• Jul 7, 2008
Mainstream automakers are faced with the reality of improving the efficiency and cleanliness of everyday vehicles, but companies like Porsche and Lamborghini say drastic change would effect the underlying character of their products. Ferrari apparently doesn't feel the same way, as the exotic automaker has pledged to cut emissions 40 percent by 2012. Like most other automakers, Ferrari plans on tackling its emissions problems on several fronts. It will improve the efficiency of its current powertrains, add new engines, possibly including a turbocharged V6, and bring a hybrid to market that could incorporate Ferrari's Kinetic Energy Recycling System (KERS) employed on its F1 cars, which uses a CVT connected to a flywheel that stores energy under braking. Prancing stallion president Luca Cordero di Montezemolo told a German newspaper that the hybrid Ferrari would be available around 2015. If anybody can make a hybrid supercar that is entertaining, efficient, exotic, and extremely fast, we're betting on the guys and gals over at Ferrari.

[Source: AFP]

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      • 6 Years Ago
      Actually Vintage, Ferrari didn't even have disc brakes until the late fifties.

      Jaguar pioneered them in the early fifties which is one reason why Jags out dueled Ferraris at LeMans even though the Ferrari's were faster.

      Enzo Ferrari was so reluctant to use them on his road and his racing cars (because they were an English innovation) that Peter Collins, a works Ferrari F1 driver, had discs installed on his road Ferrari after taking possession from the factory.

      So a real Ferrari purist wants hand beaten aluminum over a tubular space frame powered by a carborated V-12, shifted manually (no more than four forward gears please), steered manually and stopped by unassisted finned aluminum drums.

      And CAFE has nothing to do it. Ferrari will never meet the 35mpg standard. This is about marketing and about remaining cutting edge (which is also about marketing).

      And the hybrid system will not provide better standing start acceleration. The gain comes after braking, capturing some of that energy and using it to accelerate out of the corner. That will be it's value in F1 (and for overtaking) and that will be it's value in the road cars.

      After all, Ferrari's aren't really about 0-60 times. That's for Mustangs. Ferrari's are designed to be high speed road cars, not stop-light dragsters.
      • 6 Years Ago
      My god. The apocalypse truly is near.

      WTF is wrong with people?
        • 6 Years Ago
        Well, since electric motors have full torque available from 1 rpm - unlike reciprocating motors - this could be a real boon for Ferrari acceleration. That would be cool.

        Nothing TF wrong with that!
          • 6 Years Ago

          Read up on kinetic energy recovery systems. It's thankfully not an electric motor.
        • 6 Years Ago
        What are you talking about? Boosted 6= awesome. Same power, less weight, more acceleration, better handling.

        WTF is wrong with you?
      • 6 Years Ago
      You all are shocked my a hybrid, but how good fuel economy is this thing really gonna get? Not prius good...
        • 6 Years Ago
        I don't think high mpg is the point think about the other benefits one gets from an electric assist on-board.
      • 6 Years Ago
      "Sports cars are not supposed to be friendly to the environment"

      That's a weird definition of a sports car. I just want them to be fast and handle well. Why would it matter if it a non-petrol motor? I could imagine how strange it would be if all sports cars were enivronmentally friendly. What would you do? Frown and think, "well, even though I get instant torque from the electric motor and can do 0-60 in 4.2 seconds, it's just not fun anymore because I'm not harming the environment."

      • 6 Years Ago
      Autoblog, your reply system DEFINES suck. I've replied properly TWICE and it has gone behind the wrong initial comment.
      • 6 Years Ago
      I said this before, in the Turbo 6 Ferrari thread... but perhaps the comments are even MORE apt here.

      "Each successive ferrari, as well as Porsche or Aston Martin, and other dedicated performance car brand might get better mileage as a side effect.

      They design better, more efficient engines because... THEY ARE BETTER AND FASTER.

      Once fuel economy jumps to a higher position on the list than performance, all bets are off, for a company like Ferrari.

      I am fine with efficiency as a means to become the best. I am not so keen on fuel economy in a sports car, just to appear to be politically popular."

      I believe that point might be reached, with this news. Fuel efficiency and political correctness over-riding the priority of making the best, most straight-forward italian sports cars in the world.

      Sorry, but this bunk about Ferrari, of all companies, bowing at the alter of environmentalism, is not pleasant news.

      As I said, I am all for responsibly meeting one's goals. This however signifies a CHANGE in the goals themselves, not a change in how they meet their previously identified goals.

      Is Ferrari going to be a Top tier italian sports car, or are they going to be a top tier italian political statement that kinda looks like a sports car?
        • 6 Years Ago
        Oh! jay tee, you misunderstand me. I said that if Ferrari want to capture the branding equity of F1 going green not the technology.

