Ferrari, Fast Ferraris and Lambos, Fuel-Friendly Ram, and an Eco-Altima

Ferrari, Fast Ferraris and Lambos, Fuel-Friendly Ram, and an Eco-Altima

Getting FXX'd up: Twenty extremely well-heeled Ferrari loyalists will get a chance to own a Ferrari FXX. The FXX is a more track-ready version of the now-out-of-production Enzo. Horsepower has been increased to over 800, and the sequential-manual gearbox has been further modified to improve shift timing. Furthermore, the FXX has revised bodywork that provides 40-percent-more downforce than the Enzo. The FXX isn't street-legal, and it costs about $1.8 million (give or take a few tens of thousands), so to make up for that illegality, Ferrari will make owners feel like test drivers by listening to their opinions and suggestions regarding the car's handling and behavior. The comments from the owners will then be compared with those from Michael Schumacher, Rubens Barrichello, and Ferrari's in-house test drivers, and then, if we're lucky, thrown out.

Deactivated Ram: A revised Dodge Ram pickup truck is set to debut in 2006. It will sport a restyled front fascia and fenders. Inside, the Ram gets an instrument panel reminiscent of the Grand Cherokee's. Mechanically, the Ram will differ only in that the optional Hemi 5.7-liter V-8 will feature the cylinder deactivation that debuted on the 300C sedan and Magnum R/T. Dodge claims the more efficient Hemi will improve your gas bill by 20 percent. As with other cylinder-deactivation models, the Ram will shut down half of them and run as a four-cylinder in situations where full engine power isn't needed, at low speeds or on flat highways.

Aspen—the new SUV, not the '70s icon: Chrysler will launch a new SUV next summer, according to a report in the Detroit News. The sport-ute will be based on Dodge's Durango but will feature a more upscale design and equipment levels. The name Aspen was chosen because Dieter Zetsche is trying desperately to acquire membership in a waspy country club there. Hey, that's a joke—lighten up. The name is likely perceived as fashionable, and enough people don't remember the unpleasant sedan and wagon that bore the name in the '70s. The Aspen will enjoy its coming-out party at the Detroit show in January.

A more powerful bat: Lamborghini will offer a second model of the Murciélago, the GT, which will come with a significant horsepower jump over the lesser sports car. A bump in displacement from 6.2 liters to 6.5 will provide 645 horsepower, a devilish boost over the current car's 572. It will go on sale next summer and should run about 400 large. Italian horses don't come cheap.

Altima goes hybrid: Nissan announced that the Altima will get a gas-electric hybrid option next year. The Altima's hybrid system will be similar to the one in the Toyota Prius in that the Altima will be able to creep away from a stop on electric rather than gas power. Production will take place in Smyrna, Tennessee, factory to the Pathfinder, Frontier, Xterra, and Maxima. Nissan plans on moving 50,000 hybrid Altimas when they go on sale at the end of 2006 as 2007 models.

Hybrid hype? Ford, in an attempt to mollify hybrid-Escape owners who were unable to attain the claimed EPA fuel-economy numbers, invited them to take a training course to learn how to squeeze every mile per gallon out of the gas-electric SUV. Our invitation to the program probably was lost in the mail, but we imagine the phrase "Pretend there's no one behind you and the accelerator is an egg" was uttered more than once. Clearly, the EPA figures for hybrids aren't exactly what we'd call accurate in the real world.Continued...

Ferrari 599GTB HY-KERS Hybrid Concept, Ferrari

Ferrari 599GTB HY-KERS Hybrid Concept, Ferrari

When last we wrote about the Ferrari 599 hybrid, we called it a car that no enthusiast had asked for. While that may be true at the moment, it looks as though a hybrid will be the Ferraristi’s choice of the future, as the other option would likely be no Ferrari at all. On a recent trip to Maranello, we were given a look at the 599 hybrid concept making its public debut at the Geneva auto show as well as an overview of how Ferrari plans to keep making cars in an increasingly strict future.

