Ferrari’s new king… for now
Legend has it that when asked to name what he thought was the best Ferrari model, Enzo Ferrari replied, “The next one.” Enzo is long gone, but we could imagine the thrill Ferrari engineers still feel today following that creed as they develop each new vehicle.
We could also imagine them feeling just a tad intimidated by the challenge, especially for the top-dog model. Their mission is to develop a vehicle that will decisively surpass its predecessor in every objective measure without burying the emotional aspect in a pile of fantastical performance stats. Think you could handle that pressure?
It might help to know the finished car is going to start at about $3 million, so there’s no need to skimp on tech and features. Here, then, is the Ferrari F80.
How Ferrari Defines “Supercar”
The casual enthusiast might group most Ferraris into the “supercar” class, given their performance, and some make a distinction between mere supercars and “hypercars.” Ferrari, though, uses the term supercar in its own way. Starting in 1988, it has applied it to the 288 GTO, then the F40, F50, Enzo, and La Ferrari.
In addition to setting new performance benchmarks in their time, those Ferraris were also very limited in production. The 288 GTO began as a homologation special for FIA Group B rallying (as did the Porsche 959), a series so dangerous to drivers and spectators that it was cancelled before those two supercars reached production. Both marques built them for customers anyway.
The Ferrari supercars that followed were not racecars but did package the automaker’s Formula One racing-derived engineering, performance, and construction techniques into road cars. The same is true for the F80. Also true is that production will be limited, in this case to 799 cars. (Don’t bet against all 799 having been pre-sold already.)
Three-Motor All-Wheel-Drive Hybrid
Like the Ferrari La Ferrari, the new F80 is a hybrid. But any similarities end there. With a starting price more than twice that of the La Ferrari, you expect a decade’s worth of advances, and you get them.
The La Ferrari combined a 789-horsepower V12 gasoline engine with a single 161-hp electric motor for 950 total system output. Later, the Ferrari SF90 Stradale (a supercar, for sure, but not part of Ferrari’s ongoing Supercar Series) employed a 4.0-liter twin-turbo V8 and three electric motors, one assisting the mid-mounted V8 via the transmission and one for each front wheel to give the car all-wheel drive. Total output exceeded the La Ferrari by 36 hp, and the SF90 was a plug-in hybrid with some battery-only driving range.
The F80 uses a setup like the SF90, with at least one major difference. Instead of a twin-turbo V8 gas engine as the F80’s main motivator, there is a 3.0-liter, twin-turbo V6. You read that correctly. The F80’s internal combustion engine is based on the V6 from the 296 GTB, both sharing the same 120-degree V configuration and 2,992-cc cylinder displacement.
Squeezing 200+ More Horses from a V6
The 3.0-liter twin-turbo V6 in the Ferrari 296 series is mighty impressive with 654 horsepower and 546 lb-ft. of torque. The F80’s V6, however, gives a stunning 888 horsepower (just under 300 hp/liter) and 627 lb-ft., so clearly Ferrari was holding some in reserve. Ferrari found some of that by calibrating the engine’s ignition and injection timing, the number of injection events per piston stroke, and variable valve timing management “to the extreme.”
As a result, the F80’s V6 engine produces 20-percent higher combustion chamber pressures than the 296’s engine. Also, not only are the F80’s twin turbochargers electrically assisted to eliminate turbo lag, but their own excess kinetic energy from the rotation of their exhaust-driven turbines is captured for the hybrid battery.
1,184 Horses Ready to Giddyap
The net result of Ferrari’s powertrain science is 1,184 horsepower, the combination of the V6 engine’s 888 and the three electric motors kicking in another 296 horses. The rear electric motor is installed between the engine and the eight-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission. So, how fast is it?
Ferrari says the F80 should dispatch 0-100 km/h (62 mph) in about two seconds and then hit 200 km/h (124 mph) just 3.75 seconds later. For some historical perspective, that 5.75-second total to 124 mph was just a half-second (try counting that in your head) more than the great Ferrari 365 GTB/4 Daytona took to reach just 60 mph. So, yes, the F80 is a land-based rocket. With enough track space, the F80 should hit 217 mph, according to Ferrari.
Great Expectations
Naturally, the Ferrari F80 is not just about blistering acceleration. If that were the only criteria for buying, there are ample ICE and electric choices on the market, and for a lot less money. We’ve not yet seen Ferrari publish its traditional Fiorano test track lap time for the F80, but you could reasonably expect the new car to set a record there. A feature called Boost Optimization mode which maps a track and then automatically deploys maximum electrical assist where it’s most needed.
Contributing to high road course speed, the F80’s body design integrates a slew of active aerodynamic assists. These generate an astonishing 2,315 pounds of downforce at 155 mph, which should keep it glued to any curve. Add the active torque vectoring provided by the two front electric motors, and you basically have a car that puts a Vulcan death grip on the track.
And yet, you do not see an obnoxious giant rear wing, but generally smooth, clean lines front to back. That is the result of Ferrari’s experience with racecar aero.
The F80’s entire front end acts as a kind of downforce generator, and the various ducts you see, and some you can’t, play roles in airflow management, as well. The F80’s low-profile rear wing rises a bit and can angle upward 11 degrees when switched into high-downforce mode.
Two Seats, Sort-of
The F80 customer should not expect Mercedes ride quality, but Ferrari has baked in at least some civility with an active suspension system powered by 48-volt direct current. The suspension adjusts to enhance comfort at lower speeds and then increases firmness to deal with all that generated downforce in track driving.
Comfort probably a moot point here, because acquiring an F80 means you already have a bunch of other more comfortable Ferraris to drive. Ferrari felt free to make the F80’s cockpit intensely driver-focused. The pilot gets an adjustable seat that sits a little bit forward of the passenger. The passenger basically gets upholstered padding shaped like a seat and attached to the car’s carbon fiber tub. Leave the F80 at the track condo and take your favorite passenger to dinner in the Ferrari Roma Spider.
Ready to make the F80 yours? Get a quote today!
Premier Financial Services is not a licensed dealer and is not otherwise sponsored or endorsed by or affiliated with Ferrari S.p.A. or Porsche AG.
