Next 599 'to have 700bhp

Next year’s replacement for the Ferrari 599 GTB will be the fastest, most powerful road car in Maranello’s history, possibly producing as much as 700bhp.

“If you look at where we went from the F430 to the 458, and from the 612 Scaglietti to the FF, it is not hard to see where we want the next 599 to be,” said one insider close to the project. “We are not looking for a small step.”

Another source said it would be very surprising if the car did not have “at least” 700bhp. Given that the FF motor is now rated at 651bhp, a clear 120bhp ahead of the 612 Scaglietti, and that the current 599 GTB has 612bhp in standard tune, 700bhp is clearly technically possible.

The new 599 will be powered by the next generation of the direct-injection 6.3-litre V12 used in the FF, an engine based on the original 599/Enzo unit and capable of 850bhp in the FXX Evoluzione.

Ferrari’s new flagship will also feature breakthrough structural and detailed engineering design to ensure that it is lighter than the model it replaces.

The shedding of weight has started with the FF, which, despite its all-wheel drive hardware, has an almost identical kerb weight to the 612 Scaglietti’s.

These weight savings will have to be delivered by Ferrari’s alloy monocoque body and not carbonfibre, which has been the route pursued by Lamborghini and McLaren. “The story of aluminium is not yet told,” said our source.

Ferrari believes that carbonfibre is not yet suitable for the kind of volume production required for the 599 replacement.

Ferrari has also hinted very strongly that the 599 will stick with a rear-drive layout. The company sees its new four-wheel drive system as “best suited to our grand touring cars”, a category that doesn’t include the 599.

However, Ferrari is on the record as saying that the system is destined for more than one car, with the next-generation California being the most likely recipient.

http://www.autocar.co.uk/News/NewsArticle/AllCars/256456/

 

Very exciting!

 

Stuffing more than 700 horses under the hood and still complying to the international guidelines of reducing CO2 emissions, boy those Italians know how they must deliver.

I'm looking forward to the first "spy-shots" of the new 599. Who's making and educated guess with regard to name and power?

 

I hope every supercar maker continues this lunacy (in a good way) before the idiots at EU etc. set higher restrictions. God bless Ferrari.

More power than a McLaren F1, in a reliable and daily drivable package, just wow

 

The weight reduction program will probably go some way toward helping there.

 

It will be called the GTO, of course.

 

Ferrari 630 Imperator.

Okay, that's a completely uneducated guess, but hey, it sounds good.

 

How bout a guess on claimed Fiorano lap time?

 

As long as they make it with matte carbon, that's so pretty.

Regarding the name Ferrari 649 Europa, I will be miles off but hey, it's nice making a guess.

 

Numbers, charts, graphs. Seriously... who gives a darn?

Is the car cool and a blast to drive? That's what's important.

I had a Dino GT for 15 years. Your average Mustang could take it in stop light. Somehow, I never minded.

 

Ferrari does, or else they wouldn't bother! Seems like you and I have had this debate before...

 

+1 in 99 out of a 100 drives, you won't even reach 50% of the cars maximum.

 

1:23 flat while going down hill on the straight with a tail wind. Even Ferrari themselves, promote the lap time at Fiorano for new models...

CH

 

If they didn't make the numbers, someone else would for them.

Yes, we've had this discussion before. But, the 599 replacement should be not about numbers but what kind of car it is.

The 599 replacement should be a great driving sedan. That's what's important. How fast it goes around Ferrari's test track has very little do to with it.

If it went seconds slower and was cooler and more fun to drive, I'd like it even more.

Let me say though that it we were taking about the new Enzo, my opinion of numbers would be completely different. There, numbers and graphs would be important because you're talking about building one of the fastest cars in the world. That's it's point.

But, the new 599 is not the new Enzo. They will be apples and oranges.

 

The numbers are important there too- thats one of the big reasons to go to the automated shifting boxes- you lose too much time shifting a stick shift. I wish they would offer stick shift. But onward and upward.

My totally wild guess is:

Ferrari 688 Corsa

 

Can't be perceived as faster than the 599 GTO, to preserve the GTO's GTO-ness.

My bet is 1:24.5 - 1:25 flat. HGTE version will equal 599 GTO lap time.

 

I don't recall Ferrari making the F430 slower than the 360 CS, or the 458 slower than the F430 Scuderia.

I would expect the next big Ferrari coupe to be faster than the 599 in any current configuration (GTB, GTO, SA Aperta).

 

Yes, but they didn't market the CS or the Scud as a "GTO". They'll want to try to protect that halo for a little while longer, I think. (p.s. I'm referring to what I think they will "claim" is the the lap time. What it can actually do, well that may be another story...)

 

Isn't the 599 the definition of a 2-seat grand tourer? V12 engine in the front, trunk in the back, comfortable seats, various amenities, etc. Isn't that the whole reason why they moved the engine from the middle to the front in the 550?

Because if they aren't calling the 599 a GT anymore, then they might as well pursue a mid-engine layout (a la Testarossa or Berlinetta Boxer).

 

Wouldn't say that. If that were the case why would we have ever gone faster than the crown GTO, the 250 GTO

Guess this thing will shred the tarmac at Fiorano and will look in de new styling of Ferrari (458/FF/Cali).

 

Now that could be interesting. Ferrari setting the standard again, hopefully.

 

something broke in my head trying to comprehend how 700bhp is contained and what it would be like to drive such a beast.

 

Well if it is anything like the 599 when it came out, it should rewrite the rules. Like a true flagship should. Here's hoping it does.

Now that they have the Cali, FF, etc, I wish this car would go back to a mid engine offering. And with a 3 pedal manual option, which would be heaven, although I realize probably impossible. Anyway, good on them, long live the V12 flagship.

 

That's great! Let's just hope it looks more Italian than Japanese!

 

Marketers don't remember what they were selling last week.