F1’s Ill-Fated KERS to the Rescue

The hardware portion of the 599 hybrid is relatively simple—for a gas-electric car, anyway. After looking at several options, including an all-wheel-drive layout using an electric motor to drive the front wheels, Ferrari has decided that a setup using one motor integrated into its seven-speed dual-clutch transmission offers the best balance of weight, complexity, and performance. And so the hybridized 599 concept has a modified version of the Getrag dual-clutch gearbox found in the 458 Italia and the California with a 100-hp motor hanging off the back; the motor is hooked to the shaft used for the odd-numbered gears. Two lithium-ion battery packs with a combined 3-kWh capacity are located under the chassis, where they help to lower the center of gravity without disturbing underbody airflow. One of Ferrari’s many goals was to keep the interior package untouched when hybridizing, so the control electronics sit below the trunk floor, and they’re displayed in the concept under a see-through panel. The system’s weight, about 175 pounds in its current form, will have to be compensated for by a reduction in overall vehicle size and mass. (Cutting weight should be easier for Ferrari than a lesser carmaker, as a premium manufacturer can more readily integrate higher-cost, lighter materials such as carbon fiber and aluminum.) Ferrari’s engineers note that the hybrid setup will work on both its front- and rear-engined vehicles.

Formula 1 fans will remember that Ferrari experimented with KERS (Kinetic Energy Recovery Systems) during the 2009 season. KERS is out of F1 for 2010, but experience from last year has informed the development of control logic for the concept’s hybrid system, which is at once performance-oriented and fuel-efficient. Like any full hybrid, the 599 concept can operate in electric-only mode at low speeds and can recharge the batteries through regenerative braking. Charging can also be effected through what Ferrari calls “load point moving,” which essentially alters engine speed to a more efficient point and uses the electric motor as a generator to store the extra power. There’s also a so-called “e-boost” mode that, like every hybrid ever, combines the internal-combustion and electric power for added performance; Ferrari claims improved acceleration performance compared to the nonhybrid 599, even with the concept’s added weight.

Technology Can Be Wonderful

Electronic Brake Balance (EBB) is also in the bag of tricks, and it can use the electric motor’s regenerative qualities to fine-tune brake bias to maximize stopping power and in turn reduce stopping distance or to recover the most energy possible, depending on the situation (the F1 team was able to choose one option or the other for each track). The electronic traction control gets a redesign with the hybrid system, allowing it to use the electric motor to manage excess torque instead of having to cut engine spark. The company says the traction control is thus smoother and reacts more quickly. Along the same lines, Ferrari has what it calls Electronic Torque Shaping (ETS), which can use the electric motor to add torque and smooth out the peaks and valleys inherent in torque curves of internal-combustion engines.

It Can’t Come Soon Enough

Now that we know the details, we’re less upset about the prospect of an electrified prancing horse. But Ferrari says that hybridizing its lineup will take a while, and likely won’t happen until the vehicles are replaced or redesigned. So it will be years before we see a hybridized Ferrari for sale.

The most refreshing part about all of this is that Ferrari makes no attempt to greenwash its efforts to make hybrids; there are no claims that these cars will save the world, Prius-style, from impending doom, nor do the engineers hide the fact that they’re simply building to the regulations. (The company does have as part of its Formula Uomo—Formula “Man” or “Mankind”—program a new sustainable energy plan that’s already being implemented across the Maranello campus. You can read more about that in our blog.)

The Future of Ferrari

Indeed, the Ferrari engineers with whom we met plainly stated that hybridization is the only way the company can make cars that improve on their predecessors’ performance and, just as important, meet new emissions standards both here in the U.S. and in Europe. If it doesn’t meet emissions targets, Ferrari will have to pay hefty fines or simply not sell cars. The standards are tight: By 2015, all mass-market cars sold in the European Union will need to emit fewer than 130 grams of CO2 per kilometer, although the target for small-volume manufacturers, which includes Ferrari, has not yet been finalized. Our own fuel-economy standards will require a 35-mpg average for manufacturer lineups by 2020. Ferrari’s newest and most efficient offering, the 458 Italia, emits 307 g/km on the European efficiency cycle, and it gets 11 mpg in the city and 15 on the highway in EPA tests.

