it’s older models instead they compliment them with their new models.
The type of people that lease these cars wouldn’t understand my point… they see the ferrari as just being another car with a bigger price tag.

09/21, 12:18 PM

posted by:

GBilbo070

oooh can you imagine the sound?

09/21, 12:19 PM

posted by:

jackjimturkey

Ferrari doesn’t need an image booster

09/21, 12:33 PM

posted by:

14B7_GM_SALES

A CTS-V will still beat any Ferarri any day of the week

09/21, 12:42 PM

posted by:

Aston Martin

“Our sources” “No word was given on the dimensions of the car “.
I won’t believe this until its official.

The last Ferrari news from “their sources” was about a certain new Dino. Which turned out to be a 430 Scuderia. A 900hp car from Ferrari doesn’t seem likely. They’re more into handling and aerodynamics than crude speed.

09/21, 1:16 PM

posted by:

Scarface03

carnut4ever, I think Ferrari’s development of high-performance turbo 8’s mirror the technology-of-the-day in Formula 1. V-12s will always have a place in Ferrari, because of the long-line of V-12 grand tourers. But for the high performance line, Ferrari likes “trickling down” its F1 tech into street cars.

No car company out there will balk at having an image-booster car, if you ask me, even Ferrari. The Reventon gets creamed in the horsepower wars, but Lambo’s out there with a $1.4M gem. Porsche will develop a Carrera GT successor, and Ferrari’s got the next “F60″ in the pipe and is already changing the oil on its leased FXX’s. Mercedes has got the gullwing and McLaren wants back in the hyper exotic business. The Zonda R only improves in–in my mind–Pagani’s stellar image.

Halo cars are here to stay, and coming from a guy who’ll never be able to afford to pay cash (or finance to my heart’s content) for an exotic, and who can only sit back, read mags, and blog, I hope the image war never declares a winner.

09/21, 6:52 PM

posted by:

hanlond

Scarface, I don’t think anyone else could have said that better.

Who says a street legal car can’t have 900 hp and be light and handle well? If anyone can do it, I would say Ferrari would be the most likely candidate. Especially if this a successor to the Enzo. Although looking at LLNs false rumors about Ferrari, I wouldn’t take it too seriously yet. But if it is real, it would be amazing to see and hear it, and even more fun to drive.

09/22, 8:19 AM

posted by:

BLISS

IT SEEMS AS IF THEY ARE AIMING AT BUGGATI VEYRON…..THIS IS GOING TO BE ONE HELL OF A SUPER CAR FROM FERRARI.

11/29, 9:42 AM

posted by:

CA36GTP

Meh. Ferraris don’t really do anything for me.

11/29, 10:14 AM

posted by:

jamaicandude

Twin turbo V8? Sounds like the F40 all over again… not that it’s a bad thing. I hope the final horsepower figure ends up north of 700… but it should, considering this is an Enzo replacement.

11/29, 10:21 AM

posted by:

SS4LIFE

Oh I bet it will be close to even 800hp jamaicandude. You know Ferrari is going to want to do the Enzo replacement big. There’s nothing wrong with a Twin turbo V8 either. You know the potential of that configuration and if the V8 has a higher displacement then for a 1.5M+ price tag Ferrari should be able to squeeze 1000hp from it.

11/29, 10:22 AM

posted by:

CA36GTP

Ferrari can do whatever it wants, and it will still sell every single car they produce. Don’t know why they’re so worried.

11/29, 10:56 AM

posted by:

planet_drive

I think of all the automakers out there, Ferrari is the coolest one of them all. And Ferrari will never have to worry about their financial situation like other car makers do. I thank god everyday Ferrari refused to let Ford buy them. Can you imagine how crappy Ferraris would be now? Probably Ferrari would be bankrupt by now with Fords management. Of course back them built the GT to beat Ferrari in Lemans, but that did nothing to destroy the prestige of Ferrari, and Ferrari today buils sports cars light years better than anything produced by Ford. The only reason Ferrari built cars in the past was so it can earn money to continue racing in F1, Lemans, and all the other racing series. You know thats a dedicated performance car builder just for that reason alone.

11/29, 11:01 AM

posted by:

jamaicandude

I don’t think Ferrari has been worried about anything since the Dino.
SS4LIFE: Yeah, I’m hoping they go nuts and give it 800 or more hp. The twin turbo V8 mill in the F40 was wicked. They’ve learned a thing or two since then.

11/29, 12:33 PM

posted by:

Jazz

Yay they’re officially thinking about the V8 …pffft.

11/29, 1:15 PM

posted by:

jackjimturkey

pd: “I think of all the automakers out there, Ferrari is the coolest one of them all.”
I think you’re right.

Jazz: why is it news when somebody confirms they’re considering something?

11/29, 2:43 PM

posted by:

SwerveEarly

Its Ferrari they can do know wrong apparently.

11/29, 7:14 PM

posted by:

C6Racer

GM_SALES, I’ll just pretend I didn’t read that.

11/30, 12:55 AM

posted by:

SS4LIFE

Hey TTV8 or V10 or V12 whatever. It’s the next Ferrari super car for christ’s sake. I don’t care what they put in it as long as it’s got some crazy horsepower figures and matching performance #’s to go with it. If Lingenfelter can squeeze 1038hp out of a twin turbo 7.0L LS7, Ferrari can get a hp figure at 1000hp out of a high displacement twin turbo V8 too. And do it better. Although I’d kill to have an 1038hp TTLS7 engine.

11/30, 7:43 AM

posted by:

Get Real

Size matters.

A V8 doesn’t have the bragging rights of a V12.

Almost 100% of Ferrari owners are men.

“Mine is bigger than yours”

11/30, 10:04 AM

posted by:

SS4LIFE

Well I guess almost 100% of Ferrari owners being men are probably buying their Ferrari to make up for something else. Valid point Get Real but is a man still going to be saying “Mine is bigger than yours” after he gets killed by a high hp V8? That will bring him down to size.

 
 
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