The Fiorano is also the first Ferrari road car to feature F1-Trac, an enhanced traction-control system previously seen only on the company's single-seaters. The system monitors front- and rear-wheel speeds, constantly comparing incoming data with a stored vehicle-dynamics model. F1-Trac then modulates power delivery as needed (Ferrari says the system improves the Fiorano's lap times around its namesake home circuit by 1.5 seconds compared with traditional traction control). F1-Trac operates when the steering wheel's manettino control is set in Sport or Race modes; the manettino also offers settings for Ice, Low Grip, and CST Off, which deactivates all of the car's stability and traction-control systems.
This amalgamation of technological wonderfulness resides inside a car that's significantly larger than the Maranello it replaces. Wheelbase has grown a full 10 inches, length has increased 4.6 inches, and width is up an inch. Yet thanks to all-aluminum construction, the 599 weighs roughly 100 pounds less than the 575M.
Press the red Engine Start button on the steering wheel, and the Fiorano's V-12 lights off and settles into an idle so smooth you can barely detect the rotating crankshaft. Blip the throttle to be sure it's really alive; the engine zings past 6000 rpm so effortlessly it seems twirled by electricity, not detonating gulps of fossil fuel. Cruising out of the Ferrari factory gates, the Fiorano immediately feels more composed than its V-8-powered, mid-engine F430 sibling. Shifts are smoother, there's no backfire in the exhaust, the cockpit is calm and relatively quiet. You could drive this car to work without feeling like you should be wearing Nomex shoes.
Then you give it the gas. Instantly, the 599 rips off its Valentino sports jacket and transforms into a screaming, frothing-mouthed grizzly. Wham! The grizzly slaps you into the seatback as if it were swatting away a nosy chipmunk, the redline LEDs on the optional carbon-fiber steering wheel light up, you flick the right shift paddle, and--wham!--the grizzly slaps your sorry skull back against the headrest where it belongs. Ferrari claims the 599 will hit 62 mph in just 3.7 seconds; it'll do 124 mph in 11 flat. Top speed is--hang on--somewhere north of 205 mph. Oh, and forget about calm and quiet: The sound of the V-12 at its 8400-rpm redline could wake a dinosaur.
Crushing acceleration is merely the antipasto on the Fiorano's menu. Despite the big V-12 up front, understeer is all but nonexistent. With F1-Trac activated, you can plant your right foot almost anywhere in a corner, and the 599 will simply power through, no slips, no slides. The system is almost too careful. Switch it off, and the 599's tail steps out under throttle--but usefully, not frighteningly. The big Pirelli PZeros--the 599 is the first Ferrari road car to offer 20-inch rims--deliver gobs of grip and break away with plenty of warning and control. And despite gunning the car through the Italian hills as fast as we dared, we never ran out of brakes; the pedal never even softened.
Ferrari has done it. The Fiorano is an Everything supercar--unholy fast, gorgeous, comfortable, refined, forgiving, and well-mannered. The Italian maker will charge around $280,000 when the 599 GTB Fiorano goes on sale in the U.S. this fall. About 250 are headed to our shores each year. In addition to the prancing horse, each of them, we're predicting now, will wear an invisible label: Milestone.
...
>>next page