Ferrari develop "Insertable" Four Wheel Drive

Interesting, but I think it kind of takes away what makes a Ferrari a Ferrari....

 

Silly webpage designers -- if it can be seen, it can be copied

 

Was this originally intended for the Maserati marque?

First, glass side curtains. Then electric windows. Leather seats. Air conditioning!!

Where will it all end???!

(Oh yeah -- with a Mercedes. (gak!))

"Less is more"

Picture, if you will, something like an Exige with a Ferrari mill. Yum!

Besides: If I want to go rallying, I'll use a rallye car ... like a Stratos.

And if it's cold enough to have ice -- then your summer tires are hurting anyway.

 

**** that **** !

 

baaaahhh!...you guys beat me to it...lol

theres another article at www.jalopnik.com

 

I completely agree.

 

4WD is not what Ferrari is about.

 

If we want continually more and more powerful cars, unless there's a pretty big advance in tire technology, the only way to put that power to the ground is going to be through adding some drive wheels. I'd much rather see the cars get lighter, but I don't think we're going to see that very often.

 

Bentley has basically announced that AWD will be on all new cars.

Competition is a good thing, all of the high end cars are getting better...

 

I'm not sure why they are trying to make this sound like a new technology by saying it's "insertable." This technology has been around for a long time and has been used very successfully in many applications. List of similar systems. You can also add BMW's xDrive to that list as well. From what it sounds like in the article, the Ferrari system will have full time rear wheel drive and be able to bias power to the front wheels. This system would probably be most akin to the VW/Haldex unit in the link above (In their note on the disadvantage of being unknown torque capability... the Bugatti 16/4 Veyron uses one of the units, so it must be rather good).

I don't know if Ferrari is doing this strictly for the poor weather conditions as the article stated. Putting 500 rwhp down onto the ground isn't easy, especially on street tires. AWD can help with split up the power to put it down. Additionally, AWD allows you to apply more throttle earlier coming out of a turn, so it helps with the dynamic prowness of the car.

I'm completely for systems like this... provided it is well implimented and does not add considerably to the car's weight (which I think Ferrari will have both covered by the time they would be ready to sell something like this).

Pap, you could also argue the same about V-8's

Tim

 

Better in a german way..

 

Thats true also.

 

the extra weigth sucks!!!!

 

Just easier to drive for people that never learned the correct way when they were young...