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Oluwafemi Awodele
2 weeks ago
Overview
Rounding up the list with arguably the biggest car revealed for the year
The Ferrari F80
Ferrari’s hypercars have always moved the needle—and not just the ones in the instrument display. With Formula One and World Endurance Championship (WEC) racing cars doing the hard yards, the technology transfer from track to road is for real in Maranello. Enter the F80, the latest in a bloodline that spans 40 years and some of Ferrari’s most revered cars. Collectors are spending big on the 288 GTO, F40, F50, Enzo, and the LaFerrari. A new arrival is a once-in-a-decade event.
Back-to-back wins in the two most recent Le Mans 24 Hours races has certainly emboldened the Prancing Horse. So while some might query the presence of a hybridized 3.0-liter V6 engine in a multimillion-dollar car from a brand synonymous with the naturally aspirated V12, that would be to miss the point spectacularly. Downsizing be damned. The F80’s powertrain is startling in its complexity and originality, with an architecture and layout close to that of the garlanded 499P endurance racer.
But it also uses the MGU-K and MGU-H tech, the components that form the energy recovery system that’s core to Ferrari’s F1 cars, making it a hybrid in more ways than one. Its performance is staggering: The F80 can accelerate to 62 mph in just 2.1 seconds, 124 mph in 5.7 seconds, its top speed limited to 217 mph. Sure, Tesla’s Model S Plaid is a fraction faster, but it’s … not a Ferrari.
Given the numbers in play here, that’s no mean feat. The total output is 1,183 bhp, 887 of which is produced by the combustion engine, 296 bhp by the hybrid system. Although that’s less than McLaren claims for its recently revealed W1, Ferrari is unbothered. As Fulgenzi says, integration is the secret sauce here, but Ferrari’s chefs have access to a panoply of the finest ingredients.
