Form versus function - it's a classic debate, and one with strong arguments on both sides. As much as sports cars are tools for going fast, they are dynamic works of art as well. In the case of the Ferrari 458 Italia, it is both, and in this video Pininfarina president Paolo Pininfarina explains why.
Along with the glut of new information and interior shots released this morning, Ferrari has also released a new video of the 458 Italia, explaining how the car's elegant styling and close attention to detail also perform real aerodynamic functions.
Though we'll take any excuse to get more close-up looks at a well-executed Italian supercar, it's also an object lesson that form and function aren't always mutually exclusive.
Check out the video to see for yourself, and pay attention around the 1:00 minute mark to see how F1 technology may have trickled down to the front wing/intake area, allowing the aerodynamic surfaces to deform under load to increase the angle of attack and improve downforce.
In just a few weeks Ferrari will show to the world for the first time its stunning new 2010 458 Italia supercar, which is set to replace the outgoing F430 at the end of the year. Like the F430, which also came in a Spider convertible version, Ferrari will eventually launch a new open-top version of its latest, which has been previewed here in this latest computer generated rendering.
Likely to be called the 458 Italia Spider, the new model is expected to be launched one year after the hard-top, which pegs its release for sometime late next year as a 2011 model. While Ferrari has a adopted a folding hard-top roof for its most recent convertible model, the California, the 458 Italia Spider is likely to retain the lightweight soft-top roof seen on the F430 Spider and high-performance Scuderia 16M.
Apart from the roof and some chassis reinforcements, the 458 Italia Spider should be identical to its hard-top sibling, which means power will come from a 4.5-liter V-8 engine rated at 570 horsepower and 400 pound-feet of torque and sending torque to the rear wheels via a 7-speed dual-clutch transmission.
Dimensions should remain at 4,527 mm in length, 1,937 mm in width, and 1,213 mm in height, though weight will almost certainly be higher than the hard-top's 1,380 kg measurement.
When the McLaren F1 first hit the streets it almost immediately catapulted to the top of the performance car scene, taking home the title of world’s fastest production car in 1998 and holding it up until 2005. Building a car better than the original F1 was always going to be a difficult challenge, and perhaps that is why for its successor McLaren isn’t setting its sights too high.
While the original F1 competed with the best supercars of its time - cars like the Ferrari F40, Jaguar XK220, and Porsche 959 - its successor will be competing with more ‘entry-level’ models. Rather than chasing Enzos and Veyrons, the McLaren F1 successor will go up against cars like the Ferrari F430 and Lamborghini Gallardo, and as such it will be priced accordingly.
Prototypes for the new model, which is currently going by its ‘P11’ project name, have been spotted testing recently near McLaren's factory in Surrey, UK, as well as at Germany’s Nurburgring for the first time. Spy shots of the prototypes reveal that the new P11 will feature a much more chiseled appearance that its McLaren F1 predecessor. Though heavily masked, the prototypes also reveal a mid-engine layout, a tall, squared-off tail, short overhangs, and tapered back headlights. The car will also sport a pair of vertically-lifting scissor doors.
Expect an advanced carbon-composite chassis, a lightning quick F1-style paddle shift gearbox and carbon-ceramic brakes. While Mercedes’ partnership with McLaren will soon come to end, the German automaker is tipped to be supplying its 6.2-liter AMG V-8 engine for application in the P11. McLaren engineers, however, are expected to work over the engine to the tune of 550 horsepower.
With an estimated kerb weight of about 1,250kg, the new P11 should easily accelerate from 0-62 mph in less than four seconds and reach a top speed in excess of 200 mph. First deliveries are expected to start in late 2010, and in the following years a Spider convertible and high-performance GTR version could eventually be launched.
Getting your hands on any Bentley is generally a sign that things have gone well for you, but for one lucky buyer at the recent Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance, things are going swimmingly. That's because the person - whose identity is being held secret - has taken home the Chassis Number One 2011 Bentley Mulsanne.
That's the very first Mulsanne built, and it went for a price of $550,000 according to Gooding & Company, the auction house that sold the car. There are no plans to release the identity of the buyer, though it will be rather difficult to slip out in public with the Mulsanne while staying under the radar.
The new Mulsanne was sold alongside cars that dwarfed its price, however, including a 1962 Ferrari 250GT SWB California Spider that brought in a tremendous $5.115 million, a 1933 Alfa Romeo 8C 2300 Drop Head Coupe that sold for $4,180,000, and numerous others that sold for prices between $1 and $3 million, including a 1953 Aston Martin DB 2/4 Drop Head Coupe.
Total combined haul for the sellers of the 129 lots: $50,759,350. And for those that missed out on the action, you can keep abreast of future Gooding & Company events with their custom iPhone app, which you can download from their homepage at the link below.
German automaker and motorsports company Gumpert Sportwagenmanufaktur (yes, that’s how you spell it) manufactures some of the most extreme vehicles on the planet and has recently proven the merits of this claim with a new Nurburgring lap time for its supercar. The Sport is a mid-tier option for the company’s Apollo line of supercar models and for the run the car was optioned with a 700 horsepower version of its regular Audi-sourced 4.2-liter V-8.
