Ferrari FF |
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Wikipedia: Ferrari FF
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History
The following section is an excerpt from Wikipedia's Ferrari FF page on 30 July 2016, text available via the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.
The Ferrari FF (FF meaning "Ferrari Four", for four seats and four-wheel drive) is a grand tourer presented by Ferrari on March 1, 2011 at the Geneva Motor Show. It is Ferrari's first production four-wheel drive model. The body style has been described as a shooting-brake, a type of sporting hatchback/estate car with two doors. It replaced the 612 Scaglietti grand tourer. The FF has a top speed of 335 km/h (208 mph) and it accelerates from zero to 100 km/h (62 mph) in 3.7 seconds. Ferrari states that the FF was the world's fastest four-seat automobile upon its release to the public. The FF costs US$300,000, with 800 being produced during the first year.
Four wheel drive system
The new four-wheel drive system, engineered and patented by Ferrari, is called 4RM: it is around 50% lighter than a conventional system, and provides power intelligently to each of the four wheels as needed. It functions only when the manettino dial on the steering wheel is in the "comfort" or "snow" positions, leaving the car most often in the traditional rear wheel drive layout.
Ferrari's first use of 4RM was in a prototype created in the end of the 80s, called 408 4RM (abbreviation of "4.0 liter, 8 cylinder, 4 Ruote Motrici", meaning "four-wheel drive").
This system is based around a second, simple, gearbox (gears and other components built by Carraro Engineering), taking power from the front of the engine. This gearbox (designated "power take off unit", or PTU) has only two forward gears (2nd and 4th) plus reverse (with gear ratios 6% taller than the corresponding ratios in the main gearbox), so the system is only active in 1st to 4th gears. The connection between this gearbox and each front wheel is via independent haldex-type clutches, without a differential. Due to the difference in ratios "the clutches continually slip" and only transmit, at most, 20% of the engine's torque. A detailed description of the system (based on a conversation with Roberto Fedeli, Ferrari's technical director) has been published.
Design: Exterior
The FF shares the design language of contemporary Ferraris, including the pulled-back headlights of the 458 Italia, and the twin circular taillights seen on the 458 as well as the 599 GTB Fiorano. Designed under the direction of Lowie Vermeersch, former Design Director at Pininfarina, and Flavio Manzoni, Ferrari’s Styling Centre, work on the shooting brake concept initially started following the creation of the Sintesi show car of 2007. Distinctive styling elements include a large egg-crate grille, defined side skirts, and four exhaust tips. The shooting brake configuration is a departure from the conventional wedge shape of modern Ferraris, and the FF has been likened to the similarly-shaped 1962 Ferrari 250 GT SWB Drogo race car.
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2013 Geneva International Motor Show Photo ©2013 Norbert Aepli, Switzerland This photograph is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported license. View photo of Ferrari FF at the 2013 Geneva International Motor Show - 3.0MB |
