LaFerrari takes your breath away
[caption id="attachment_35761" align="alignright" width="620"] HAVE FUN: Get sweaty palms and a dry throat behind the wheel of this impressive hypercar[/caption]
HERE are the keys to our ß1.2-million (R17.4-million) car and there's the empty racetrack — now go have some fun. That was pretty much the extent of the instructions given by Ferrari's minders when a few of us were invited to get behind the wheel of the company's newest hypercar‚ the 6.2l‚ 708kW hybrid V12 LaFerrari‚ at the factory's test circuit in Fiorano‚ Italy.
Only 499 examples will be built. Buyers have to be invited to purchase the hypercar only after satisfying certain criteria, such as showing proof they have bought two new Ferraris recently and purchased six in the past decade.
They somehow have to prove that they are not a speculator and it also helps if they can show a valid FIA motor-racing licence.
There is a drawback in South Africa. LaFerrari is only available in left-hand drive, which means it falls foul of the import restrictions which prohibit new LHD cars to be registered here.
Our palms were sweaty and our throats dry long before the security gates opened to let us on to the hallowed Formula One track.
Before taking delivery‚ LaFerrari owners have to visit the factory to have a seat fitting just like F1 pilots Fernando Alonso and Kimi Raikkonen, as the seat is not much more than a piece of leather draped over the moulded carbon tub that is made by the F1 team and baked in the same autoclave ovens shared with the GP cars.
As a result, you not only sit lower but you feel every nuance of the road and what the car is doing – literally through your backside. It is surprisingly comfortable but gives you a raw connection to the car like nothing else out there.
In the absence of a moveable seat‚ the steering column and pedals are telescopically adjustable and‚ in no time‚ it feels like the car has been poured around you.
Unlike other hybrids and its competitors‚ the Porsche 918 Spyder and McLaren P1‚ the electric motor assisting the V12 is always running, meaning the immediate acceleration is nothing short of explosive. It literally took my breath away as my chest was compressed by the lateral G-forces.
All the while its 265x30-series profile tyres scrambled for traction while the car was blasting from its 1200rpm idle to just under 9000rpm in a matter of seconds.
Having 120kW coming from the electric motor that is powered by a 60kg lithium-ion battery pack to supplement the 588kW F12-derived V12 engine is like having a VW Golf engine tucked away just for those times when you want to take it over the edge.
Performance is quoted at less than three seconds to 100km/h with a top speed in excess of 350km/h and the system runs through a seven-speed dual -clutch Getrag transmission.
Steering is old school‚ hydraulically adjustable with an electric pump, which means that its senses are not dulled by computer-aided inputs. It is beautifully weighted‚ sending information from the tyres directly to your fingertips.
On the open road I did not know whether to feel deeply disappointed or hugely impressed with its suburban behaviour. The roads around Ferrari's semi-rural hometown are riddled with potholes‚ gravelly shoulders and speed humps and are about as narrow as a farmer's driveway.
Idling through these streets, dodging delivery vans‚ tractors and smoke-belching Fiats‚ the LaFerrari looked like a spaceship from the outside and while I was expecting it to be a grumpy prima donna on anything but perfect surfaces‚ it was as composed and as comfortable as a contemporary GT Tourer from the inside.
This is a road car‚ yet it is more powerful than a current F1 car and‚ even without the electric motor‚ it has more grunt than the last V12 F1 engine from 1995 while it also has the same aerodynamic efficiency as a 2004 F1 car. – BDlive
