TG’s idiot-proof guide to the next 599, Enzo and Audi R8

DESPITE ALL THE hoo-ha about carbon fibre from Lamborghini and others, Ferrari‘s next 599 replacement is going to be another front-engined, aluminium rocket. Performance will pretty much match the GTO, but it’ll be a whole lot more manageable and liveable than that.

The engine will be derived from the GTO’s and make about 700bhp. This in a body that’s lighter than the R8599′s. The aluminium mainframe uses many of the techniques that make the FF so strong. And it’ll be a lot lighter than the FF because it’s shorter, has no back seats and no four- wheel-drive apparatus.

Ferrari Enzo

Ferrari Enzo

In fact, the F152 (that’s its internal codename) owes a lot to the FF. The original plan was to build a heavily revised 599, but the FF turned out to be so good that Ferrari realised it had to up its game.

So the F152 gets all Ferrari’s best technologies: the seven-speed, twin- clutch transmission, the multi-link rear axle, and thee-diff (the 599 has none of these), plus a newer generation of adaptive dampers and predictive traction and stability controls.

Why not carbon fibre for the tub? After all, McLaren and Lambo have gone that way, and Ferrari is going to use it for the Enzo successor. But Ferrari’s top engineer Roberto Fedeli thinks that aluminium is easier to manufacture and repair, and can be made almost as light. As long as you use the right kind of aluminium, anyway. Besides, Ferrari has invested hugely in its factory to make aluminium bodies, so there’s no going back.

But for a rarer-groove and exotic machine such as the Enzo replacement, carbon is the thing. That comes out next year, too. It’s got a V12, plus super- tweaky Fl-derived aero.

Audi R8 GT

Audi R8 GT

Despite all the talk of powwwwweeeerrrr, it’s weight where the supercar battle is being fought. For instance, TC has been into a guarded room where lurked the bodyshell of the next- generation Audi R8, due in 2013. The shell alone, without panels, is just 198kg, where the 5 current one is 222kg. Half of the shell is aluminium extrusions, but 15 percent will also be carbon fibre.

Given that Audi has a brand-new turbo V8 engine on the stocks capable of well north of 5OObhp, this is going to be another leap ahead in performance.

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