This continues a long term partnership between the two companies which has been going on now for 70 years. In fact, this association goes back to
the days before the Ferrari brand was formed, as Shell was a technical collaborator to Enzo Ferrari prior to his establishing his famous company.
Speaking of the great Enzo Ferrari, I think that he would have been truly proud of what his company has achieved with the new 599 GTB Fiorano. Although somewhat similar in styling to the Ferrari 575 M Maranello, the 599 GTB is a whole new vehicle and could be said to be leaps and bounds ahead of its predecessor.
Let me give you a quick look at the numbers.
Ferrari 575 M Maranello
Horsepower: 515
0 to 60mph: 4.2 seconds
Max speed: 325 kph
Redline: 7500 Rpm
Ferrari 599 GTB Fiorano
Horsepower: 611
0 to 60mph: 3.7 seconds
Max speed: 330 kph
Redline: 8400 Rpm
Naturally, the 599 GTB Fiorano looks drop dead gorgeous, doesn't every Ferrari? But take a closer look at those beautiful body lines and you will
find styling, working in perfect harmony with aerodynamics. The shape and design of the bodywork has been purposefully designed to produce more down-force as the vehicles speed increases, thus creating greater handling characteristics.
Power to the 599 GTB Fiorano is provided by a 6 litre V12 mid-front engine which is based on the power plant of the renowned Enzo SuperCar. Like most other Ferrari engines, it is a thing of beauty to behold and would not look out of place in an art gallery.
To cope with the lubrication requirements of the engine, it carries a Formula 1 style dry oil sump.
Formula 1 has been the test-bed for many Ferrari products and the F1 Superfast gearbox which the car carries is further confirmation of that fact. Put in simple terms, a quick dab of the paddle shift starts the clutch moving, the gearbox changing gear and the clutch releasing. Obviously, it doesn't do this all simultaneously, but the integrated engine and gearbox management programs combine to make for exceptionally fast gear shifting. In fact, it cuts overall gear-shift times to just 100 ms or in normal language "a blink of an eye".
The 599 GTB Fiorano has an all-aluminum bodywork which rides on a
all-aluminum space frame.
It also boasts a Magnetorheological Suspension Control system (who thinks up these words?). Basically, the dampers hold a fluid, to which tiny metal particles have been added, the viscosity of which can be altered by applying an electronically controlled magnetic field. The response time of this system is 1ms, which is ten times faster than normal systems.
 |
| Ferrari Panamerican 20,000 (Photo: Kevin Corrigan) |
Speaking of the great Enzo Ferrari, I think that he would have been truly proud of what his company has achieved with the new 599 GTB Fiorano. Although somewhat similar in styling to the Ferrari 575 M Maranello, the 599 GTB is a whole new vehicle and could be said to be leaps and bounds ahead of its predecessor.
Let me give you a quick look at the numbers.
Ferrari 575 M Maranello
Horsepower: 515
0 to 60mph: 4.2 seconds
Max speed: 325 kph
Redline: 7500 Rpm
Ferrari 599 GTB Fiorano
Horsepower: 611
0 to 60mph: 3.7 seconds
Max speed: 330 kph
Redline: 8400 Rpm
Naturally, the 599 GTB Fiorano looks drop dead gorgeous, doesn't every Ferrari? But take a closer look at those beautiful body lines and you will
 |
| Ferrari Panamerican 20,000 (Photo: Kevin Corrigan) |
Power to the 599 GTB Fiorano is provided by a 6 litre V12 mid-front engine which is based on the power plant of the renowned Enzo SuperCar. Like most other Ferrari engines, it is a thing of beauty to behold and would not look out of place in an art gallery.
To cope with the lubrication requirements of the engine, it carries a Formula 1 style dry oil sump.
Formula 1 has been the test-bed for many Ferrari products and the F1 Superfast gearbox which the car carries is further confirmation of that fact. Put in simple terms, a quick dab of the paddle shift starts the clutch moving, the gearbox changing gear and the clutch releasing. Obviously, it doesn't do this all simultaneously, but the integrated engine and gearbox management programs combine to make for exceptionally fast gear shifting. In fact, it cuts overall gear-shift times to just 100 ms or in normal language "a blink of an eye".
The 599 GTB Fiorano has an all-aluminum bodywork which rides on a
 |
| Ferrari Panamerican 20,000 (Photo: Kevin Corrigan) |
It also boasts a Magnetorheological Suspension Control system (who thinks up these words?). Basically, the dampers hold a fluid, to which tiny metal particles have been added, the viscosity of which can be altered by applying an electronically controlled magnetic field. The response time of this system is 1ms, which is ten times faster than normal systems.