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Leaked Ferrari presentation drops details on super hot 488

Ferrari convened a gathering of dealers and special customers recently, and presented them with some of the specs on that special, monstrous version of the Ferrari 488 that's been percolating in public for nearly a year. Someone in the audience snapped pics of a few slides, those pics made their way to Ferrari Photo Page, and now we can assemble the loose bolts of rumor into something approaching a real vehicle. Not just "a" vehicle, but the most powerful Ferrari V8 the company has ever made. Ferrari uses the 488 GTB as the base for its Ferrari Challenge racing series; now the Italian carmaker's returned the Challenge motorsport lessons to the production car. First, the coupe almost certainly won't be called 488 GTO. Ferrari owners in the Ferrari Chat forum have been wheedling their dealers for information, and several contributors to an 80-page thread attested that even the dealers don't know the name of the coupe yet. The presentation refers to it as "New V8 Sport Special Series." This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. The slides also note the "highest horsepower increase vs donor car for a V8 special series," so watchers expect more than 700 horsepower from the 488's 3.9-liter twin-turbo engine; production numbers come in at 660 horsepower and 561 pound-feet of torque. The engine making all that fuss is an evolution of the racing unit in the Challenge car, is ten percent lighter than the production car motor, and can produce a "unique track-like sound" – as if Ferraris haven't been doing that since the 1960s. The coming coupe gets more carbon fiber than ever seen in a Ferrari production car: the hood, bumpers, and large rear spoiler come in resin-soaked cloth, as do the dashboard, center tunnel, and the 20-inch wheels. Those wheels, dressed in Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2 rubber, are 40-percent lighter than stock alloys. The cabin floor will be made of aluminum, with added lightness courtesy of less sound deadening and, thinner fixtures like side windows, and the omission of non-essential parts like the glove compartment. New S-ducts in front and a GTE-inspired rear diffuser help increase aero efficiency by 20 percent over the standard 488.

No electric Ferraris before 2022, says Marchionne

Ferrari is readjusting its electric car timeline. Earlier, the company's chairman Sergio Marchionne had said that an electric Ferrari would be part of its 2018-2022 strategy, but now it seems that the advent of the full-electric era is being pushed into the future. As recently as January's NAIAS show in Detroit, Marchionne stated, "If there's an electric supercar to be built, then Ferrari will be the first." Automotive News reports that Marchionne recalibrated that claim in a company meeting on April 13, saying that a full-electric Ferrari "is not relevant at the moment." If there will be an electric Ferrari, it will be announced after 2022. Earlier than any of that, Marchionne had called an electric Ferrari "an obscene concept," adding, "You would have to shoot me first." It is likelier that Ferrari will keep gasoline engines as part of all its models for now, even if they get boosted by hybrid technology. Marchionne said Ferrari is debating which of its production models will be electrified in the future; earlier in Detroit, he had said that the company's first series production hybrid will debut at the Frankfurt motor show in fall of 2019. There have been limited-edition hybrid Ferraris already, the LaFerrari and its topless Aperta version. Related Video: Image Credit: Autoblog Quebec Rumormill Ferrari Electric Hybrid Supercars Sergio Marchionne ferrari hybrid electric ferrari

Touring Superleggera Berlinetta Lusso makes us swoon [w/video]

For the past three years, we've been fortunate enough to have the folks at Carrozzeria Touring Superleggera bring something very special to the Geneva Motor Show: the Alfa Romeo 8C-based Disco Volante. First, it showed up in red (twice), and then last year, arrived in a very stunning shade of green. If we're honest, we were kind of hoping there'd be a further evolution of the Disco on display at this year's show, but then Touring unveiled the beauty you see here. Meet the Ferrari F12-based Berlinetta Lusso. What we really like about the Berlinetta Lusso is how closely it resembles the F12 on which its based, but with some rough edges smoothed out. Despite looking similar, almost the entire body is new, with smoother creases and more retro-inspired design cues. Honestly, to our eyes, it looks better than the Prancing Horse's original. Mechanically, it's pretty much all F12 underneath, right down to the screaming 6.3-liter V12 with 703 horsepower. We certainly don't have any complaints about that. Get a load of this beauty in the images above, and video below.