Ferrari 550 Maranello

The all-aluminum V-12 shares the same 5.5-liter displacement, bore, stroke, and block as the 456, but all else is new, with variable-volume intake and exhaust systems to raise efficiency and sharpen throttle response. As with the F50 and F355, a bypass valve for the rear silencer boxes allows the exhaust system to operate with variable back pressure-but what hasn't been seen before is Ferrari's patented variable intake manifold, driven by electropneumatic servos and controlled by the Bosch Motronic 5.2 system. At low revs, the engine breathes through one long, individual throttle tract per cylinder, but at higher engine speeds 12 butterflies open to allow air into an extra resonator plenum for each bank.

Despite the complex new intake system, the 550's V-12 is no heavier than the 456's, thanks to lighter reciprocating parts and lighter crankshaft counterweights. To improve thermal efficiency, the forged aluminum pistons have new crowns; to allow higher revs, the conrods are titanium; and to keep the valves in adjustment and reduce exhaust noise, the four-valve cylinder heads now have hydraulic tappets, which is a first for Ferrari and unusual in an engine that revs so high.

Even during a frustratingly brief stint in the car (one lap of the new Nrburgring alongside former Ferrari Formula One racer and three-time World Champion Niki Lauda), the engine's strength made a big impression. The power peak is right up there at 7000 rpm, and the V-12 rushes to it with a creamy, commanding growl. The note isn't as loud or frantic as the F512's, but neither is it as overbearing. And it isn't really vital to make it scream: From 3000 rpm onward, there's a thunderous ground swell of torque, so that even the smallest throttle movement has a big effect.

From such a fleeting introduction to this car, impressions are inevitably limited, but some points are clear: The F550 is quieter, more refined, more comfortable, and more pleasant to be in than its predecessor, yet also more nimble and more faithful in its at-the-limit handling. Lauda doesn't have a chance to explain much in two hurried minutes of clipped apexes and clipped sentences, but he does say: "You can forget the 512. No comparison. This is the first modern Ferrari, and the first I would really want to own."

As Lauda's not known for sentimentality-ever since nearly burning to death in an F1 Ferrari at the Nrburgring, he has referred to the place as "the grill room"-we're inclined to believe him.

At the car's approximate $202,000 price tag, this is far from an entry-level sports machine, but the Italian carmaker isn't looking for bargain-hunters. According to insiders, the 550 was designed to be the best-performing road car-save for the F50-Ferrari has ever built. And with hinted-at options such as an F1-type paddle shifter on the steering wheel to augment the voracious V-12, the 550 Maranello appears ready to meet that test.