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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.
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.
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 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