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Ferrari's New Car Tech Idea: Make Car Go Really Fast
cartechboy writes "Forget EV batteries and autonomous driving. Ferrari understands old-school advanced car tech — basically, they just want to make the thing go ridiculously fast. The Italians showed off very serious chasis technology today in the new Ferrari Speciale at the Frankfurt Auto Show. The new electronic 'Side Slip angle Control' system uses algorithms that compute and analyze lateral acceleration, yaw angle, steering wheel angle and wheel speed in real-time. The system compares these readings to target data, and then just adjusts traction control and electric differential to be more efficient. Top speed: 202 mph."
Ferrari built a car that could do 201 mph in 1987. Glad to see they're improving...
My '96 Corolla can go faster than the speed limit whenever I want it to.
Sure, but it takes 16 city blocks to get up to speed.
An enigma, wrapped in a riddle, shrouded in bacon and cheese
Can't wait for The Stig to take it round the track. Some say his home computer is a Commodore Amiga, and he still believes 640K is more than enough RAM for anyone.
That's about 325 kmph. The Bugatti Veyron has a top speed of over 406 kmph. What's so special about this Ferrari?
Then buy a ZR1 that costs 1/20th of a Veyron, and can still go faster than this Ferrari.
Your head of state is a corrupt weasel, I hope you're happy.
But does the ZR1 handle as well on a track in the twisties? Of course, I'm going on the assumption that people get cars like this to race them. Where racing is defined by doing something more complicated than going in a straight line.
When Jeremy Clarkson reviews the ZR1 on Top Gear, he acknowledges that it can go toe to toe with the 458 Italia on the track despite being a fraction of the price. But he points out that the ZR1 is absolutely horrible to drive on the street.
The Corvette and the 458 are both terrific cars, but in very different ways.
I don't have a ZR1, but I have the 427, which is reasonably close to the ZR1 in many ways. While Chevrolet probably makes very little money on the Corvette, they still have to cut a lot of corners, and it is NOT an exotic. The performance is amazing in a straight line, and not bad on the twisties. The interior is, um, not impressive, although it's improved on the new C7 versions. You're sitting in a plastic car that's fantastic value for money and a lot of fun.
The 458 (Italia version, as I can't speak for the Speciale or Spider) is a luxury exotic. It's an "event" to drive it, and the dynamics, sound and overall experience strictly dominate the Corvette. But the Corvette (the 427 at least) is only $80k, and a moderately specced Italia is over $300k: every one is highly customized for the buyer by the factory, and every option is, um, fully priced, e.g. $32k for special paint, $n,000 for every bit of carbon, etc. For getting from one place to another, the Ferrari isn't worth 4 times the Corvette's price. For sheer fun and excitement, "worth" is in the mind of the buyer.
It isn't the straight line top speed that matters. You could always get 200+ mph out of big block American V8s. It's speed and stability around corners that matters. This Ferrari seewms just the ticket for that off-camber, diminishing radius turn with a pothole at the apex.
Some mornings it's hardly worth chewing through the restraints to get out of bed.
I really pity whoever needs to fork out 2 million for a chance at getting laid.
My 996 Porsche 911 Turbo had steering wheel angle, yaw rate and lateral acceleration sensors and could brake each wheel independently. It also had a viscous coupling in the center diff to keep up to 90% of the power to the rear wheels, only giving the fronts as much as they needed. The 997 model introduced an electromagnetic coupling for even more precise control (and the ability to run different diameter tires). Even in a 50 MPH slide with all four wheels spinning, that thing would go almost exactly where you pointed it. That feeling is one of the finer things in life.
I didn't RTFA, but I don't see what Ferrari has done here that Porsche didn't have 9 years ago.
Try turning in a Veyron at 406 kph and see what happens. You have to switch the car (when parked - you need the ignition key) into a special mode to get to it's top speed, and that mode includes lowering the spoiler to reduce downforce.
It gripped her hand gently. 'Regret is for humans,' it said.
I'm going on the assumption that people get cars like this to race them.
Umm...no. People get cars like this to overtly display their abundance of wealth to members of the opposite sex while still allowing them to pretend that they're interested in something beyond that wealth. That they go fast is just a happy coincidence.
The short answer: Yes.
The long answer: The C6 Z06 has a faster lap time around the Nürburgring than any Ferrari.
The word chassis has a double-S in the middle.
At +200mph it gets Dopplered down from a double to a single "s"... On the upside, as it passes you the double "s" comes back... but then when it's going away it has three in a row... chasssis.
You have the right to remain sentient. If you give up the right to remain sentient, you will be elected to public office