FERRARI 488GTB
Set to be unveiled at the 2015 Geneva Motor Show
next month, the Ferrari 488 GTB is that long-awaited evolution of the
458. It’s a mid-cycle refresh of the current car, but that term sounds
too mundane for this machine.
The updated model gets a GTB suffix (short for Gran Turismo
Berlinetta) to tie it to Ferrari’s first production mid-engined V8 car,
the 308 GTB. However, that’s not as important as the number 488.
That indicates a new engine, but it doesn’t displace 4.8 liters as
the name suggests. Instead, it’s an all-new twin-turbocharged 3.9-liter
V8 that isn’t shared with any other Ferrari model.
There’s been a lot of speculation about a turbocharged 458
derivative, but none of it anticipated this engine’s raw power. It
produces 660 horsepower and 560 pound-feet of torque. That’s more than
the 597 hp and 398 lb-ft of the outgoing 458 Speciale!
All of that grunt will accelerate the 488 GTB from 0 to 62 mph in
just 3.0 seconds, and on to a top speed of over 205 mph. It will also
lap Ferrari’s Fiorano test track half a second quicker than the hardcore 458 Speciale.
That acceleration is managed by a seven-speed dual-lurch transmission
and a chassis Ferrari says has been tuned with lessons learned from the
XX program of track cars like the Enzo-based FXX.
The original 458 styling is still recognizable, but Ferrari claims 50
percent more downforce for the new model, with less drag. That’s thanks
to a double front spoiler, the enlarged side pods, and a flat
underbody.
To help drivers harness all of that performance, the 488 GTB is equipped with the latest Ferrari electronic aids.
That includes a version of the slip-angle control system that debuted
in the 458 Speciale. Called Side Slip Control 2, it’s supposed to be
less invasive than the original system, and works with the car’s F1-Trac
traction control E-Diff differential, and adaptive suspension.
The interior gets some updates, but the layout is the same as in the 458.
The gauge cluster has a single massive tachometer with inset digital
speedometer flanked by two information screens, while the steering wheel
is covered in buttons, including the “manettino” switch used to adjust
the car’s various performance settings.
LAMBORGHINI HURACAN LP610-4
The Lamborghini Huracan, the company’s Gallardo replacement, has been unveiled at the Geneva motor show.
The Huracan remains naturally aspirated, using an evolution of the
Gallado’s V10 engine, sharing the same 5204cc of swept capacity but with
both direct and indirect fuel injection to combine both power and the
all-important emissions compliance.
The result is an engine that delivers a peak 602bhp at 8250rpm, with
290g/km of CO2 and the ability to meet Euro 6 out of the box. The peak
413 lb ft still arrives at a peaky 6500 rpm, but direct injection has
beefed up the torque curve at lower revs.
Its proportions are very similar to the Gallardo too, but the
styling owes a fair amount to the Aventador. The design team have played
on Lamborghini’s attachment to six-sided shapes, which are everywhere
from the side window graphic to the shape of the cabin’s airvents.
From the back the standard car looks strangely under-endowed when
compared to the wing-wearing variants that marked the end of Gallardo
production; the inevitable plethora of harder-cored versions that will
follow the ‘standard’ LP610-4 will doubtless redress the balance.
Impressively, the car manages to produce 50 percent more downforce than
the Gallardo despite its lack of wingwork, and with no moveable
aerodynamic surfaces.
The interior is very different from the Gallardo, with a heavily
sculpted dashboard and a deep centre console that no longer needs to
accommodate a manual gearchange. Conventional instruments have been
replaced by a large 12.3-inch TFT screen that can be configured to give
priority to either the rev counter, the speedometer or the satnav
screen.
Control stalks have gone – Lamborghini has taken a leaf from
Ferrari’s book and moved controls for the indicators and wipers onto the
face of the steering wheel, allowing extra-large gearchange paddles.
The steering wheel also has a button for the switchable driving modes –
‘Strada’, ‘Sport’ and ‘Corsa’.
It’s under the surface that the Huracán gets more radical. The
bodyshell is constructed from both aluminium and carbonfibre, with the
‘backbone’ that runs down the centre of the floor, the back of the
sills, the rear bulkhead and the ‘B’ pillars that join this to the roof
all made from composite that’s bonded and riveted to the alloy
structure. The shell is 10kg lighter than the Gallardo’s, but 50 percent
more torsionally rigid.