        I don't think that a KERS flywheel would be a good idea in a road car - especially a Ferrari, given the number of them we have seen crashed - or burned in the recent past. The Emergency folks are just getting to grips with what to do with Prius batteries in case of an accident - let alone some crazy flywheel. BTW, KERS is insanity in F! - IMHO.
        • 6 Years Ago
        But how does heavier, more complex, and less direct make a better sports car?

        A Ferrari (at least most save maybe one custom) is not a luxury sedan.

        A Lexus LS600h can weigh 5 tons if it wants to, if it cooks breakfast and serves coffee, and whatever else it does. If there is hybrid drive in there too, whoopie for Lexus.

        That is NOT the role of a ferrari. Ferrari used to be singularly focused on making their interpretation of the best sportscars in the world. That usually did not involve technical over-complication, and political posturing, and usually it eschewed those things.

        I understand their move toward direct fuel injection. It makes the engine BETTER, with the added benefit of being more fuel efficient.

        I can understand F1 sequential transmissions. They shift faster with less power interruption.

        I can understand an electronic differential, traction control, and other things, even if they are a bit less simple, they ultimately increase the performance of the car, and that is their purpose for existence.

        But adding a bunch of equipment (thus weight, and complexity) in order to reduce CO2, is not for the sake of performance. Hybrid drive as most likely implemented, probably won't add more than it takes away in direct feedback.

        They are politically motivated changes, and they don't belong on a Ferrari, or any honest sports car that is designed for performance and driving enjoyment above ALL else.

        I would be saying the same thing if it were a Porsche, Aston Martin, Corvette, or even Miata.

        Sports cars are not the environmental boogey-man. They are an easy political target, and Ferrari is trying to side-step the line-of-fire before the EU or the US pulls the trigger.
        • 6 Years Ago
        Hey you're right, Ferrari shouldn't have crap like catalytic convertors, airbags, ABS, EFI, carbon discs, paddle shifters, or exotic materials.

        Ferraris should all be hand beaten metal with carb'd v12s and RWD and no A/C or stereo with regular disc brakes.

        PS: Climb back into your tree and throw away your computer please.
        • 6 Years Ago
        You don't get it. Hybrids are not ALWAYS about MPG. The hybrid technology that Ferrari is using in F1 will INCREASE PERFORMANCE. The energy reclaimed under braking will be available to power out of the corners, FASTER THAN PREVIOUSLY, where braking energy was wasted away into heat and friction. Now it will be used to accelerate even faster up to speed. It is NOT a bad thing.
        • 6 Years Ago


        I agree with you. But, you have to remember that many folks who drive these cars are celebrities and looking "green" is important to them. Ferrari is an icon for most folks - something desireable and inaccessible. Ferrari trade on that brand equity - and they have to respond to the market to stay in their position of glamour-mobile by catering to the desires of the stars that drive their cars.
        • 6 Years Ago
        You know, if your clientele want something "greener" - regardless of the depth of their pockets and non-sensitivity to dino-juice prices - you build something "greener." It's called marketing.

        As F1 moves to be greener, it makes perfect sense that the team that IS F1 captures some of that branding equity for their road cars.

        You also have to understand that "hybrid" does not cessarily mean "green." Read Lieberman's review of the Lexus LS600h over at TTAC to learn what I mean.
      • 6 Years Ago
      I have the greatest faith in Ferrari. But a hybrid-sportscar ? Sports cars are not supposed to be friendly to the environment and play with bunnies and lambs. How much CO2 is Ferrari really responsible for ? How often do Ferrari owners hammer their cars down highways ? How many Ferraris are out there on the highways at the same time anyways? ItÂ´s wonderful that Ferrari wants to be less polluting, but I seriously believe that there is a set amount of Â¨greenÂ¨ allowed under the hood before that shiny rosso exterior no longer stands for what it once was.... passion, emotion, and above all a love of sports cars.
      • 6 Years Ago
      To all those people who insist this is wrong: times are changing, Turbo's and hybrid drivetrains (when deployed properly) can really boost performance, and Ferrari, as an innovator, should be at the top of the proverbial "Tech Tree" with its cars.

      If you are still skeptical, check out "Fly-Brid", should be awesome if it were implemented on a supercar
      • 6 Years Ago
      Me thinks Ferrari has forgotten who their market is. The people who are profiting heavily off high gas prices.
        • 6 Years Ago
        Well this can boost their environmental image :P
      • 6 Years Ago
      Sounds great to me. There's plenty of opportunity for Ferrari to save fuel and still keep the character of their cars. Look at how the Corvette has obliterated the 355 and F360 on mpg while even outperforming it at times. The F430 already made leaps in efficiency showing Ferrari can improve mpg without hurting their cars.
      • 6 Years Ago
      If the performance is maintained, or enhanced, and it uses less fuel into the bargain, what's the problem? The problem in fact would be to do nothing.
      • 6 Years Ago
      I know Ferrari will be up to this challenge. I look forward to seeing the results of their R&D
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