The fact is that Ferrari owners don’t drive their cars all that much, and the company says that when they do—this sounds a bit bizarre—they’re often driving them in a more-efficient range of operation than seen during low-speed emissions tests. So while Ferraris aren’t purchased for their fuel mileage, the cars’ carbon footprints, as we’ve said in the past, are effectively smaller than those of hybrid commuter cars; Ferrari claims a 458’s real-world CO2 emissions are more like 250 g/km. But the regulations don’t care.

Ferrari has a few ideas of how to improve those numbers in the near term. The California will get an optional engine stop/start system in Europe at the end of this month. Strides have been made and will continue in the areas of aerodynamic drag, transmission efficiency, combustion efficiency, and the reduction of friction and pumping losses. The company’s engineers are also planning to implement cylinder deactivation and downsized engines somewhere down the road.

But all of that won’t be enough to reach the as-yet-undetermined targets, and that’s where hybrids come in. Mostly because it seems we don’t have a choice, we say bring on the electrified prancing horses.

2012 Ferrari 599 Roadster Rendered

2012 Ferrari 599 Roadster Rendered

An open Ferrari is among the classic dream cars, especially when it’s powered by a high-revving V-12, and the iconic manufacturer is about to launch another one. Ferrari is expected to unveil the new model, based on the 599GTB Fiorano, at the Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance in mid-August.

Our renderings show a classic, open roadster quite unlike its predecessor, the 575-based Superamerica, which sported an unusual, Fioravanti-designed glass top. That roof was hinged at the B-pillars and flipped 180 degrees to settle on top of the trunk. The 599-based roadster, by contrast, is expected to be equipped with a metal folding hardtop of a more conventional type, similar to that of the V-8–powered Ferrari California.

To help offset the extra weight of the folding roof and requisite chassis reinforcements, the open-top 599 should get a power boost to 635 hp, up from the regular 599's 612 hp. This should translate into 0-to-60-mph times of around 3.5 seconds while maintaining a top speed in excess of 200 mph. It will be the fastest open Ferrari ever, and chopping the roof means an unfiltered V-12 aural assault for occupants’ ears—if you’ve ever heard a Ferrari twelve-cylinder, you know how addicting it can be. It’s a compulsion from which we’ll never be cured, but like most addictions, this one comes with considerable financial penalties. We expect deliveries to commence by mid-2011, and a base price somewhere in the neighborhood of $400,000. What the roadster version of the Ferrari 599 will be called is unclear, but Ferrari boss Luca di Montezemolo says that it will carry "an emotional, romantic name."

As for competitors, the air is pretty thin up here. The alternatives include the Aston Martin DBS Volante and perhaps the Bentley Continental Supersports convertible. Mercedes-Benz is working on a droptop version of the SLS AMG, and the upcoming Lamborghini Murciélago replacement also will be available as a roadster. While all of those cars are—or will be—lustworthy, it’s hard to beat the pedigree and allure of an open-top Ferrari.

Ferrari 599GTB Fiorano HGTE and 599XX , Ferrari , Fiorano

Ferrari 599GTB Fiorano HGTE and 599XX , Ferrari , Fiorano

599GTB Fiorano HGTE

Ferrari showed two 599GTB Fiorano variants at the 2009 Geneva auto show. Of interest to most potential buyers was the Handling Grand Turismo Evoluzione (HGTE) package, designed to satisfy the 20 to 25 percent of owners who apparently want an even-sharper-handling V-12 coupe.

The car has a stiffer rear anti-roll bar and springs, while the magnetorheological shocks get new calibrations for when the driver sets the car into its sportiest settings. The ride height is lowered, the shift time has been shortened from 100 to 80 milliseconds, and the muffler has been opened up to provide the sound that is missing from the 599GTB’s otherwise awesome demeanor. Externally, there are multi-piece 20-inch wheels and a matte-black rear diffuser. The sport seats are made from carbon fiber to save weight and the interior features carbon-fiber and Alcantara trim. There’s no word yet on U.S. pricing.

599XX

Over in the truly exotic corner, Ferrari showed the wicked 599XX. This is an extreme track car that builds on the prior FXX program, whereby the rich and shameless bought gussied-up Enzos for use in a “race series.” In this case, the 599 has been stripped of about 660 pounds in weight, thanks to extensive use of carbon fiber. The engine has better breathing, with careful work on optimizing the combustion chambers and intake and exhaust tracts, to the extent it now makes 700 hp at 9000 rpm, up from 612 at 7600.

The 599XX uses a lot of carbon fiber, with bodywork addenda and even the brake pads made from the exotic material. Ferrari is being coy about technology transfer from its F1 racing cars, but there are brake-disc shrouds on the wheels similar to those introduced on the F2007. We have been told that the 599XX is just a second slower around Ferrari’s Fiorano test track than an FXX, with part of the gain coming from its improved aerodynamics, which give 617 pounds of rear downforce at 124 mph. Slick racing tires no doubt help in the pursuit of quicker lap times.

Owners—who can buy the 599XX on invitation only—will be able to participate in six races around the world, or simply just turn up at a track day and scare themselves stiff. Twenty to 30 cars will be built, at about $1.4 million plus taxes, so this is a toy for only the very wealthy.

Subaru Impreza Concept

Subaru Impreza Concept

Subaru calls this L.A show car a concept, but it's clear that—minus a bit of the flash—this is basically the next-generation Impreza.

The mug and fender flares on this concept Impreza definitely remind us of the current Legacy, which means that when the production car launches, it could be the first time in more than a decade that Subaru's cars actually show some heavy family resemblance. The Legacy's amoeba-shaped headlights are among the styling details not carried over to this concept, replaced instead with racier units that look like the Acura TL’s. Below those sit gaping air intakes, horizontally bisected by wing-shaped LED fog lights—an upscale design touch, and one we hope survives the concept-to-production transition. Ikuo Mori, the CEO of Subaru’s parent company, Fuji Heavy Industries, recently said that the company is happy with the size of its products as they are now, so don't expect the next-gen Impreza to grow much from the current car's dimensions.

The Impreza concept features stereo cameras integrated into the A-pillars as part of Subaru's EyeSight system, a safety feature that determines the distance of cars and obstacles ahead and applies the brakes if you’re going to ram into them. EyeSight already is available on Japanese-market Legacys and is a part of the firm's dynamic cruise-control system, but we read the inclusion on the Impreza concept as an indication that EyeSight may be coming to American Subarus.

Peek under the Impreza concept's hood and you'll find a 2.0-liter, direct-injection version of Subaru's newest four-cylinder boxer engine, which debuted in non-DI, 2.5-liter form in the 2011 Forester. Although the new engine isn't substantially more powerful than the outgoing generation, it was significantly revised in other ways: the timing belt was replaced with a timing chain, which now drives two sets of dual overhead cams rather than the last gen's singles. It's paired with a CVT in the Impreza concept, and while we're generally not ecstatic about these rubber-band transmissions, almost anything’s preferable to the four-speed automatics that Subaru is still peddling in some of its current vehicles.

An Impreza you can buy will appear in mid-2011, we’re told, and it will boast Subaru’s first use of direct injection. While we're naturally most excited for the next Impreza WRX—and we think this styling will translate well to that hotted-up variant—from the look of this concept car, even the bread-and-butter models will have a lot to offer.

2012 Subaru Impreza

2012 Subaru Impreza

One of the more important debuts at this year’s New York auto show is the 2012 Subaru Impreza, shown in both sedan and five-door body styles. But the 2012 Impreza is more than just another transportation appliance; if you read Car and Driver with any regularity, you know that the Impreza is nothing but a WRX or an STI waiting to spread its turbocharged wings.

Does this Car Make Me Look Fast?

Subaru previewed the 2012 Impreza last fall at the Los Angeles auto show with the sinister-looking Impreza concept. Alas, the production version is predictably tamer, though it does have a more-protuberant chin, more-defined “hawk-eye” headlamps, and bulging fenders. Interesting details include a sharply raked windshield that starts nearly eight inches further forward on the hood than the glass on today’s model. Similarly, the beltline is considerably lower, and the windows are enlarged for improved visibility. Near-vertical body sides with squared-off bumper caps help reduce drag, à la Toyota Prius. Especially from the rear three-quarter angle, the 2012 Impreza is more than a little busy, but we’ll take busy over outright ugly any day.

While the 2012 Impreza looks bigger than the 2011 model, the only dimension that actually grew was its wheelbase, which increases from 103.2 inches to 104.1. Both hatchback and sedan models retain their 68.5-inch width and their overall lengths. Still, cargo space for the five-door manages to increase by 3.4 cubic feet with the rear seats up and by 5.3 with them folded. Best of all, the Impreza actually lost about 160 pounds, weight savings we hope will also apply to the forthcoming WRX and STI.

Subaru will offer the car in base, Premium, and Limited trim levels, but all Imprezas offer the same level of safety equipment, which now includes a knee airbag for the driver and the stability control that is government-mandated on all vehicles for 2013. What the Impreza seems to lack, however, is stirring interior design. Even in cushy Limited form, the interior wow factor is about nil.

Smaller Motor, Less Power, Way More mpg

The 2012 Impreza gets an all-new engine, but it takes a big step backwards in output. Last year’s 170-hp, 170-lb-ft 2.5-liter flat-four is replaced by a new 2.0-liter boxer making 148 hp and 145 lb-ft. Subaru says the new car is quicker than the outgoing car despite the power drop, but we'll know for sure once we get a chance to test the 2012 model. Either way, the redesigned Impreza boasts a huge, 30-percent jump in fuel economy. When equipped with its newly available paddle-“shifted” CVT, the 2012 Impreza is estimated to cover 27 miles in the city and 36 miles on the highway on a gallon of gas. The stick-shift model’s fuel economy improves, too, to 25 mpg in the city, 34 on the highway compared to the previous 20/27. It might have been even better, though, if Subaru had upgraded the Impreza’s five-speed manual transmission to a more competitive six-speed. The Impreza is still suspended by struts up front and a multilink setup out back, but the 2012 model gets a stiffened front cradle and rear subframe.

Less powerful but lighter, better-looking, and way more fuel-efficient, the Impreza does seem to be well-positioned for today’s market—and it could help make the future WRX and STI stronger and more tune-able, too.

car, 2012 Subaru Impreza Shown Ahead

car, 2012 Subaru Impreza Shown Ahead

Two weeks ahead of the 2012 Subaru Impreza sedan’s full reveal at the New York auto show, the company has released this profile shot. From what we can see here, the production car will carry over many of the styling cues previewed by the concept version shown at last fall’s Los Angeles auto show. This includes the sleeker profile, prominent fender bulges, and chiseled front and rear corners, all of which are cool by us—we just hope the overall impression of “Mazda Cruze” is less pronounced when we see more angles.

Subaru also announced its highway fuel-economy estimate for the four-door: 36 mpg, an impressive figure for something with standard all-wheel drive. Subie didn’t specify, however, whether that number will correspond to Imprezas equipped with a manual or automatic (likely continuously variable) transmission. Either way, figure on somewhat less-impressive city mileage, as the engine will be forced to spin up the all-wheel-drive hardware more often in urban situations where vehicle speeds are more varied.

The huge jump expected in mileage—from 26 and 27 mpg highway for today’s manual and automatic Imprezas—comes courtesy of the company’s new flat-four engine. (Check out our full write-up of the engine.) While a 2.5-liter variant of that mill already has found a home in the Forester, we expect that the Impreza will receive a 2.0-liter. Engines in this new family don’t add much (if any) power compared to the units they replace, but they do employ numerous friction-reducing measures and improved breathing and cooling.

Should the EPA confirm Subaru’s 36-mpg estimate, the company brags that the Impreza will be the most fuel-efficient all-wheel-drive automobile on the market—at least until a dozen automakers roll out gas-up-front, electric-in-the-back all-wheel-drive compact hybrids in the next few years. For now, you can bet your best, most broken-in Birkenstocks that Subaru will be beating that particular drum pretty heavily once 2012 Impreza marketing and sales start later this year.