USA FERRARI F40

Yup, I remember that too. Nobody was sure if the US would get one....

Well, a few years later we got lucky!

 

why not just tell your politicians to sort their act out ?
if somethings good enough for the rest of the world then it should surely be good enough for the US

 

Now that is a statement fraught with danger. It really depends on what you are talking about, and the rest of the world is an awfully big place with a lot of stuff going on

 

Dear Comrade Joe,

I suspect that the illustrious comrade may be alluding to the moustache on the front of the US F-40 and all the other bits and bobs that were added to increase the weight of the device. The original version was perfectly acceptable for all of Europe and indeed the Mother Land of England itself. No doubt the US politicians would now be fearful of the size of the sails on the Mayflower that set off from Plymouth all those years ago when England colonised America.

England has the original unexpurgated F-40 wholly unfettered by the US politicians insistence of the fitment of god-knows-what accessories all in the name of safety. In England we are all brave and have no care or heed of safety devices or stick on moutstaches on the faces of our F-40's. ;-)

With kind regards,

512 Tea Are

 

In the name of safety, euro cars were also underpowered compared to their US counterparts. Apparently, Ferrari felt that euro drivers could not handle the extra 30 odd hp....

 

Anyone have perhaps stock Euro/USA F40 bhp/torque dyno sheets?

 

Dear Comrade Menoy,

I am sure that DK Engineering of England will have these figures immmediately to hand. But interestingly, they say that every F-40 that they have tested on their dynomometer, and there has been many, have shown considerably in excess of 500 bhp.

With kind regards,

512 Tea Are

 

Again from the Bluemel book (whose work I hold in high regard)

"The factory quoted the power output at 478 bhp at 7000 rpm, a handsome improvement on the 400 bhp of the GTO. Just as significant to performance were the much improved torque characteristics, the peak figure rising from the GTOs 366 lb ft at 3800 rpm to 425 lb ft at 4000 rpm; torque for the US model was given as 424 lb ft at 4500 rpm."

Paul

 

These figures are backed up in issue number two of Rosso, The Official Publication of Ferrari North America

 

The article from the afformentioned Rosso article
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maybe not quite how id have put it, but yeah your post covers most of the salient points.

im just puzzled why the USA cant accept cars that are acceptable everywhere else in the civilised world

fact or fiction ?
thats still to be proven - even if true tho you have to consider that the Euro version had been out since 1987 so to say its "underpowered" compared to the US one is very out of context.

 

A couple of other sources :

Per Dean Batchelor in the Fourth Edition of the Ferrari Buyer's Guide:

"It took 2 years and nearly $11 million to certify the (USA) cars....Ferrari fitted and aluminum fuel tank protected within a second box (skin)....side impact protection and federalized front and rear bumpers added about 100 pounds to the US cars...in meeting the 50-state emissions standards on the F40, the catalyst-equipped engines actually made closer to 500 horsepower than 478 because of all the work done for certification. A great deal of the engine management technology (for the USA cars) came from the Formula One engines"

R+T, 1991 on Ferrari, Martin Peters

"Despite the converters and specified unleaded fuel, the engine is healthier than it was in original trim, according to Ferrari officials in the U.S. While the official horsepower rating for the U.S. cars is the same as that of the first European ones (478bhp), the U.S. cars are said to be generating as much as 515 horsepower on the dynamometer. In fine-tuning the fuel injection for cleaner burning, the engineers found some extra power."

I would expect the official ferrari position to be that they are exactly the same hp....no need for them to piss off half of their customers.

That being said, these are all just numbers being thrown around. Until a euro stock version is dyno'd next to a US version, we'll never really prove it scientifically right ?

so all you euro chaps, have a pint on me tonight in your local pub...cheers !

 

Before anybody can have a drink , lets talk about the weight difference between the Euro and the US ?

Who has the real figures for both cars ?

 

Ahh i see its being discussed here

http://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/showthread.php?t=158905

Euro : 1235 Kgs - 478 hp ( 2.58 Hp/kg )
US : 1350 Kgs - 515 hp ( 2.62 Hp/Kg )

 

Dear Comrade amenasce,

There is now a separate thread on F-40 weight. Posts within show the US version to be heavier by more than two hundredweight. Then there's all this talk about the US version being more powerful to cope with all the extra blooming weight. This all goes to prove that the original version as sold in England is the best by far ;-)

With kind regards,

512 Tea Are

 

superb scan

 

Because our legal system allows us to shoot ourself in the foot, and then sue both the gun and the shoe manufacturer!

 

what a wonderful analogy - of a rather sad state of affairs.

 

Further SADDENED by childlike posts as to " MY DAD'S GONNA BEAT UP YOUR DAD "remarks. Is this an enthusiast's forum or somewhere that those that got tripped on the playground a bit too often are asked to whine? HP/WT the US version wins PERIOD! 512 Tea Are Rant all you wish as to the appearance w/the US requirements---We like 'em. Bring yours over and let's line 'em up. Oh yeah, you can't evan post a picture of yours, forgot...