2006 599GTB Fiorano
Anyone can walk from the Ferrari factory that is located in Maranello, Italy, to Ferrari’s test track in nearby Fiorano, but several light-years separate the outgoing 575 Maranello from the incoming 599GTB Fiorano. The antique front-engine V-12 two-seater that was debuted in 1996 as the 550 and then updated in 2002 as the 575 was definitely gran turismo, which means that it was heavy and it will probably be the last Ferrari ever built from steel, and slightly soft in the springs.
The all-aluminum 599 is soft as cold tungsten. Amedeo Felisa, Ferrari’s vice general manager, says the company wanted to nudge the model away from the sybaritic GT class with its incredibly big 612 Scaglietti and into the performance category as senior officer to the unusual F430. For those who can step up to the 599’s expected base price of $250,000 with a six-speed manual or $260,000 with the F1 semiautomatic gearbox, the 599 is “the ultimate car in this sports category,” says Felisa.
As with all of the other type in the Ferrari’s catalog, the 599 is a mix of aluminum extrusions, flat panels, stampings, and sand-core castings welded and riveted up by the Scaglietti body shop. Ferrari puts the 599’s weight only a few degrees north of 3700 pounds. When you compare it with the enormous 612, the 599’s wheelbase is shorter by 7.8 inches and the body length by 9.3 inches.
The 575 wad given inspiration by the original 250GTO for styling, the 599’s designers at Pininfarina pinned up pictures of the angular Daytona (1968–74) while drawing the Fiorano’s wedge of bat-wing fenders and proliferating air ducts (11 in total). The most unusual elements are the flying buttresses that arc down from the roof above the rear wheels to funnel air toward the deck spoiler, contributing to the 350 pounds of aerodynamic downforce at 186 mph.
When you press the red start button the V-12 first will immediately snap to attention and then will hum politely. The 599 receives a 611-hp version of the 65-degree V-12 found in the Enzo supercar. The 5999cc pipe organ is dry sump, allowing the lengthy crankshaft to ride 2.5 inches lower than in the 575, and that helps push down the hoodline and center of gravity. Timing chains instead of belts make the package shorter (and cheaper to service), and the engine is stiffer and 42 pounds lighter than the old V-12, says proud Ferrari powertrain director Jean-Jacques His.
Many hours fo labor and hard work was put into the vehicle in order to hush the white noise made by belts, cam chains, and accessories so that the reason so many will pay so much for a V-12 Ferrari, that melodious roar, comes through clearer. But you have to push the pedal deep to crack open the exhaust flaps before the cabin finally throbs with those 12 perfectly balanced combustion pulses amplified through a bramble of exquisitely wrought pipes.
American ingenuity hitches a ride with Ferrari’s use of magnetorheological shock absorbers patented by GM’s affiliate supplier Delphi. First adopted by Cadillac in 2002 and a $1695 option on the ’06 Corvette, the system employs shock oil filled with tiny metal spheres that, when exposed to an electromagnet, instantaneously change its viscosity. Constantly varying the amps keeps the damping and rebound rates matched to fast-changing road conditions.