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2017 Ferrari GTC4Lusso First Drive

The Ferrari FF is a monster, a four-wheel-drive bread van with a 6.3-liter V12 that people like us have adored since it arrived in 2011. It's great to drive and better to look at, a shooting brake with more power, less practicality, and a higher price tag than pretty much anything else in this shape. Ferrari has sold almost 6,000 of them, handily beating its target of 800 per year. It was a success by any measure. Its replacement, the GTC4Lusso, might sound like something out of Ferrari's mad, bad Sixties brochures, but under the skin is pretty much the same aluminum-alloy space frame of the FF. Ferrari has carefully listened to its critics on practicality, price, and power, and duly made the GTC more powerful, pricier, and not much more practical. There have been some slight stylistic adjustments. A scallop was cut into the front fender and door skins to reduce the visual weight, and the roofline has been extended, terminating in a slight spoiler at the waist, which is said to improve aerodynamic efficiency by up to six percent. It looks sharp and mean on its 20-inch five-spoke alloys, although some of the detail, such as the wing vents and the absurdly long hood, verge on the cartoonish. The basic 65-degree, 6.3-liter, quad-cam V12 stays largely the same, but has a higher compression ratio and redesigned cylinder heads and pistons, which make the fuel/air mix burn more efficiently and consequently provides 30 more horsepower. The engine shrieks to 8,250 rpm, but peak power is 681 hp at 8,000 rpm with peak torque of 514 pound-feet produced at 5,750 rpm. Top speed remains the same at 208 mph, but the 0–62 mph acceleration time comes down slightly to 3.4 seconds. US gas mileage is yet to be homologated, but the European-cycle figures improve slightly – not that you care. The engine drives a rear-mounted, seven-speed, twin-clutch transaxle and then there is that extraordinary four-wheel-drive system, which consists of a simple, helical-cut, hydraulically controlled gearbox running off the front of the crankshaft. It weighs 100 pounds and has two speeds plus reverse and a couple of Haldex-type clutches to activate each wheel when required in first to fourth gears and at speeds below 124 mph. New for the GTC is a ZF rear-steering system, a ram powered by an electric motor that pushes the rear suspension against its bushings to give a couple of degrees steering in either direction.

Ferrari wants more hybrids to lift volume to 10,000 cars a year

Ferrari CEO Sergio Marchionne is looking towards hybridization as the way of bumping the Italian automaker's production figures to 10,000 vehicles per year by 2025, reports Automotive News. To do this, Marchionne plans to hybridize every vehicle with a Ferrari badge starting in 2019. As Automotive News points out, Ferrari is dedicated to delivering roughly 8,000 vehicles this year. The automaker has plans in place to raise that figure to 9,000 cars by 2019. Raising its volume numbers to 10,000 vehicles a year, though, would require Ferrari to meet certain fuel economy and emissions requirements, which it currently does not have to do, reports Automotive News. According to Automotive News, in addition to producing more hybrids, Marchionne is also interested in producing Ferraris that appeal to a larger demographic, helping to increase sales. As Automotive News points out, the recent biturbo V8 GTC4Lusso T is an example of this trend, being both more useable and less expensive than its V12 counterpart. Performance will still be a priority. The CEO believes hybrid powertrains are a way to "yield additional performance," reports Automotive News. This isn't the first time Marchionne has spoken about increasing Ferrari's production as the CEO hinted at upping the automaker's output to 10,000 vehicles annually back in 2014. At that time, Marchionne also revealed that Ferrari would come out with a new car every year between 2014 and 2018. More recently, Ferrari announced plans to increase production to approximately 9,000 cars per year by 2019. Related Video:

FCA likely won't sell more than 10% of Ferrari stake

The initial public offering of Ferrari on the stock market is likely coming in the second or third quarter of this year, but apparently the exact stake of the Prancing Horse set to hit the exchange isn't final. When FCA first announced the plan to spin off Ferrari, the idea was for 10 percent of the stock to go on the open market in the US and maybe also in Europe. Another 10 percent would go to company vice chairman and Enzo's son Piero Ferrari, and the remaining 80 percent would be divided among current shareholders, including a large portion for the Agnelli family. FCA CEO Sergio Marchionne hasn't finished tweaking those numbers, though. Last month, he indicated the automaker might put more than 10 percent of Ferrari on the market to boost liquidity. However, the original proposal has now returned to the table. "I don't believe we will go above 10 percent," Marchionne said, according to Automotive News, but also noted things weren't final. By increasing the Ferrari stock on the open market for the IPO, FCA decreases the amount going to current shareholders, according to Automotive News. With that being the case, don't expect too much of the Prancing Horse to be offered up to investors when the stock hits the market. Related Video: