As good as Ferrari gets

By ALASTIAR SLOANE Alastair Sloane.

The 3-litre V10 engine in Michael Schumacher's Formula One Ferrari develops about 610kW, sufficient oomph to send the single-seater rocketing from zero to 100km/h in just over two seconds and on to a top speed of about 360km/h.

The 6-litre V12 in Ferrari's latest sports car - codenamed FX - is said to produce about 480kW, enough power to propel it to 100km/h in just over three seconds before speeding on to reach 330km/h.

Schumacher's car has a seven-speed gearbox. The FX is likely to have a 7-speed gearbox, too. Schumacher's car is built largely from carbonfibre. So is the FX. Schumacher's car remains aerodynamically glued to the race circuit. Ditto the FX to the road.

Schumacher's car weighs 600kg. The FX is said to weigh 1200kg. Power-to-weight ratio in Schumacher's car is just over 1000kW a tonne. In the FX it works out at just under 400kW a tonne.

Therein lies the difference. Pretty much the only thing keeping the FX from Formula One-like performance is its weight.

Indeed, Ferrari boasts that the FX is the closest thing to a road-going Formula One car. Not just in performance, either. The car's distinctive nose and sharp lines are meant to invoke the appearance of such a car.

Ferrari's official line is: "This is a limited series GT car bringing to the road Ferrari's most advanced technology directly derived from Formula One world championship racing experience."

The FX broke cover at a combined Ferrari and Maserati exhibition at the Tokyo Contemporary Art Museum last week. But Ferrari is yet to release official details.

It will be unveiled at the Paris motor show in September and is expected to be badged the F60, the successor to the F40 and F50 supercars.

But unlike the open-top F50, the FX is expected to be a hardtop in which driver and passenger will enter and exit the car through scissor doors hinged at the front and incorporating a section of the roof.

Production will begin this year and is likely to be limited to 350 cars, each costing between $1.2 and $1.5 million.

The prospect of owning the fastest Ferrari has already lured the wealthy in this part of the world, even though it is likely to be built only in left-hand-drive.

More than 10 Australians have apparently inquired about buying the FX. One or two New Zealanders have also expressed interest, said John Periam, sales director for Ferrari importers Continental Cars.

"But the biggest problem is actually obtaining the cars," said Periam. "It is not as if we get the car and sell it on to the owner. The car is allocated to the owner from the start. It was the same with the F50."

The new Ferrari will next year line up against supercars from Porsche and Mercedes Benz.

Porsche expects to sell "three or four" models of the limited-edition Carrera GT in New Zealand, said the company's general manager, Grant Smith.

The 330km/h GT, like the Ferrari FX, is based on race-car engineering. Only 1000 left-hand-drive models will be built.

The New Zealand buyers will be private collectors and each car will cost a "truckload of money", said Smith. The Carrera GT is powered by a 5.5-litre V10 engine from a stillborn Le Mans race project, and is built from carbonfibre and aluminium to keep weight down to about 1250kg.

The GT broke cover as a study concept at the Paris motor show in 2000, and reaction was such that Porsche decided to go ahead with it.

Said chairman Dr Wendelin Wiedeking: "With the Carrera GT we want to do more than just demonstrate our technical competence in the sports car segment.

"This vehicle also mirrors the strength and self-confidence of the Porsche brand."

The V10 engine produces 416kW and 600Nm of torque and drives the rear wheels through a six-speed gearbox.

Mercedes Benz is lining up the SLR, a limited-edition million-dollar coupe which goes into production next year.

It first appeared as a concept at the Detroit motor show in 1999, and has combined styling cues from classic Mercedes-Benz models, such as the famous Gullwing of the 1950s, with those of present Formula One cars.

The SLR is expected to be powered by a supercharged 5.5-litre V8 producing 410kW and a top speed of 320km/h. It will have a zero to 100km/h sprint time of about four seconds.

The doors on the production model are expected to be similar in design to the scissor doors in the FX Ferrari.