Mechanically the biggest change is to the transmission, rather than
the engine. The continuation of the V10 motor gives welcome proof that
Lamborghini has kept the faith with natural aspiration. Indeed, R&D
boss Maurizio Reggiani insists that the company will avoid turbocharging
until emission standards make it absolutely necessary.
Perhaps inevitably, there won’t be a manual gearbox option, owing to
the fact that by the end of Gallardo production, demand was close to
zero. The Huracan switches to a new seven-speed dual-clutch gearbox, and
another three-letter acronym joins the lexicon of such systems –
Lamborghini Doppio Frizione or LDF. Surprisingly, this is unrelated to
the double-clutch in the ‘S-Tronic’ R8. This then drives all four wheels
through an all-new four-wheel drive system based around an
electronically controlled clutch rather than the Gallardo’s viscous
coupling. This is faster acting and, although the normal split is 30
percent front and 70 percent rear, it can send up to 100 percent to the
back or up to 50 percent to the front.
Lamborghini has only given us a ‘dry’ kerbweight for a car that, as
the release puts it, is fitted with ‘lightweight options.’ That’s
1422kg, with 42 percent resting over the front axle when static.
The LP610-4’s raw performance figures are only fractionally better
than the Gallardo’s – 3.2-sec 0-62mph, 9.9-sec 0-124mph and a top speed
‘better than’ 202mph, but we’re told the main target for the development
team was lap time rather than straight-line pace, and that its ‘at
least’ 3 seconds quicker than the Gallardo around the handing track at
the Nardo test site in Italy.
MCLAREN 675LT
McLaren’s hot, new 675LT is a higher-performance variant of the 650S,
and the LT portion of its name is derived from the wild 1997 F1 GT
"Longtail" homologation special. That rare McLaren menaced the road with
radically lengthened bodywork, racy aerodynamics, and a better
power-to-weight ratio than the car on which it was based. The 675LT has
two of those things, but its tail? Quite vestigial, we’d say.
In fact, the 675LT is just 1.5 inches longer than the 650S, and it
appears a decent stretch of that extra length comes from the sports
car’s epic chin splitter. The rest goes to a slightly longer active rear
spoiler that McLaren claims is 50 percent larger than the one fitted to
the 650S. McLaren says that a “focus on outright performance, weight
reduction, and ultimate levels of driver engagement” define a Longtail,
so maybe we’re just being too literal. That said, the mighty F1 GT
Longtail got more tail—the car was a full 25 inches longer than the
regular F1—not to mention a full aero kit that entirely altered the
supercar’s visuals.
Setting aside the 675LT’s length issue, there’s little question it’ll be an epic thing to drive. The 650S on which it is based is no slouch
,
and McLaren says it swapped out more than a third of that car’s parts
to reduce weight and increase power. Standout visual differences include
a louvered plexiglass rear window; a contoured, P1-like rear fascia
with thin horizontal LED taillights and two big titanium exhaust
outlets; a plethora of extra scoops and vents; and a carbon-fiber
aerodynamics package. The 675LT is 220 pounds lighter than the 650S,
thanks to the plastic rear window, additional carbon-fiber body panels, a
redesigned exhaust system, and carbon-fiber seat shells.
The same twin-turbocharged 3.8-liter V-8 bolted between the 650S’s rear
wheels is present here, but McLaren massaged it for an extra 25
horsepower and 16 lb-ft of torque. While the car’s name is drawn from
its 675 metric power, we tabulate its might as 666 devilish horsepower
and 516 lb-ft of torque. With less McLaren to haul around, the V-8
punches the 675LT to 62 mph in a claimed 2.9 seconds—0.1 quicker than
McLaren’s stated time for the 650S—and on to a top speed of 205 mph. The
LT uses the 650S’s seven-speed dual-clutch automatic, and power is
still routed to the pavement through the rear wheels
.
Unlike, say, the P1 GTR
that McLaren is also debuting at the Geneva auto show, the
track-focused 675LT is still road-legal. The interior is “stripped out”
but it’s no penalty box—the sweet carbon-shelled seats, for example, are
upholstered in faux suede and are similar to those fitted to the P1 hypercar.
And if the 650S’s magical adaptive suspension is any indication, the LT
should maintain a decent ride quality. Production of the coupe-only,
roughly $345,000 675LT will be limited to an as-yet-unannounced figure. (
Update: McLaren has announced pricing and confirmed that production will be "strictly limited to 500 units globally.") Deliveries will commence in autumn 2015.
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