Porsche Turbo S, Ferrari FF or Audi RS6: Which is fastest on snow?

Honestly, who cares, does it matter? Enjoy the slidy bits!

Manu, who made this clip says:

"I made this video in a private test track, It doesn't show which car is faster but just some laptimes made by me. All cars had Pirelli Sottozero.
This ice track is http://www.snowice.it/

FF Slalom

It's the annual Wrooom festival whereby press and assorted luminaries get invited to the Italian Alps for a few days of Ferrari and Ducati press availabilities and swag distribution. Ferrari puts on a bit of a show, like having two FF's parallel slalom on groomed snow, something that incidentally they accomplish with much more ease than any of the current Ferrari driving staff seems to be able to do!.

At a press conference today, Fernando Alonso seemed to be playing the low expectation game, saying correctly, that it's too early to get all worked up about the 2012 car. I'm pretty sure that did not go over all that well with Di Montezemolo who is all about enthusiasm. Well, at least the boss did not stuff the FF in a sand trap snowbank this time!

The bizarre choice of soundtrack is as inexplicable but oddly appropriate.




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FF on Snow

Axis gets a look at the Ferrari FF

Last week, CG and I had a chance to see the latest from Maranello, up close and personal at Ferrari North America HQ. We got to look at it, sit in it, touch the leather, look under the hood and got a quick technical briefing given by an envoy from Maranello. We have to share even if we can't show pictures!

As you can see from the shot above, it was the perfect weather to be introduced to the first production Ferrari with four wheel drive (the first Ferrari 4wd was the never produced 408). The car was in that white box on the right, let's have a "look" after the jump...


First, I suppose, the looks: We both loved it, it's huge but it looks much more proportioned and elegant than the 612 Scaglietti ever did. Where the 612 looked goofy from the front, the FF looks mean and aggressive while maintaining some classic Ferrari elements from 12 cylinder front engined cars past, most notable the shark mouth with the chrome grille (which will available also in black and, for the Dubai market, fully chrome clad). The lights recall those on the 458. This thing will look mean in rear view mirrors.
Getting back to the bulk of this car, we figured that between the driver's head and the opposite front corner you could easily fir a FIAT 500

Now the more controversial part of the car, the Z3 MCoupe rear. Well, it's a great shape and while some will hate it, we say kudos to Ferrari for going with something which is both funky and functional. The rear view is spectacular, the wing that is part of the diffuser is a fantastic detail. The technical briefing went over how the car has all these subtle shapes, including the curvature of the roof, studied to accelerate the air and minimize the vacuum behind the car that a hatchback usually creates (the Z3M Coupe for example has a worse Cx than the brick shaped e30).

It would be fair to describe the shape a challenging, but less so than a Panamera or even an X6! People's conception of luxury cars is changing and Ferrari is right to be pushing the envelope there.

The interior is as you would expect, fully clad and wrapped in fantastic quality leather, even the trunk in this particular Grigio Metallizzato example.
The dash is a mix of the 458, with many controls on the wheel and a center console similar to the California.

The Nav/infotainment system is apparently state of the art but I found the touch screen system completely non user friendly and with disappointing graphics.

There is plenty of room for two passengers in the back, not midgets, regular human beings with legs can sit with another regular sized human comfortable in the front. There is room for a good amount of luggage. The rear seats fold down and you can carry a bike, there is a ski bag.

A ski bag on a Ferrari, that's the key. Ferrari apparently determined that a substantial number of its potential customer were buying Bentleys and Panameras and liked to go skiing...but this can also be seen as continuation of the effort by Maranello to produce cars people will actually drive rather than just wax (or have waxed).

The 4wd system is brilliant, it's a Ferrari patent developed over six years ago. Half the weight of any other all wheel drive system, it works with two completely separate gearboxes one rear transaxle and one mounter transversely in front of the engine. There are two driveshafts and is no center differential.
The front gearbox has two forward gears and reverse with one clutch per axle. It's geared so that first will overlap first and second gear on the main rear transmission, second will cover third and fourth in the back. From fifth gear up the car is only driven by the rear wheels. It all sounds complicated but the idea is to minimize weight, mechanical losses and loss of the traditional rear wheel drive feel. The FF is in effect a RWD car up to the point when the computers detect there is excessive slippage, then up to 30% of the torque is vectored up front.

Performance is a claimed 3.7 sec to 0-62mph, 11 sec to 125 mph. Brakes are the same second generation Carbon as on the GTO but with less aggressive pads.

So, slap the snow tires and go skiing? Why not, If CG buys one, I'm sure he'll do it. The average Ferrari driver? I wonder.
For sure the number of excuses for leaving the car in the garage is quickly shrinking in Maranello!

I'm hoping CG will have some time to jump in and discuss, if you have any questions or thoughts, by all means...



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Ferrari FF

Ferrari FF: Four seat, Four Wheel Drive. Four million internet posts that will argue over its looks.
More after the jump



The newest Pininfarina designed top of the line Ferrari will remind people of the 250 GTO Breadvan or maybe the original BMW Mcoupe but that's missing the point. Ferrari made the decision not to build a sedan but customers have been buying an awful lot of Bentley Continentals in the last few years not to mention Panameras lately and, apparently, Ferrari owners want to go skiing too, so...



The Formula Four: four seats, room for luggage. 6.3L direct injected V12 good for 660hp and 503 ft-lb. A 4wd sysyem that is "on demand" that is, it only comes into play when the front wheels slip but that ferrari claims is 50% lighter than any other systems. FErrari claims a 0-62 time of 8 seconds in the snow!. A seven speed DCT is in the usual transaxle layout, impressive given the car has room in the back for normal sized humans.

The published "dry weight in just under 4000 lbs, making it somewhat heavier than the outgoing 612 Scaglietti, however, as with the 458, advances in suspension design make this car agile beyond its mass (or indeed probably beyond the ability of its target customer): 0-62 in 3.7 sec, 208 mph top speed.

Ferrari was pretty cagey over the pictures, just three images and the clip, we'll see if we can find you better material in the coming week. Price is lower than the Scaglietti but with a longer list of options.


(Ferrari)
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