Post
by Gallatin » Sat Jun 25, 2005 9:46 am
Many car enthusiasts feel that the Ferrari Enzo is the ultimate sports car. It follows every rule in the exotic car rulebook to a "T". First off: it's hand-built, and only 399 of them were ever made. The Enzo is a road-ready race car, too. As it is stuffed full of Ferrari's race-winning technology, the Enzo can hit the race track and take home a trophy or two in stock trim. Oh yeah, like all supercars, the Enzo is also a ridiculously expensive and unpractical car. In other words: it's the ultimate supercar.
Well, apparently the folks at Ferrari thought that the Enzo wasn't "all that". Sure, the Enzo is good, but it could be better. It could be more expensive, more rare, and even more of a race car. So, Ferrari did what any sane supercar builder would do: it took its Enzo, tweaked it beyond recognition and came up with the FXX.
Yeah, the FXX looks like a modified Enzo, but it isn't. Ferrari has officially ceased production of the Enzo, so no new ones will ever be made again. According to Ferrari, this FXX is a totally separate beast from the Enzo, that's why the word "Enzo" is nowhere to be found in the name "FXX".
So how is the FXX different from the Enzo, exactly? Well, it's easiest if we start off by talking about the engine. Apparently the 660 horsepower that the Enzo produces isn't enough for Ferrari, so the 6.2 liter V12 in the FXX puts out over 800 horses. The gearbox has also been modified, with gearshift times taking under 100 milliseconds - that's comparable to the gearshift time of F1 cars. That's not too shabby, if you ask us.
Looking at the outside of the FXX, it's easy to see that the body of the car is pretty different of that of the standard Enzo. Ferrari's own press material says that this aerodynamic shape results in "40% higher downforce than ever achieved before." If the company is referring to a 40 percent increase over the Enzo or something else, we don't know. The prancing horse doesn't seem to want to talk to lowly internet journalists. Oh well...
Some other tech goodies include the made-for-the-FXX 19-inch Bridgestone racing slicks, some FXX-exclusive Brembo brake cooling and pad system and its sophisticated telemetry system.
Wait... "sophisticated telemetry system"? Oh yeah... "officially", these FXX Ferraris are test cars designed to help with Ferrari's R&D department. These cars will be closely monitored, and the acquired data will be sent to Maranello to be analyzed and scrutinized by Ferrari's highly-trained engineers.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Reading that last paragraph, it seems like this FXX is just a one-off test mule for the company. Believe it or not, this car is actually for sale. Actually, 20 of these cars are for sale. But don't think you can walk up to your local Ferrari dealer, checkbook in hand, and expect to drive off with your very own FXX.
Only a select few, chosen by Ferrari itself, will be given the opportunity to express interest in buying one of these cars. That's right, you have to be given permission to even think about buying one of these cars. As if we need to say it, the FXX isn't cheap, either. Pricing for the FXX starts at 1.5 million Euros, and that's before tax. If you equate that to U.S. dollars, the asking price for this ultimate Ferrari starts at over 1.8 million dollars.
Paying almost two mil for an FXX will bring its owner into the exclusive "Ferrari Test Driver" club. As a part of this club, FXX owners will receive driving instructions from Ferrari's professional race and test drivers. These FXX owners will also be privy to any exclusive track days held by Ferrari. These track days will be held at international-level racetracks, and Ferrari will bring its full technical staff to these events for support. Not only that, Ferrari will also keep the car at its Maranello facility when not in use, and will ship the car to whichever private track events its owner desires.
This all sounds good, but as this car isn't homologated for racing use, don't expect to see it in any professional-league racing series anytime soon. Again, these FXXs are "officially" just test cars.
Only 20 of these FXXs will be made. If Ferrari hasn't contacted you about this car yet, don't expect to ever drive one. Hell, consider yourself lucky if you even see one in person. If Ferrari has contacted you about one of these magnificent cars, please send some cash our way so that we can pay off our credit card debt. After you revel in your good deed, you can expect the car to ship sometime at the end of this year.
http://www.speedtest.net/result/363494335.png
Arguing with the moderators is like shaking your fist at God. There's nobody there; and if there is, he's not listening. And if he's listening, all you're doing is pissing him off
