Ferrari finishes revamping U.S. lineup
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TURIN, Italy -- With the launch next year in the United States of the F12 Berlinetta, a production model with the power of a Formula One race car, Ferrari will complete a frantic renewal of its entire lineup that began in 2009.
Just one more limited-edition model is in the works. A successor to the Enzo supercar, scheduled for showrooms next year, will have more than 900 hp, Italian press reports say.
Here are Ferrari's plans for the next three years:
458 Italia: A freshening of Ferrari's best-selling model is planned in 2014. Ferrari will add a sportier variant, the 458 Scuderia, in 2013.
458 Spider: A freshening of the Spider, launched in 2012, won't come before 2016.
California: This spring, Ferrari freshened its 2+2 roadster, adding 30 hp and slashing 66 pounds. No other changes are planned until 2015, when the model will be redesigned.
F12 Berlinetta: "The F12 Berlinetta delivers 740 hp," says Ferrari Chairman Luca Cordero di Montezemolo, "and today's Formula One cars have between 740 hp and 750 hp. Thus we are offering F1 power in a road car."
The sticker? Above $300,000, including shipping and gas-guzzler tax, when the model arrives in the States in March 2013.
The replacement for the 599 GTB Fiorano coupe accelerates from 0 to 62 mph in 3.1 seconds. It completed a lap of Ferrari's Fiorano test track in 1 minute and 23 seconds -- a record for one of its road cars, Ferrari said.
The F12 Berlinetta is powered by a new 6.3-liter gasoline direct-injection V-12 engine. Compared with the latest version of the 599, carbon dioxide emissions were reduced 15 percent while horsepower increased 9 percent. The car weighs 3,362 pounds, 154 pounds less than the model it replaces.
Ferrari said the F12 Berlinetta's name was derived from an aluminum spaceframe chassis and body shell made with 12 alloys, some of which are being used for the first time in an auto.
The F12 Berlinetta was designed jointly by Italy's Pininfarina design house and Ferrari's design department, led by Flavio Manzoni.
An innovation called Aero Bridge uses the engine hood to generate down force by channeling air away from the upper part of the car to its flanks, where it interacts with the wake from the wheel wells to decrease drag.
Another high-end feature is Active Brake Cooling, a system that opens vanes to the brake cooling ducts at high operating temperatures only, again reducing drag in normal driving conditions.
FF: The first all-wheel-drive Ferrari, introduced last year, is off to a good start. The FF's 800-unit annual production is sold out until late 2013.
Limited-edition car: The successor to the Enzo limited-edition supercar is set to go on sale next year. Ferrari will preview its new supercar to a select group of current and potential customers at the end of 2012, the company said.
Ferrari has not decided when the new limited-edition model will make its public debut. A company spokesman said the most likely choices would be either January at the Detroit auto show or March at the Geneva show.
The new model will not carry the first name of company founder Enzo Ferrari because the Enzo also was a limited-edition model.
Ferrari says the Enzo replacement will be its fastest, most powerful road car ever, surpassing even the 740 hp of the F12 Berlinetta.
The Italian press has speculated that the car's peak power could be above 900 hp. The car would combine the output of its internal combustion engine, almost 800 hp, with more than 100 hp from an electric motor.
"We are entering the market with our Formula One-derived hybrid system, which will slash fuel consumption and increase performance," Ferrari CEO Amedeo Felisa told Automotive News Europe.
"The torque and power delivered by the electric motors permit us to tune the internal combustion engine on high performances only, avoiding the setting compromises normally required to also assure good driveability at low speeds," Felisa said.
Ferrari said that in testing, its HY-KERS hybrid has slashed fuel consumption by about 40 percent while decreasing acceleration from 0 to 124 mph by about 3 seconds compared with a Ferrari model without the system.
Felisa said the HY-KERS system adds about 265 pounds to a car. Ferrari will compensate for some of that weight gain by cutting pounds from the car's chassis and powertrain.
South Korea's Samsung Electronics will provide its lithium ion cells to Ferrari, which will put them together in battery packs at its F1 racing headquarters in Fiorano, near Modena, northern Italy.
It is unclear how many units Ferrari plans to build. The company built 399 units of the Enzo, launched in 2002, and 349 units of predecessor, the 1995 F50.
You can reach Luca Ciferri at lciferri@crain.com.
