The FF M will be unveiled next year. To my knowledge placing the V8 TT in this car is out of the question. So is any form of KERS. Judging from the picture, it looks like the car may have some sort of side front ducts resembling those on the Speciale.
The FF is the bigger and heavier car Ferrari produces. It would be easier to fit the batteries and the weight increase is lees important to the public than in more performance oriented models... The FF is THE choice for a hybrid system IMHO... The only thing is that the V12 might not need to electric motor for extra torque... So why need the hybrid system at all (IMHO hybrid is a flawed technology anyway). Unless they could make a cool all electric driving mode...
I think the advent of the glass roof option which should be standard has mad the FF MUCH more attractive everytime I see it I like it more.. Regarding the V8 TURBO if they do that they will need to drop the price and call it something else so that wont happen .... They could increase sales if they want by including more things standard .. but the F12s are meant to be low volume cars I would be surprised if they make 500 F12s per year they probably do but not much more then that..
Word of mouth from dealer is 190 for all of North America in 2014. That would include Canada. Historically the US makes for 90% of FNA sales which would make US FF sales about 170. This in turn would make FFs somewhat less than 10% of US Ferrari sales.
With a little practice anyone can pick out a jerk journalism making up stuff to get our attention. (Hey, I'll do a piece on the TT V8 going into the FF; that'll get some hits!). Move on.
Ferrari already said to properly turbo-charged the V12s it will needs 4 turbos instead of 2. With all the extra plumbing and stuff, that will be heavier than going hybrid and will also be short on throttle response.
If those are true I would say they're actually pretty good numbers for a 4-seater V12 Ferrari. If you double those numbers you're looking at about 2,200 FFs sold world-wide. At an average price of $320K that's $704M. Considering all the parts it shares with the F12 I would imagine that's pretty profitable for Ferrari. Here's what I expect they'll could do with the updated FF based on the rumors: - A little more power giving a small performance improvement; because why not? - Possibly some interior design refinements to make it feel a little modern (see 488 and Cali T for example) - Updated infotainment/nav - Very mild styling changes so you can tell it apart from the prior model if you know what you're looking for but that it doesn't change the character of the car - Tweaks to the 4 wheel drive system to make it more flexible (i.e. operate when needed at higher speeds and in all gears) so it doesn't get embarrassed on Top Gear competing against a Bentley - LED lighting would be nice but the lights in the spy photos appear unchanged - Some weight reduction; roof, trunk, hood in Carbon fiber to reduce weigh high on the car - Maybe an 8 speed transmission? The FF transmission is good in auto mode but not awesome in manual mode. Shorter gear ratios would probably help here and potentially improve fuel economy with the 8th gear. - Maybe some cylinder deactivation on the highway to save fuel What I don't expect: - A major engine change; why change this amazing engine out for something less amazing? - Major styling changes - Massive performance improvements The best thing they could do is make something that makes existing FF owners want to upgrade. That has two benefits for them: 1. They have a built-in audience of very loyal FF customers (I *LOVE* my FF!) who will likely jump at the right set of improvements and upgrade. 2. This creates a nice marketplace for used FFs that allows folks who wouldn't have bought one new to buy one at a really good price and get to know what a truly great car it is. Once they're hooked they're more likely to buy in when the proper FF replacement comes out. As for the proper replacement down the road... I do hope that Ferrari realizes the best thing about the FF is the properly livable back seat and the excellent amount of storage in the trunk. I would love for them to repackage the gas tank to get the cargo floor flat from the back seats back. If they could do that they could increase rear legroom another 2-3 inches without losing cargo capacity. A flat cargo floor would allow them to make the rear passenger area (and corresponding side glass) a little longer but swoopier for an more desirable look. They could do that without lengthening the doors because the entry to the rear is already pretty good. Of course if they wanted to make a 4-door I wouldn't complain about that either. Just keep the awesome power and driving feel because it feels so incredibly wonderful to drive.
Do you think if FF looks like Aston Martin it would sell better? Even if FF sales are low we know that Ferrari want cut production numbers. http://motorbash.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/Aston_Martin-AM_310_Vanquish_2013-4.jpg
Please elaborate. The only supplier I see (not an exhaustive search) to show parts diagrams for the F12 is Eurospares. When looking up F12 parts and using their cross reference system, the two models don't share any more than a few basic parts (besides V12 parts) and those parts are shared across many other models. They don't share any exterior body panels. Same for interior panels, frame members, shocks, etc. Also, no wiring harnesses, carpets, seats, etc. The engine does not share intakes, exhausts, head gaskets, cats, etc. (although there has to be some V12 engine parts sharing). I wish I could read Italian so I can't easily do an in-depth comparison but I don't think there is any way to say that there is enough commonality to drive profit as was suggested. I would be very interested if you could show otherwise, not to prove that anyone is wrong, just that it would be helpful down the road for ordering parts.
I took some time and made adjustments on roof line. Keep in mind that I`ve made as minimal as possible curve adjustment. Glass line is slightly adjusted. I am curious to hear from you guys what do you think, especially from current FF owners. On photo that shows line scheme, blue line represents current FF, and red redesigned. Full size render and line scheme: http://s1.postimg.org/k6nnu3h1r/Ferrari_FF_facelift_by_Tessoart.jpg http://s22.postimg.org/56yet57z5/Ferrari_FF_facelift_by_Tessoart_02.jpg Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
I also like it visually though I suspect it would increase aero lift. Don't know about any headroom loss; it may be sufficiently far back not to matter.
I took extra care to cut off part that is actually above trunk, so headroom should stay untouched (I hope this is noticeable on photo with lines)
