He indicated he'd finished, and already the next magazine representative was attaching his test gear. After I'd downloaded the data, I answered the group of eager Ferrari representatives who'd gathered around. "First run, 3.8; second run, 3.5; and third run, 3.3 seconds," referring to the 0-60-mph times of the car, "but he only reached 97.18 mph," a tick short of giving us 0-100 times. We captured the first three, steadily improving acceleration runs of the day, and just four minutes of data. In other words: We got a lot of the important stuff, but there's no way to call it a full test.
One run was on a slight uphill, one downhill. A third test started in a corner exit and finished when Andrea applied brakes for the next corner. I scanned the data to see if I'd missed anything after the acceleration, but no--no maximum braking and no threshold cornering. He used the Enzo's launch program (Race mode on, ASR off), which only allows a driver-selected-rpm clutch-drop from the six-speed F1-style sequential-manual gearbox--no fancy Formula One racing traction control. Wheelspin was evident throughout first gear. We'd have to be happy with what we'd recorded. At least, we were in a better position than one of the other magazines' representatives, whose luggage and test gear were lost enroute to Italy.
As the sun reached its apex, all available track time had been eaten up by others participating in this rare, if logistically challenged, opportunity. I got the last ride of the morning in the red car, with Dario.
Does this satisfy your need to know precisely how fast the most sophisticated sports car in the world is? We didn't think so. We, too, want more, and Ferrari is in the process of planning a second test opportunity with an Enzo. We'd love to answer this question as much as you would.
Do we suspect the Enzo will prove, once and for all, to be the quickest, fastest, and most nimble road car ever built? Yes.
Even from the data we were able to obtain, it's clear the car named after the man is bloody, blindingly fast. With its shape-shifting aerodynamic body, gargantuan Ferrari-spec Bridgestone tires, F1-derived electronics, and brilliant engine and chassis, it'd be more than a shame to let the guessing game continue. We'll publish the next test as soon as we can. The test numbers contained herein have been shared among several magazines and with Ferrari SpA. Because no two sets of data recorded that day were alike, the results will reflect these variances. Our data has been subjected to the same SAE corrections as all our published acceleration data: 1-foot rollout, 60 degrees F, sea-level, 29.92 barometric pressure, and zero-percent humidity. Because our best run ended between 97 and 98 mph, we extrapolated the remaining data to 100 mph. Quarter-mile, braking , skidpad, and slalom figures are estimates based on our knowledge of the car and our limited experience within it.
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