Ferrari has launched its most powerful road car to date: the F80, a stunning new F1-derived hybrid priced at over £3m.
The hypercar, of which only 799 units will be built, has striking butterfly doors and unique driver-focused seats, with a passenger definitely an optional extra.
The Ferrari F80 has blistering acceleration from 0 to 62 mph in just 2.15 seconds and a top speed of 217 mph, achieved thanks to an impressive 1,200 horsepower.
Ferrari or transformer? The F80 comes with eye-catching butterfly doors
Exclusive: The Ferrari F80 will cost around £3 million and only 799 units will be made
Power comes from a combined V6 gasoline engine and three battery electric motors. But unlike your suburban hybrid, don’t expect to drive locally on electric power or get an MPG boost.
The F80 is a self-charging (non-plug-in) hybrid and there is no option to drive in the zero-emission ‘electric only’ model.
Launched today, as the pinnacle of the legendary Italian motoring firm’s range, the radical new petrol-electric Ferrari F80 is designed and engineered to be practical and delightfully easy to drive on the road, but a fire-breathing beast on the track. .
Inside there is room for two people, but the focus is decidedly on the driver, with the seating arrangement described as ‘1+’, with the single passenger seat set back and relegated towards the rear to give priority to the person behind the wheel
Driver-focused: Ferrari describes the seats as 1+, with the single passenger seat retracted
The F80 joins past Ferrari icons such as the GTO, F40 and LaFerrari “in showcasing the best that the Maranello-based brand has achieved in terms of technology and performance,” the firm said.
Unveiling the new flagship engine at its headquarters in Maranello, Italy, the company said it had set “the new benchmark for innovation and engineering excellence” and added: “The F80 is Ferrari’s new supercar, a destined to join the iconic 1984 GTO models.” to the LaFerrari Aperta 2016
“With a combined maximum power of 1,200 hp, the F80’s V6 hybrid powertrain makes it the most powerful road car to ever leave Ferrari’s factory gates.”
The company says its new F80 writes “a new chapter in the history of legendary supercars bearing the Prancing Horse badge”, is “a showcase of the brand’s latest technology and performance” and represents “an extreme development of the internal combustion engine”. ‘.
And he adds: “Like all the supercars that preceded it, the F80 marks the beginning of a new design era for Ferrari, with a more taut and extreme design language that accentuates its racing soul.”
From butterfly doors to hybrid power, what F80 buyers get
The butterfly doors (similar to those used on the previous LaFerrari) open upwards with a flourish thanks to a dual-axis rotation hinge mechanism that allows them to rise vertically to an angle of almost 90°.
High-performance carbon fiber door sills help protect occupants in the event of a side collision.
Red hot: the power of the new 1,200-horsepower F80 comes from a 3.0-liter V6 engine and three electric motors
But the heart of any Ferrari is its engine. The power of the new F80 of 1,200 horsepower comes from the combination of an improved 900 horsepower 3.0-liter V6 engine (which at 300 horsepower per liter makes it the most powerful Ferrari engine ever created) to three electric motors (two in the front axle and one on the front axle). in the rear) that add another 300 HP.
All work through an 8-speed F1 DCT dual-clutch automatic gearbox with manual override.
The F80’s electric motors are the first to be developed, tested and manufactured entirely by Ferrari at its headquarters in Maranello, northern Italy, with the specific aim of maximizing performance and reducing weight.
Its design (with two motors on the front axle and one at the rear of the car) is directly inspired by Ferrari’s racing experience.
Ferrari says the engine and its components are closely derived from the 499P race car that won the last two 24 Hours of Le Mans championships. There is also technology inherited from Formula 1.
For the first time in a Ferrari there is an electric ‘e-turbo’ that inserts an electric motor between the turbine and compressor of each turbo to increase power and achieve ‘instant response’ from low revs.
Presence: If an F80 stops behind you on the highway, you’ll know, but with fewer than 800 to distribute worldwide, there won’t be much chance of that happening.
Performance is enhanced by the electric front axle, which adds four-wheel drive capability to the “available power.”
Physical buttons on the steering wheel spokes return, replacing the all-digital design used in recent years. Ferrari acknowledges that the buttons are easier to use and can be instantly identified by touch, which is a significant step change.
The F80 has the most advanced system to manage vehicle dynamics both on the road and on the track.
Its new all-round active suspension system using 48V motors creates a “supercar soul”. Meanwhile, 3D printing is being used for the first time on a Ferrari road car to manufacture the forks.
Ferrari explains: “This system meets two seemingly irreconcilable requirements: the need for very flat driving on the track, where variations in road height must be minimized as much as possible, and the need for compliance to effectively absorb bumps. on road surfaces. during normal driving.’
The result is “excellent road handling.”
The new F80 is also offered with a 7-year maintenance programme, a first for a Ferrari supercar.
Some links in this article may be affiliate links. If you click on them, we may earn a small commission. That helps us fund This Is Money and keep it free to use. We do not write articles to promote products. We do not allow any commercial relationship to affect our editorial independence.