The time set by the Apollo Sport is an independent recording noted by German magazine Sport-Auto and comes in at 7m 11.57s. Gumpert is claiming the 'road car' record for the ‘Ring but it’s well known that the Radical SR8 in road legal trim has clocked a blistering 6m 55s lap time.
The Apollo Sport was piloted by 26 year-old driver Florian Gruber on August 13, edging out the Donkervoort D8 RS06, which posted a time of 7m 14.89s back in November 2005, as well as the more recent Nissan GT-R and Corvette ZR1.
As for the car itself, the Apollo Sport comes with a tubular space frame of chrome-molybdenum steel with an integrated safety monocoque structure fabricated in carbon-fiber. The huge air intakes on the roof and side panels feed cold air to the twin-turbo mid-engine powerplant.
The Sport edition is differentiated to the standard Apollo thanks to the addition of a full racing aero package with a huge GT wing and lower front spoilers, while the interior gets comfort mod-cons not usually found in such vehicles. The list includes Alcantara trim, air-conditioning, a CD player and sat-nav, and even a reversing camera as standard. The list price for the Apollo Sport is €299,500 ($423,167) plus taxes.
This year is an important one for Bugatti. Not only does 2009 represent the centenary of the legendary marque but in September Bugatti’s management will reveal the future plans of the company, which will include the announcement of a brand new model. Why September? Because that is the month in which the company was founded back in 1909 by Ettore Bugatti. After two teaser images were revealed last month, hinting at a possible Bugatti super-sedan or even a new 'super-Veyron' and then news that the Bordeaux wouldn't be making a Frankfurt debut, the latest news may come as a surprise.
According to Bugatti chief Franz-Josef Paefgen, speaking with Autocar, there will be a concept on display this September - though probably not at the 2009 Frankfurt Motor Show - but it won't be the Bordeaux. It will, however, be one of three proposed designs for the next-gen Bugatti. This latest news mates well with what Bugatti officials told TheCarConnection in July, which is that the prototype/concept car that is currently being teased is in fact a design model being shown to clients and dealers.
A private showing at Bugatti's centennial celebration in Molsheim, France just ahead of the Frankfurt show is likely to generate some more photography of the design proposal, though whatever Bugatti decides to do with the car's eventual styling, it won't likely see production until 2011 or 2012.
The teaser image above is a digitally-manipulated composite sourced from Pistonheads, and like the original, it's a grainy, dim view of the new car's broad haunches, innovative rear lighting scheme and octuple tail pipes. Yes, you read that right, eight of them.
According to AutoExpress, the new model will be a four-seater supercar titled the Bordeaux, though other sources peg the name as 'Royale'. The vehicle will reportedly feature a shooting-brake style body and come powered by the Veyron’s quad-turbo 8.0L W16 engine, but mounted up front. The engine should maintain is 1,001hp and 1,250Nm rating, which means the new Bordeaux is likely to be the fastest four-seater in the world.
As part of its centenary celebrations, Bugatti will also be releasing its new special edition Bleu Centenaire Veyron, which was revealed for the first time at the Geneva Motor Show. While the Bleu Centenaire was not the much anticipated super-Veyron that was on everybody’s lips, Paefgen revealed in March to AutoTelegraaf that there are several projects in the works. Paefgen also ruled out the possibility of a cheaper model than the Veyron, explaining that Bugatti’s next car will be every bit as extreme and just as exclusive.
As for the introduction of the rumored super-Veyron, Paefgen said if anyone tries to build a car that can dethrone the Veyron then Bugatti will be prepared. The American-built SSC Ultimate Aero TT currently holds the title for the world's fastest production car (something that Bugatti has never attempted to attain with the Veyron) but the Veyron is arguably the better technical achievement due to its dual-clutch gearbox and ease of driving.
Paefgen also confirmed that there will be more special editions based on both the Veyron and the open-top Grand Sport.
In the meantime, Bugatti has its hands full filling current order lists. The company only has 50 spots left for the Veyron, of which the total build will be 300 units. The Grand Sport model, which is limited to just 150 models, has already received several dozen orders.
Following the release of the facelifted Porsche 911 Carrera and Carrera 4 models late last year, as well as the new Targa and GT3, and then just earlier this month the new 911 Turbo, comes the first details and images for the updated 2010 Porsche 911 GT3 RS. Porsche has continued its tradition of only implementing minimal changes to the styling of its race-bred GT3 RS, opting to focus on changes taking place under the revised sheet metal instead.
Described as the ““the most sporting 911 yet”, the new 2010 Porsche 911 GT3 RS comes into the world with the same 3.8-liter naturally aspirated flat six as the regular GT3 but with a healthier 444 horsepower – 35 horsepower up on the outgoing model.
The high-revving engine has a specific output of more than 113 horsepower per liter and comes mated to a low-ratio, short-shift six-speed manual gearbox.
Some of the other important changes for the new GT3 RS includes a wider track, both front and rear, as well as an oversized carbon-fiber GT wing with exposed aluminum supports. To reduce even further than the already lithe 2009 model, Porsche engineers have fitted a lithium-ion battery, resulting in a 10kg weight saving.
Porsche is yet to reveal full details for its latest addition so stay tuned for an update.
