Geneva 2013: Ferrari LaFerrari Supercar
The Enzo successor has finally bowed. Meet the Ferrari LaFerrari, which, if I’m combining English and Italian into just English, would be saying, “Meet the Ferrari the Ferrari.” Redundant, no? But Ferrari claims that its new top-of-the-line supercar, which will handily outperform every road car in the marque’s storied history, has the strange name “to underline the car’s uniqueness in the brand’s storied history.”
So what’s so unique about LaFerrari? It’s the first “hybrid” Ferrari, courtesy of a kinetic-energy recovery system that Ferrari calls HY-KERS, similar to what has been employed in Formula 1 cars since the 2009 season. LaFerrari’s powertrain consists of a 6.262 liter naturally aspirated V12 that produces 800 horsepower by itself, plus electric motors that produce a combined 163 horsepower. Though you can’t always just add the internal-combustion and electric outputs together in hybrids to get a net figure, you can in LaFerrari. It’s producing an incredible 963 horsepower.
What’s more, the impressive low-end torque of the electric motor allowed Ferrari engineers to tune LaFerrari’s V12 for maximum high-end power, with the electric motor taking care of duties on the bottom end. The LaFerrari’s redline is a staggering 9,250 RPM. Its combined torque output exceeds 900 Nm, versus 690 Nm for the F12 Berlinetta, which had previously been the most powerful roadgoing Ferrari ever.
You’ll note that there are no telltale Pininfarina badges on LaFerrari’s exterior anywhere. That’s because it was designed entirely in-house, by a team led by Flavio Manzoni. Nearly every Ferrari production car since 1951 has been designed at least in cooperation with Pininfarina. That’s not to say that LaFerrari looks out of place in the lineup; while the car’s shape is extremely aggressive, with multiple wings, grooves, louvers, and flaps, nearly all of it is functional, helping the car to both a 205 MPH top speed and efficiency that exceeds competitors, both from Lamborghini and from intramural sources. LaFerrari’s 330g/km of C02 emissions is better than the 350g/km of the F12 Berlinetta and the 398g/km for the Lamborghini Aventenador. The latter, by the way, forces its owners to survive on “just” 700 horsepower.
If you want one of your own, and you have the means, too bad! The entire production run of 499 units (100 more than total Enzo production) has already been spoken for. Ferrari will make more LaFerraris than Enzos because of growth the brand has seen in emerging markets such as China and the Middle East. Lucky buyers (who are almost all certainly repeat customers) will pay about $1.3 million USD to start before taxes. That may prove to be a bargain; the Enzo’s starting price after taxes was about half as much, but thanks to that car’s limited production and incredible appeal, used models fetch more than 1 million euros.
In the unlikely event that you’re reading Full Metal Autos and will be buying a LaFerrari, you had better be ready to peel your backside off of the seat. Zero to 100 km/h (62 MPH) will happen in less than three seconds, and zero to 200 km/h (124 MPH) flashes by in just seven seconds. LaFerrari will also lap Ferrari’s Fiorano test track in less than 1:20, which beats the Enzo by five seconds and the F12 Berlinetta by three.
Oh, and if you’re reading this and you’re a LaFerrari owner, we’d love to go for a ride. We don’t even have to drive your priceless car.
