The
sleek shape of the new coupe sweeps from the low, aggressive
nose across a bulging hoodline, and back to its broad,
rear fenders. The shape is visually intimidating, and
was heavily influenced by the aerodynamic demands of high-speed
driving. The flying buttresses help improve downforce,
something quite useful when you're approaching a top speed
of "over 205" mph.
Under
the Fiorano's curvaceous hood, in a mid-front configuration,
sits a 611-horsepower, 48-valve, 6.0-liter V-12 - a retuned
version of the Enzo engine. That V-12 is, by itself, awe-inspiring,
but even more impressive is the six-speed electro-hydraulic
transmission it's mated to. There are a growing number
of these auto-shifted manuals on the market, but no one
seems to have gotten it quite as right as Ferrari has
with its Formula 1-inspired gearbox. The F1-Superfast
can shift in as little as 100 milliseconds - barely the
blink of an eye. That's significantly faster than with
previous Ferraris, and compares with shift times of 50
milliseconds in a Ferrari F1 racer.
