To test the Ferrari LaFerrari, we traveled to Italy to the storied marque’s individual track, Fiorano. Ferrari’s offer you was this: We could either test there—or not at all. We chose to test.
The Fiorano circuit is almost 2 miles lengthy, a thirteen-turn rollercoaster built on what was once Italian farmland. Our usual testing venues, exactly where we collect our zero-to-60-mph times, quarter-mile acceleration, braking figures, and grip numbers are nothing at all like racetracks. Putting a vehicle by means of our battery of tests calls for a long, flat straight, usually one particular a lot more than a mile in length, as well as a 300-foot skidpad to assess lateral acceleration.
But even when we test at our places, Ferrari does not just let us jump into its automobiles and test them. An engineer watches the proceedings and offers an often-beneficial briefing on the subsystems of the car, and mechanics are there to swap out tires if necessary. When asked why all the bother, Ferrari says it desires the test to go smoothly and being there guarantees that any troubles that arise can be hammered out that day. Every single modern day Ferrari we’ve tested with the factory’s knowledge also had the automaker’s personal test equipment inside the auto to record what we’re performing and, as they tell us, as a backup must our own test gear fail. We uncover this “generosity” completely unnecessary, even so, and, aside from a current McLaren 650S test, no other manufacturer proctors our regular battery of tests, and we test a lot more than 200 vehicles per year.
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The Final results: Apply an Asterisk as You Deem Match
to 60 mph: 2.5 sec
to 25 mph: 4.8 sec
to 150 mph: 9.8 sec
Standing ¼-mile: 9.8 sec @ 150 mph
Full disclosure: The Fiorano track introduces key limitations to our usual testing procedures. The straight has a slight kink in it as you pass below a bridge, and there’s not considerably space to accelerate beyond the quarter-mile. C/D procedure calls for running in 2 directions to offset any prospective elevation modifications and the effects of wind. Fiorano’s straight is ever so slightly downhill, but at least there was small to no wind on our test day. Ordinarily, we’d either reject the testing venue or we’d run in both directions and average the final results. Running the straight in 2 directions is not possible, according to Ferrari, and reversing the FIA-authorized racetrack would apparently poke the bureaucratic monster that rules more than Italy. Or we may possibly hit the bridge. Either way, that wasn’t happening. So we had been unable to average our best runs in every path and have to use the very best in 1 direction right here. The outcomes, we must note, are uncorrected for ambient circumstances, which means they’re representative of what the LaFerrari did on this particular day. It’s the identical policy we applied to our 2003 test of the Enzo, and, in any event, the weather correction wouldn’t have affected the LaFerrari numbers much at all.
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That’s it with the caveats—apply an asterisk as you deem fit—but at Fiorano the LaFerrari developed the quickest acceleration to 150 mph of any production car we’ve ever tested. To 150 mph, the LaFerrari is a complete 1.5 seconds quicker than the early Bugatti Veyron 16.4 we tested in 2008. Put up against the Porsche 918 Spyder, the LaFerrari traverses the quarter-mile in the same 9.8 seconds, but the Ferrari is going 150 mph at the traps versus the 918’s 145.
Producing the efficiency even more remarkable is that the LaFerrari is rear-wheel drive. Ferrari’s launch manage is straightforward to actuate and rips off consistent runs, but the 918’s 4-wheel drive gives it an initial advantage. So the LaFerrari’s 2.5-second -to-60 romp can’t match the Porsche’s 2.2-second time to 60 mph. Initial traction gets the 918 to 60 in 114 feet the LaFerrari needs 119. Still, the LaFerrari is pushing on your chest with a full g of force via 70 mph and it doesn’t taper off significantly after that. In the rolling 5-to-60-mph test, which removes the aggressive launch, the LaFerrari posted a 3.-second time.
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Beyond 60 mph, the 3489-pound LaFerrari’s superior power-to-weight ratio allows it to start to pull away from the 3724-pound 918. The Ferrari’s combined 950 horsepower yields a 3.7-pound-per-horsepower ratio every single of the 918’s horses moves 4.2 pounds. In the Ferrari, the century mark passes in a what-the-hell-was-that 4.8 seconds—one-tenth quicker than the 918. And there’s the aforementioned benefit to 150. At a single of our standard testing venues, we could have pushed nicely previous 150 mph, but at Fiorano we had to be tough on the brakes a blink after the speedometer indicated that speed.
At least the LaFerrari’s braking numbers don’t need any hemming or hawing. There’s enough of a flat and even surface prior to Turn Twelve to perform our 70-to–mph test. Stops from 70 took only 136 feet, and the LaFerrari hooks to the ground as if it stubbed its toe. Regenerative braking can erase up to .4 g of braking force, but the massive carbon-ceramic rotors are the main retardants. Stops are repeatable and incredibly steady due to the dynamic aero that flips up the air brakes below serious deceleration. Pirelli P Zero Corsa tires developed for the LaFerrari are the only rubber obtainable. When asked if Pirelli’s stickier Trofeo R rubber was regarded as, an engineer quipped, “Our owners may have to drive home in the rain.” A clear criticism of the slick tires that Basic Motors puts on the Camaro Z/28, and not the first time Ferrari personnel commented to us on the Z/28’s rubber. We’ve driven the Z/28 in the rain, although, and it’s not impossible. Which leaves us dreaming of a LaFerrari on Trofeo Rs.
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