The real reason behind turbos in the 488 GTB

Ford and Chevy is an invalid argument. Those huge corporations mitigate the effects by having lots of economy boxes.

 

Wouldn't Ferrari fall under parent company FIAT?

 

That's very true, but there are tradeoffs as well. Superchargers take up less space in the engine bay and they provide instant throttle response.

 

New Ford GT is a 3.5L V6 ecoboost twin turbo.

 

Our super charged Audi S4 sounds good and gets good mileage. No lag. 333 hp and about the same amount of torque. Does not need high revs to perform. We love it.

 

True, but they also developed a new 5.2L flat plane crank V8 (based on the Coyote 5.0L V8) that revs to 8,200 RPM and sounds wicked, for the 2016 Shelby GT350.

 

That's awesome! What's the final numbers on it do you know?

But unusable for modern racing and won't stack up w the 488, which I presume is why it wasn't considered for the new GT. That your perception?

 

Final numbers have not been released yet, but Ford is saying "over" 500 HP and 400 TQ.

I honestly think they used the EcoBoost engine to help sales and public preception for other Ford models that use it. I'm pretty sure the next Shelby GT500 will use a supercharged Coyote V8 so they had the option to go that route if they wanted to.

 

I will go with all of the above as an answer.

Market realities: check. Turbos = easier to attain more power. Competitors have lots o power. And turbos usually mean a little less fuel consumption and less emissions. Score a (small) win for green credibility.

Regulatory hurdles: check. Its a real factor that Ferrari does have to show its making progress in fuel consumption and emissions.

Economics: Check. Cost sharing among platforms is definitely a reality and they need a base motor platform that will work across Maserati and Ferrari lineups. For Maserati the eco issues are a larger concern.

Engineering: Check. Perhaps getting more power out of the NA V8 would mean the motor drinking too much dino juice, producing too much emissions, and not working for any other product in the lineup.

Ferrari is very smart. They will evolve. They always do. Some of us will love it, some of us will like it and some of us will hate it. And the world keeps turning.

 

Common sense tells us that Ferrari did not need to make the 488 a turbo charged vehicle, so soon. Respecting the op, my opinion on the topic at hand is simple. Ferrari wants to sell cars and it has determined that (in the long run), shifting us to turbo's fits into a future sales paradigm that they believe will work for them.

With all said, I like superchargers over turbo chargers. As this is written I am adding a Corvette Z 06 to my garages arguably faster on and off the track than a 488 (if that is the sole criteria). Both superchargers and turbo chargers are "forced induction" mechanisms, the first relying on exhaust gases while the latter is direct (spinning off the crank). Most seem to prefer turbo's. I, for one, do not, given both have some form of lag, and in my experience the supercharger is more durable and "fun", without impacting the exhaust note.

Best

 

Some turbo highlights I found with my Cali-T
1) exhaust note. The exhaust is much louder than the Cali once the butterfly valves are pinched
2) Turbo response is instantaneous. I was shocked with the power curve, will have to dyno for sh$ts and giggles. what I was told by a tech ( sorry for mis-quoting ) is that the turbo is always on and if you keep the Turbo Efficiency gauge above 50% any throttle increase will be with turbo
3) Again told by the tech and further read on the internet ( so it must be true ) is that Ferrari re-tooled their entire engine plant to deal with the upcoming F1 engine requirements. 250 engineers were hired to work on the turbo, so it would only be logical that the turbo will trickle down.

 

No, unfortunately not. Ferrari is a different legal entity.

 

Bob, I also prefer driving SC but SC is no where near as efficient as TC. There are parasitic losses inherent with SC.

 

Where did you see that written? That's unfounded and I am willing to bet against it. The 488 should be alot quicker, both in a straight line and around a track.

 

That will be awesome. That is the kind of motor that could get me interested in a contemporary, American car. Hopefully they hit at least 540HP.

Nah man - it's for racing in the WEC and LeMans I'm pretty sure. Under 4L+turbo is the current formula; also for the 488. Report on jalopnik just earlier saying that someone from the WEC leaked this in a passing convo recently also. I'm dreaming of head to head competition.

Agree on the "ecoboost" branding though. Which I hate if I'm honest. eco + racing does not compute. I don't even like the term as pure consumer brand either.

The 3.5L turbo ecoboost also just won 24 hrs of Daytona in a Ganassi prototype.

 

You think a blown Z06 will hang with a 488 on the track? It's a track with turns right? You saw the insane downforce figures right? : )

I want to get in on this bet! ; )

BMW's new turbo system in the M3 has no lag. That is the standard in my mind unless someone can point me to a more responsive turbo engine because I have not driven one. I can't predict the 488, but I hope Ferrari will beat BMW here. Their response numbers in the press release seem to indicate that is the case, but we'll have to see.

 

Before we wager please read the following 2015 Chevrolet Corvette Z06 first drive | Autoweek

I just sold my twin turbo Porsche, fast, but not much else. Best

 

I'm pretty sure one of the big reasons for Ferrari going Turbo on their V8's is due to rise of Mclaren road cars.
For a long time the only direct competitor to Ferrari has been Lambo, but they have always seemed to fill slightly different gaps in the market.
Mclaren are trying to take Ferrari head on, and have a plan to do this at ever segment of the market.
With this biggest racing enemy now a competitor on the road as well as track, i don't think Ferrari could allow them to be producing cars that can out run them in a straight line..

 

That Z06 is insane! Thank you for the link.

 

Forgot to mention thank you for posting your experiences with the California T. That is very encouraging for those interested in how this will drive.

 

The V6 was a necessity due to homologation rules for the LeMans race car, not to mention tight packaging dictated by the teardrop fuselage design. It also delivers more power per pound, and weight reduction was a primary goal for the 2017 GT.

 

CO2 dropped very little, there seems to be no point to make such radical change for such small gain, however for sales in China having engine under 4L would be very beneficial...

 

They could always enlarge the NA V8 or drop a V10 in there if that was really the case.

 

The usage of economy of scale is always a target. Don't forget: the 458 "F136" engine was also installed in many different models inside the Fiat group.

(Ferrari F136 engine - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia).

 

It's a monster no doubt - the new Vette. But it is heavier, little less HP, way less downforce. I expect all the systems to be better in the Ferrari also.

I'll take the bet : )

Porsche turbo. Great car. Not interesting to me though really despite the power as you point out.