Contrary TO THE RECENT, rampant speculation circulating in Internet chat rooms, Leonardo davinci did not sketch the Ferrari 599 GTB Fiorano. Credit for the shape instead goes to Frank Stephenson Ferrari's former head of design in collaboration with the company's longtime design partner, Pininfarina.
But this does not mean that the late, great Italian artist and part time symbologist would have named the car an differently a the Ferrari 599 GTB Fiorano reveals several secrets about itself before you ever turn the key.
The number in the name represents the V 12's displacement in cubic centimeters (divided by 10, and modestly rounded down); GTB is shorthand for granturismo berlinetta, or grand touring coupe; and Fiorano references the figure eight asphalt track where Michael Schumacher fine tunes his Formula One cars and Ferrari's chief hot shoe, Dario Benuzzi, pushes the company's production cars to their limits. Located
within two right hand paddle flaps of the Maranello factor y, Fiorano is a squiggle of pavement in the Modenese countryside that attracts more telephoto lenses than Sophia Loren ever did, as spy photographer paparazzi
swarm the gates like so many gnats.
This is the promised land of the Prancing Horse.
On a spring morning, a dozen or so journalists set out from Fiorano, the track, in Fioranos, the cars, taking turns behind the wheels of a half dozen new 599 GTBS.
We follow the A15 in Parma, exit at Fornovo, and head south to Berceto along the SS 62, one of Italy's more pleasurable hills to climb in an automobile. This is the same Parma Poggio di Berceto road course that Enzo Ferrari raced in 1919 (finishing fifth), and 87 years later, the scenery is likely very similar to what it was in Enzo's youth: rural and open. Regardless of its historical relevance, this less traveled road is worth taking, as it snakes through the hills like a strand of spaghetti.
The route eventually leads us back to Fiorano, where, that afternoon, the silence of the picturesque countryside is broken only by the occasional wail of a V 12 as it flies past pit row. We each wait our turn for warm up laps with Benuzzi at the wheel, except for the wannabe stunt driver from Car and Driver. Earlier in the day he stuffed his car while attempting to get the tail end out for some unrealistically dramatic action photography unrealistic because the 599 GTB will not do anything untoward unless the driver makes a critical error in judgment, or completely disables traction control by selecting CMT mode (which we were specifically asked not to do).
At long last, my turn arrives. With one hand on the wheel, Benuzzi cracks off gear changes as though he is pulling the trigger on a Beretta, blasting his way up through the ratios while providing a guided tour of the Fiorano on the Fiorano. "Sport mode, eh?" he says, careening the car effortlessly through the first turn and then navigating the tight right hander that follows the front straight. After executing a near perfect lap, he says, "Now race mode," and turns the steering wheel's manettino control switch clockwise one click. I can feel the suspension tighten along with my left hand's grip on the stitched leather grab handle that runs along the central tunnel. For lack of a solid handgrip on the door, I tuck my right hand beneath my right knee. Any body roll other than my own is undetectable as we move sideways through curve and corner. Soon, the wide Pirelli tires are barely audible above the freewheeling fury of the musical V 12 operetta playing through the four barreled exhaust.
Following a few dizzying laps with Benuzzi, I take some comparatively sane laps at the wheel before sitting down with Luca Cordero di Montezemolo, Ferrari's charismatic chief executive officer, who speaks of the car in terms of
its position, not in the marketplace, but in Ferrari history. "This car has better performance than the F40," he says, referring to the marque's watershed supercar, which debuted some 18 years ago under the company's only other CEO, Enzo Ferrari, the founder. Since then, the special project line at the factory has created the F50 and Enzo Ferrari, the car. "The F40 was extremely difficult to drive in some conditions:' Montezemolo concedes, thereby distinguishing it from the heroically easy to drive 599 GTB.
"With the 599 we answered a huge challenge in terms of technology, in terms of emotional driving, and also in terms of putting together a car that you can drive not only on the track but on weekends, on the roads, on the autostrada, everywhere."
On the autostrada, the 599 uses Formula One technology to outshine cars twice its price; it is easy to drive fast, yet offers a ride that is superior to those of the Mercedes-Benz SLP, the Porsche Carrera GT, and even the Bugatti Veyron. Speed is an essential component of the 599 GTBs
drivability, although not necessarily the type of speed measured in lap times and zero to 60 figures. The Fiorano's new F1 SuperFast automated manual transmission completes a shift in 100 milliseconds, or about the same duration of a blink of an eye. Intervals of less than one tenth of a second are beyond human perception, which explains why the 599 GTBs gear changes seem so smooth; downshifts and upshifts are completed before the driver notices a corresponding rise or fall in engine rpm.
