Why exactly was the F40 8 cylinder?

#4

They do that so the marketing boys can have a direct connection to the F1 developments. The "T" transaxle in the 348, 355 and Mondial was for the same reason.

It was an incredible car but turbos were all the rage and Ferrari took advantage of that.

 

I thought the 't' in the 348 stood for 'transversale' - implying that the gearbox was transversely mounted.

 

Correctomundo.

A design originated for the F1 car to make the powerunit more compact and to concentrate the weight in a smaller area improving chassis dynamics and allowing more freedom to put it in a more ideal location. They were very proud of it and did their best to tout the design. They almost threw their shoulder out patting themselves on the back.

The design came and went in F1 and the street cars.

 

I'd say #4 as well. And it worked out pretty well. The car is an icon.

 

It seems to me that the "supercar" concept wasn't what it is today, and when the 288 GTO came out people didn't realize it was the beginning of a new era of halo Ferraris that would continue for decades. Do keep in mind that the first "super" Ferrari to use a V12 didn't debut until after the F40. Thus, it only made sense for the F40 to use a slightly modified version of the 288's engine.

The 288, meanwhile, used the engine that it did because by using a 2.8-liter engine with turbocharging, Ferrari was able to slide just under the FIA's Group B maximum engine size restriction of 4.0 liters maximum, since they considered turbocharged engines equal to 1.4 times the actual engine size. While the engine was something like 2850cc in the GTO, it was enlarged to 2936cc in the F40. Amazingly, all this never mattered since the 288 never actually raced.

 

I could not have said it better. "Ferrari Supercar" is a moniker that has gained ground amongst the faithful since the arrival of the F40, and by the arrival of the Enzo had become a definition of the series of cars (288 GTO/F40/F50/Enzo). Even though the 'Supercar' expression wasn't pushed by the works itself, the engineers considered this series of cars their showcase models for state-of-the-art technology in a road-going sports car. The common thread amongst the 4 cars is that the aforementioned technology was always Formula One-inspired from the respective era.