333SP or F50GT

Changes to the road version F50 include:
-F1 carbon disc brakes
-Fully adjustable Koni race dampers
-Huge drop in ride height
-20 inch Speedlines
-reworked front arches to accomedate the huge wheels


-6 speed sequintial gearbox
-carbon clutch


-Tipo F130A engine
-4.7 Litre
-750 hp @ 10,500 RPM
-increased compression
-Magnetti Marelli Competetion Stage 3 engine management


-completely stripped interior with single race seat


001 was supposed to be a one of one after Ferrari cut the racing program the F50 was supposed to compete in. Ferrari ended the program to focus all its efforts on F1. They sold 001 to Art Zifiropoulo stating in a contract that there would only be one. Ferrari made 6 tubs in all to use as spares for Art, they then broke thier contract and made two more F50 GTs, 002 and 003. Art took Ferrari to court and Ferrari destroyed the remaining tubs. 002 and 003 are to never be raced and Art is the only one to use the car as intended. 001 posted numbers of: 0-60 in 2.9 seconds and a 236 mph top speed. It weighs in a 907 kg, about 413 kg lighter than the road going F50. 001 has been wrecked and rebuilt, i believe, 2 times. The first time it was crashed by porsche driver Johannes Von Overbeck at Sears Point with cold tires (should have stuck to VWs ). It was sent back to Ferrari and they fixed to even more radical specs. While there Micheal Schumacher tested the repaired car, and even signed the dashboard. It posted faster lap times than even the 333sp with its now stronger engine. Art crashed the car the second time but was not as sever as the first crash.

~Eric

 

What in the world are you talking about? 1998 FIA rules specified only ONE road going car for that class. Nissan made one road verison of the 390, Toyota made one road verison of the GT-one. Mercedes made only one road version of the CLK-LM (that's the 1998 model, 1997 was the CLK-GTR, 1999 was CLR). Porsche made only ONE road version of the 911 GT1, the 1998 version. 1999 they didn't require a road version. That's why the Mercedes CLR didn't have a road model. Only four racing versions were made, two of which were destroyed in those flips.

Maybe you are thinking of 1997 where the rules required more. That's where the CLK-GTR, 911 GT1 ('97 model), and F1 had more road versions. No one cheated. Everyone played by the same rules.

P.S. LOL @ your comment about over 50 CLK-GTRs and over 50 911 GT1s. You obviously have no idea what you're talking about.

 

Ferrari actually pulled out on the F50 racing program because they couldn't justify racing a $1,000,000 GT car while simultaneously funding the 333sp program as well as the F1 program. No one cheated, nobody was scared of the competetion, they just didn't have the funds.

 

Ah yes, you are correct.

My numbers were off. They only had to build 25 cars. Correction taken and noted.

No ........... I said FERRARI made over 50 F50's (349 if I'm not mistaken).

And I STILL think Nissan and Toyota cheated!!!

 

Oh yeah, and I'd still take the f50gt1!

 

I was talking about this post.

 

Yessssssssssssssss

I said at least not OVER for those ........ AND I also said you were correct my, AND numbers were off, that it was actually 25 (which you didn't mention by the way). Do you feel better now??? Will you be able to sleep tonight??

LOL!

 

I would like the sp. Due to the looks and sound.

 

If I had to pick one it would be the 333SP. The F50 has no racing history whatsoever. It's like an FXX but more pointless.

 

Then why not make history for it yourself?

 

Made me laugh. Id still take the F50 GT. It has history even if not racing history. It is a truly unique Ferrari.

 

Hi

The F50Gt1 is conclusively faster than the 333SP, in a Motorsport magazine artcile it was discussed how in the early 1990's Ferrari was going through one of there periods of spending money on stuff they couldnt afford, I would guess before Jean Todt kicked some ...... So they set up the 333SP project and spend some money developing it, but most of the developement came from Michelotto, so not the greatest start then. Eventually they met the IMSA rules and all was good, then this became a nice little earner, a sort of 1990's version of the Porsche 956/962. Effectively anyone with enough cash & contacts could buy one and race them, however this was not a particularly stellar time for IMSA, the only serious competition being Riley & Scott's.
The F50 came along at the same time, and the cost of creating the GT1 would have been fairly reasonable, however they stopped at the final hurdle, developing the thing. If they had seriosuly wanted to take on Mercedes, Porsche, Toyota, Nissan et al they would have needed to spend millions (maybe 100 million $) developing the thing. And with the F1 team taking off again, and ever rising costs, well you wouldnt would you. And of course after 5 years of racing the F333SP would have been fully developed, tires would have been tested, chassis developed etc......
So IMHO
F333SP - Great car, history, developed, known.
F50Gt1 - A bit faster, unknown, undeveloped, great looking.

A great book dealing with this subject is Time & Two Seats, Janos Wimpffen
And finally the road car production number was 1 of each.

 

You're right.. apples and oranges. The F50 GT was never raced, has zero racing history and is not at correct "class" specs for a GT-1 car of the late 90s. The 333 SP is straight out of the box at correct LMP class specs. It's always nicer to have a rarer car, but my vote would be for a car which was raced heavily, more than any other Ferrari, and has big championships on its belt. The GT-1 is a close second, but there is no performance comparison between a GT car and an LMP car, provided they are both race prepped to maximum potential, quoting Didier Theys. As far as the sound is concerned, same engine, slightly larger cc in the F50 GT so it does not need quite the high RPM of the 333 SP to get the HP. I enjoy the smaller displacement and higher revving engine the best. Also, the mufflers are different on the SP and the GT. The SP is fitted with large mufflers due to the racing requirements of the time. The F50 is not. So the sound will probably be louder with the F50. Solution: remove 333 mufflers and watch out!

 

With regard to the post saying "GT-1 is conclusively faster".. that is really rank speculation. Yes, a Ferrari magazine did state that clearly, but that was at the big debut of the GT-1. Naturally, Ferrari would say something along those lines to catch everyone's interest, and to preempt questions like "is the GT-1 faster than the 333 SP?" There have been no formal tests done comparing both cars. Also, as per Le Mans rules, the GT-1 car would be restricted in some ways which the F50 was not when it is "claimed" to have performed better. Question: Although not as bad as the street F50.. doesn't anyone get bothered by those huge nostrils in the front of the car? Poor design flaw, despite me liking the car very much. The 333 has zero flaws in the design, while not quite as exotic as a GT-1 car... the same way a Formula 1 would look less exotic than a 333... the more minimal the bodywork, the less "substantial" it is to look at. Oh, and correction- the 333 SP was never developed during the 1995-2002 years it raced. Private teams did some VERY slight mods to the body or suspension, but that's all. Ferrari never race-developed them. A shame.

 

Oh, and the actual reason Ferrari did not race the F50 GT is because (even with $100 M in development) it would NOT be competitive against the turbo or large cc engines in the 1997/1998/1999 years seasons of Le Mans. Simply put, Le Mans rules greaty favored either turbo engines or large displacement. There were ZERO cars (except the 3.99Liter 333 SP) which had under 6.1 L engines or 3.5 Liter Turbos, both of which performed hugely better under the new rules. This is the real reason the F50 program was scrapped. Too bad. Even the F40 LM and GTE ran Le Mans in 95/96/97, all of which had little or no development, yet in 1995 the F40 GTE ran faster laps than the winning McLaren F1.