The mechanism's name is not hyperbolic: SuperFast shifts perform a long chain of events including ding clutch disengagement, gear selection, reengagement, and power delivery at superfast speeds. The F/ 1 paddle system's efficiency helps explain why, according to Ferrari, only 10 percent of 599 GTB buyers will choose the manual model.
The unobtrusive nature of the 599 GTBs transmission contrasts with the car's aggressive appearance and performance. Every component, aside from the windshield, is new, from the lightweight aluminum chassis and bodywork to the V 12 engine. Ferrari adapted the motor from the Enzo and not from the 599 GTBs berlinetta predecessor,
the 575M Maranello Although it essentially is the same 65 degree design from the Enzo, the 599 GTB's frontmid mounted engine is built to endure everyday use. The 6 liter unit develops 102 hp per liter, for a total of 612 hp at 7,600 rpm. The rev limit of 8,400 rpm is high for a V 12 production car, and if you maintain the engine speed anywhere near 5,600 rpm, where 448 ft lbs of torque reach their peak, it responds enthusiastically. The 599 GTB reaches 62 mph from rest in 3.7 seconds (124 mph in 11 seconds) and has a top speed of 205 mph.
European 599 GTBS, such as the ones we are testing, have a "launch mode" fun button that will not be included on American models. (The DOT frowns on smoky burnouts.) But even without such electronic aids, the 599 GTB leaps at the pavement like a kitten to a ball of yarn on 19 inch front and 20 inch rear wheels and tires (the 20 inch fronts are optional). The car's 3,722 pound weight is actually 220 pounds lighter than the 575M Maranello's, although the new car is nearly 10 inches longer.
All of these figures, taken as a whole, make the 599 GTB
the highest performing road car in Ferrari's history. "But
performance is not only acceleration or maximum speed,"
Montezemolo notes in a not so subtle dig at the Bugatti
Veyron, which offers top speed numbers greater than those
of the approximately $260,000 Fiorano, but does so at a sub
stantially higher price. "It's also a combination of handling,
braking distance, and the ability to drive the car in the rain."
Montezemolo believes that the 599 GTBs appearance
reveals much about its performance. "When we started, I
told my people there are priorities," he says. "Number one,
it's a Ferrari. Don't underestimate this number one; it means
that if you see this car in the middle of NewYork or Rome
or wherever Helsinki or even without the badge, this is
obviously a Ferrari. Ferrari means good looking, emotional
driving, and when you enter the Ferrari, you are entering
something unique. It means extreme performance."
The form follows a Scaglietti meets wind tunnel aes
thetic, with no fewer than 11 air inlets and outlets that
serve a functional purpose. The 599 GTB cuts through the
air like a high speed train, its flat underbelly and rearventuri
conspiring to glue the car to the ground. The flying
buttresses attached to the C pillars add 110 pounds of
downforce for high speed stability, and the Fiorano's over
all shape generates a total of 419 pounds of downforce at
187 mph. Lift the throttle at such a speed, and the drag
will make you feel as though you have dropped anchor.
The suspension utilizes Delphi dampers, which also can
be found in such General Motors cars as the Chevrolet
Corvette, the Cadillac STS, and the Buick Lucerne. The
magneto rheologic al suspension control system allows
The system employs variable viscosity damper fluid, which
the driver to adjust ride harshness through the manettino.
is adjusted by the application of an electric field. Changes
within individual dampers take place electronically in 10
milliseconds, so potholes or rub strips at the track's edge
are smoothed over and forgotten almost as soon as they
are trod.
Much of the 599 GTBs technology, including the Super
Fast transmission, derives from Ferrari's advanced research
department: Formula One. Racing features can be seen
everywhere from the steering wheel to the drilled carbon
ceramic brakes. Interior options include a carbon topped
steering wheel similar to that of the Enzo with five yel
low and red LEDs that synchronize with the tachometer to
indicate shift points. Traction control (F1 Trac) is integrated
to an instrument panel display that offers information based
on the selected mode: Lap times appear for race mode, out
side temperatures for snow mode.
And from the front seat of the 599 GTB, ahead is the only
direction that really matters. Buyers must also look ahead
when considering a purchase; the waiting list for a 599
GTB is already two years, which Montezemolo concedes
desire her. OK, desire, yes, but sooner or later, you also
is too much. "Like a good looking woman, you have to
"We are looking ahead all the time," says Montezemolo.
have to go out to dinner," he jokes. "I don't want to say
more, but at least go out for dinner. This is our goal." MI
Ferrari, ferrariusa. com
