It was the night before Christmas. Tiny Tim rubbed at the frosted window-pane and stared, saucer-eyed, at the glow in the sky; a glow that grew closer and brighter with every passing moment. He listened carefully: he could hear a distant rumble, gentle at first, then louder and louder-still until it filled the air like the sound of a thousand reindeer hooves pounding on the frozen earth. He turned to the old lady sitting by the fire. "What can it be, Grandma? Is it Santa Claus, wi' a sleigh full of presents for all t'muppets wi'out ASBOs?"
The old lady put down her pipe. "Nay lad, it'll be t'lucky boogger next door, in another one of 'is Ferraris. That there sound you can 'ear is prancin' 'orses."
And so it was. I was driving one of Maranello's latest offerings, the 599 GTB Fiorano, packed with 620 prancing horses wrapped in an aluminium cloak that drifted through the night air like Scrooge's dreams of Christmas Present. The ultimate Christmas present, in fact.
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the 6.0-litre engine delivers 0-62 in 3.7 seconds and a top speed of 205 mph |
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With a V12 engine derived from that of the Enzo, and infused with Formula One-inspired mechatronics, the 599 GTB Fiorano reflects the company's stated goal of producing a road-going supercar that could be defined in just two words: absolute excellence. And beneath all the power and the glory lies an ethos that underwrites all things Ferrari - a determination to adhere to what the company defines as 'rigorous engineering principles'. In engine terms, that means exploiting the Otto cycle to the point of ultimate efficiency. No turbos, no supercharger, no forced induction of any kind: just suck, squeeze, bang, blow, and all at atmospheric pressure.
The Italians excel at making good use of the air that we breathe: the Alfa Romeo V6 is another example of a naturally aspirated engine that puts quite a few blown engines to shame. But the over-square V12 used in the 599 is arguably the finest example to date: developing 620 bhp and a peak torque of 608 Nm, the 6.0-litre engine delivers a 0-62 time of 3.7 seconds and a top speed of 205 mph. In the process, each piston at peak rpm travels - in just one second - an astonishing 20.05 metres: that's the length of two London buses.
Of the 608 Newton-metres generated at 5600 rpm, some 90 per cent is on tap in the range 3500 to 6600 rpm, providing the engine with the flexibility to pussy foot around town without the driver's forever fingering the gear-change paddles like a tuba player confronted by a Rimsky Korsakov score. But if you are feeling particularly indolent you can switch the SuperFast transmission to SuperLazy, and forget about the paddles altogether. But don't expect seamless gear-changes: when 'auto' is selected, unless you ease the throttle pressure on upward changes it feels as if the car's been lightly rear-ended by something large.
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