EVO Magazine F12 vs 599 GTO

+1 three times.

of2worlds knows of what he speaks.

Those government restrictions and regulations are getting tighter and are playing a large part in driving up costs. One of my concerns, as a 458 and F430 owner, is that eventually Ferrari will need to go to smaller turbocharged engines to achieve some kind of efficiency target. This could spell the end of the normally aspirated, instantly responding 9,000 RPM Ferrari engine which is the heart and soul of these cars. (Yes I know that the 288GTO and F40 were turbocharged)

 

Just curious, why do you own a 458 and a 430? I get because you can.

 

Sorry for my error in the misspelling of Ferrari in my prior post.....Serves me right for trying to type,answer my cell and flip pancakes for the family at breakfast at the same time.

 

I'll wager that there will be some sort of special F12 like a GTO version simply because of what Ferrari has been doing toward the end of a model run. We will know the answer in about 4 years.

The comparison you make between the 599GTO and 288GTO is a little uneven. One is a 12 front engined and the other an 8 turbo mid-rear engine. The 250GTO is a 50 yo car from a completely different era of which only 30 cars (?) are still in existence each costing over 25M. So your question is confusing to me.

The question that someone else posed had to do with comparing front engined 12 cylinder models the 599, 599GTO and F12.

 

Actually my wife has the 430; manual shift which she loves. Completely different kind of car than the 458. Both are great expressions of the sports car.

 

Good post! The point really is the GTO is a limited production car, it gives a feeling quite unlike any other Ferrari, an F40 owner I know drove a GTO hard over one of our local mountain passes and compared the two car very favourably.

The F12 is luxurious, climb into the GTO, look at the bare floor, feel the seat hold you in place, flip the two carbon paddles and wake the beast up front and the sound is shattering, it send shiver down my spine, I doubt the F12 as good as most likely is will do that.

I have said many times and will continue to say, the GTO is more than a collection of numbers its how everything comes together to create an experience, the sound, the acceleration, the feeling of lightness and yes that extreme feeling the car gives. Thats what the GTO was designed to do, the F12 was designed to be a spectacularly fast GT car.

As an aside I know a GTO owner who has done about 16 000 kms so far, including a few 1000 kms cross county trips, he says car performs superbly at this role. He has also taken me around the track in it....mostly sideways

 

I have a question for the GTO owners. If the car didnt have the GTO badge would you say it would reach the iconic status you believe it to be in (288, F40, F50 etc) or is it really just a spiritual successor to the stradale? It would seem both the stradale and the 599gto have a very similar cult following although I would say the stradale was a much better looking product of the 360 than the gto is to the 599.

 

I'd like to see an F12 vs Aventador comprehensive comparison.

 

My answer, though I am not a GTO owner, is that the 599GTO will not reach the iconic status of the 288, F40, F50, and of course the Enzo. Having said that my guess is that it will continue to be held in high regard because it is very capable and its numbers were so limited. Its label will also help sustain its financial value.

These are subtle differences we are talking about, but they are perceivable.

 

Interesting question!

I have a Challenge Stradale and for me it is an icon.

I had a Scuderia, sold it after 700 kms as - for me - it was a marketing ploy and lacked what the CS delivered

I also have an F40

Originally, I cancelled my GTO order as I was "sure" that it was a 599 in Scuderia "clothing", then I drove one and .... Whoops, I was wrong! The GTO is an icon because it is a road going XX, that remains the most extreme front engined Ferrari (believe me, I know).

An F40 is no longer the fastest car out there, but it is the original (and some say only) super car. The GTO is a modern day F40.

 

there's a post worth quoting from someone with real experience, no less !!!!

thank you, good sir

 

How the 599 GTO came to exist is a curious question.
Back in 2006 Amedeo Felisa was the General Manager of Ferrari. With the success of the Stradale two years earlier Ferrari was going in a different direction with a new V12 - the 599 GTB Fiorano. Did a 'Stradale' version of the the 599 fit into future marketing plans, was a question from journalists. Amedeo Felisa pronounced that Ferrari was happy with the level of performance offered by the new 599 GTB. He stated there were no plans for a performance version. Now this could just be PR talk but these comments came from the new General Manager whose background was engineering and who years ago had headed up the 550 development program for the top performing front engine V12 model at that time. It would be hard to find a stronger backer of front engine V12 performance models in the company.
What changes pushed Ferrari to build a GTO version of the 599? It should be noted that the 458 which some criticized as being too heavy has actually been engineered from the beginning to accept a horsepower 'upgrade' half way through it's production life. Did the old one year only Stradale continue to exert an influence on future Ferrari model decisions?
CH

 

Interesting. Do you have any additional information or sources one can go to?

 

Amedeo Felisa seems to enjoy the journalists from the British car magazines and they quote him regularly. Some journalists have known him for two decades as he rose through the executive ranks at Ferrari. The details I mentioned were reported by them in 2006 for the 599 intro and again in 2009 for the intro of the Italia.
LdM talked about the Italia in The Official Ferrari Magazine and elsewhere to the journalists when it was introduced. Most car companies have their own styling people. Ferrari is just joining the modern ranks taking the styling 'in house'. This change also works for security which is also a concern with Ferrari controlling information very tightly. In a number of cases the company supplies the print images it wants journalists to use for new models.
It was UK magazine Autocar that gained exclusive access when Ferrari previewed the Enzo design process to them. This included the various factory employee's who were involved with the new model from engineers to F1 drivers.
CH

 

Thanks. Very informative.

 

The Stradale was actually a "necessary" development (homologation) as it was needed to allow Michelotto to develop the 360 GTC, last development of the World Championship winning 360 NGT
Felisa listened to Daniel Marin, the then importer for Ferrari in France, and added the CCM brakes from the Enzo and specific P Zero Corsa tyres (that were initially a disaster!!)

So the Stradale has its origins in a racing car (many parts, notably suspension, come from the racing car)

The GTO is a road going version of the XX, itself a racing car that is not limited by regulation. Here again the GTO incorporates many elements from the XX directly - notably, in the front end a including tyres, gearbox, exhaust system and certain engine management parts.

An XX Evo remains today quicker than an FXX Evo around Fiorano, so technology does improve the breed!

 

Thank you for the details on what motivated Ferrari to build the Stradale and the highly favoured GTO!
It says something about the buying power of Ferrari clients today. The factory will build race cars for them even though they are not used in a competitive event but rather just among themselves. A variation on the 'One Make Series' idea yet it gives feedback to the factory for on track confirmation of engineering decisions. A form of these special performance features then trickle down to a road registered version GTO.
Point well taken as to where the street version GTO evolved from then.
CH

 

Though if Ferrari does not call the 'hardcore' F12 a GTO, and it is indeed more accomplished at the same mission than the 599 GTO (sport-focused front 12 street coupe) ...

 

That doesn't make any sense.

 

nads, dont bother, One Must at least experience (Drive) The car to understand what it is all about. regards- e

 

That indeeed may be the case.........But that will not make it a GTO.