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Ferrari Unveils World's Fastest (and Most Expensive) Hybrid
Hugh Pickens writes writes "Fred Meier reports that Ferrari has unveiled its fastest car ever, a nearly 1000 hp. gas-electric hybrid dubbed LaFerrari that does 0-62 mph in less than 3 seconds, 0-124 in less than 7 seconds, 0-186 mph in 15 seconds. "We chose to call this model LaFerrari," says Ferrari's President, Luca di Montezemolo, "because it is the maximum expression of what defines our company – excellence. ...Aimed at our collectors, this is a truly extraordinary car which encompasses advanced solutions that, in the future, will find their way onto the rest of the range." LaFerrari is the company's first hybrid and has a system that incorporates technology developed for the Scuderia Ferrari Formula One race car's KERS (kinetic energy recovery system) setup. In LaFerrari, the hybrid (HY-KERS) version uses a 6.26-liter, non-turbo, V-12 gas engine rated at 800 hp coupled with a 163 hp. electric motor for a combined rating of 963 hp. A second, separate electric motor drives the power accessories."
Massively overpowered cars don't fishtail and spin anymore - at least they don't need to unless the owners choose to turn off the electronics. In the last 5 years, I've watched the motorcycle magazines shift from being very leery of fly-by-wire (or even fuel injection, 10 years ago), to dismissing aging models based mainly on the inferiority or lack of traction control, wheelie control, ABS, and dynamic throttle response. Now real-time suspension tuning is the big thing. Ferrari is obviously deep into F1 where the allowable degree of automation is a matter of constant debate and rule changes every year, so their street cars probably have more electronic control than their race cars do.