Ferraris Invade Palm Beach International Raceway

Bullet Motorsports, who specializes in the marketing of exotic vehicles, was on hand to capture the recent 2011 Ferrari Festival at Palm Beach International Raceway. My only questions are, “why didn’t I know about this” and “why wasn’t I there”? Palm Beach International Raceway, which used to be known as Moroso Motorsport Park, is only a few hours from where I live, and the chance to see cars like the F40 and the 333SP in action doesn’t come around all that often. I’ll be checking the calendar for next year’s event, and I promise to mooch dinner and a place to crash off my brother in law shoot lots of up close and personal pictures. In the mean time, enjoy this superb HD video after the jump. Read more

2012 Ferrari FF Breaks Cover

If I throw out the phrase “station wagon”, what comes to mind? I’ll take a guess and say long road trips with dad behind the wheel and mom trying to keep the peace between you and your siblings. Now try the same thing with the name, “Ferrari” and tell me what comes to mind? The wind in your hair as you fly down narrow roads in the Italian countryside? The beach on one side, cliffs on the other as you drive the winding roads in the south of France? I’ll bet you don’t associate “station wagon” with Ferrari, and you certainly don’t associate Ferrari with station wagons. That may soon change, as Ferrari has released some renderings of its replacement for the 612 Scaglietti. Read more

Cars With Launch Control: Houston, We Have Lift Off!

[original post date: 02/10/2009] I honestly believe that the new Nissan GT-R has sparked quite an interest and crave for launch control. Many cars way before the Nissan GT-R have had their own system for a launch control either in a SMG transmission in the E46 BMW M3 or the Volkswagen’s early DSG found in the GTI.

The ultimate crave for launch control baffles me but you have to understand that I would take a full manual transmission any day over a, what Jeremy Clarkson calls them, floppy paddle gear box. Even with Nissans woes with grenaded transmissions in the GT-R, launch control is still a big hit. Even Hitler “had to launch it”.

Ever since the introduction of drive-by-wire, auto manufacturers have been toying with new electronics that improve upon the over-all safety of a vehicle. New systems come standard in many vehicles now such as dynamic skid control or also known as vehicle dynamic control or electronic stability control (name varies from each manufacturer). Many of these new systems utilize a combination of computer operated units from the ABS braking, traction control and accelerator control. I am sure if manufacturers thought they could play with these systems and make a car safer then why not develop a precise method for accelerating a vehicle with a computer to make it faster.

It is all a numbers game if you think about it. I am sure many car enthusiasts, including yourself, may have experimented with dropping your clutch at a certain RPM to get the full potential out of a launch from a dead-stop. Even you guys with automatics have almost perfected holding the brake pedal while stomping on the accelerator in preparation for a ‘launch’. What if your car could do this for you? Well, many new exotic and sports cars can but it does take the use of a special transmission or a manual transmission that is controlled by a computer, except in Porsches’ case with their newest launch control system on a full manual transmission.

Where did this idea and technology come from?

If you think about it, F1 cars among other racing cars were already using a type of the technology that we see in today’s cars fitted with dual clutch transmissions and SMG (Sequential Manual Gearbox) units. Racing is where it begins… most times. From the F1 cars now shifting well under 60 milliseconds to the Nissan GT-R’s dual clutch shifting time of around 200 milliseconds, computers have taken cars to a new level of performance where a human just simply cannot match yielding a much higher level of performance.

Cars with Launch Control

Many of the baby boomers know ‘launch control’ to be something only NASA quotes in the control room during a space shuttle launch. Now we can all experience a ‘horizontal’ launch in many of today’s technologically advanced performance vehicles.

So which cars have launch control? Below is a short list that we have compiled of all vehicles with an available launch control. If we missed any please post a comment below and let us know.

Please note: Some of the vehicles included on the list may only have a staging RPM setting which some may call “launch control” but it is not as involved as a fully automated launch control or uses a sequential shifting transmission (paddle shifter) such as in the Nissan GT-R.

• Audi R8
• Audi TT
• BMW M3
• BMW M5
• BMW M6
• Bugatti Veyron
• Chevrolet Corvette/ZR1
• Ferrari 360cs
• Ferrari 599 GTB/GTO
• Ferrari F430/Scuderia
• Ferrari 458 Italia
• Lamborghini Gallardo/LP560
• Lamborghini Murcielago/LP640
• Lexus LFA
• Mercedes Benz McLaren SLR
• Mercedes Benz SL63 AMG
• Mercedes Benz SLS AMG
• Mitsubishi Evo Lancer Evolution/MR
• Nissan GT-R
• Porsche 911/Carrera/S/GT2
• Volkswagen GTI/Golf/Rabbit/R32

Various videos demonstrating launch control below after the jump…

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Behind The Wheel of a Ferrari 458 Italia

Chris Harris at EVO does a run-down and drive of the new Ferrari 458 Italia. He calls it the “baby Ferrari”, which just does not do it justice. This car is stupendous! Enjoy the video!

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Spyshots: 2012 Ferrari 612 Scaglietti Successor

The test mule was again spotted, but still nothing is really known about this perticular model driving around near Modena.

You will definitely spot the bulge on the hood, but what it exactly holds is unknown. The rumours suggest this model is due for 2012 and is in the early phase of testing. However, previous stories suggest Ferrari is developing a hybrid system or even a new V12 engine with a twin turbo setup. WorldCarFans even suggests it could be that Fiat’s MultiAir system is temporarily fitted to this test mule in order to see how much performance enhancement can be pulled from that. Read more

Felipe Massa + 458 Italia = Worst Promo Video Ever

Felipe Massa is back at Ferrari after a major accident in July in Hungary after a spring from a Brawn GP car came loose and flew up off of the track to hit Massa in the brow while he was traveling at 150MPH. After suffering heavy injuries to his skull and nearly losing his left eye, Massa has been out of the driver’s seat ever since undergoing several surgeries and taking the slow road to recovery. Not surprisingly, Massa’s accident was one of the worst since the death of Ayrton Senna at Imola in 1994.

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GT5 and Forza Motorsport 3 Pay Tribute to the Ferrari 458 Italia – Videos

The two newest rivalry racing games to hit the Xbox 360 and Play Station 3 (PS3) pay tribute to the new Ferrari 458 Italia in two demonstration videos. Gamers and car enthusiasts are still trying to decide which will be the best simulation/racing game to hit the market yet. Below are two new videos portraying the new Ferrari 458 Italia on both video games to help you make your decision. Enjoy!

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Ferrari 458 Italia Official Movie – Video

You’re going to love me for posting this video! This is a new release by Ferrari of it’s latest stallion to be welcomed into the family of Italian supercars. Currently on display at the Frankfurt Motor Show and making its way to a Ferrari dealership near you, the Ferrari 458 Italia is starting to steal the hearts of car enthusiasts all around the world. Enjoy the video below of two (yellow and red) Ferrari 458 Italia’s challenging each other around the Mugello circuit and Tuscan hills.

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