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Ferrari patents a fancy and fascinating electric turbocharger

While turbocharging has improved vastly over the years, and it has enabled cars to become both more powerful and more efficient, there's always room for improvement. Turbochargers scavenge exhaust gas pressure and use it to turn a compressor that forces intake air into the cylinders. However, as the patent points out, this means the intake compressor and the exhaust turbine are physically coupled, and have to spin at the same rate. Ferrari's design divorces the two, and it's a happy breakup. The key is hooking up the two components of the turbo to their own individual electric motors, with an energy storage device in between. It's different than the electric supercharger systems you have seen on certain Audi products, for example. Those systems recover energy like a hybrid, store it, and then use it to drive an intake compressor. It supplements conventional turbochargers that harvest energy from the exhaust. In systems like Audi's, the electric supercharger is supplementing the sequential conventional turbochargers when they're not operating efficiently, at very low RPM in particular. It works well, but it's complicated, and it is a workaround for the limitations of a conventional turbocharger. See below for an animation of the Audi system. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. Usually, optimizing a turbo is a compromise between figuring out what RPM is ideal for each side to spin at to generate power. A smaller compressor generates boost more quickly, but loses efficiency at higher RPM. But there's way more energy in high-RPM exhaust gasses. By hooking up the turbine to an electric motor instead, you can harvest energy from the exhaust throughout the rev range, and particularly when the engine is pushing lots of gasses through. And you can store that energy in a battery if it's not needed at that moment. The intake-side compressor also has a reversible electric motor attached. It is not physically connected to the turbine, so it can operate at any time the computers decide it's beneficial. As engine RPM increases, the compressor doesn't have to increase its speed beyond its optimal range, so there's less energy wasted. And at low RPM situations, when a conventional turbocharger wouldn't have enough exhaust gas passing through its turbine side to generate useful boost in the compressor side, the electric motor can spin up Ferrari's divorced compressor to provide some boost.

Bonhams auction at Quail Lodge led by 1959 Ferrari 250 GT Competizione

It doesn't take too much knowledge of the classic car market to figure out that, when it comes to values, Ferrari leads the pack. Bonhams 2015 Quail Lodge Auction did absolutely nothing to buck that trend with four of the five top sellers bearing the Prancing Horse. While none came near the auction house's sale of a 1962 Ferrari 250 GTO for $38.115 million last year, there were still beauties in the bunch. The leader among these thoroughbreds was a 1959 Ferrari 250 GT Competizione Alloy Berlinetta (pictured above) that went for $8.525 million, including the buyer's premium. It was one of just seven vehicles made to this specification and raced extensively when new, scoring a win in competition at Watkins Glen. A classic 1971 Ferrari 365 GTS/4 Daytona Spider brought $2.64 million, and a somewhat more modern 1985 288 GTO had the hammer drop at $2.365 million. The final Prancing Horse in the top five was a 1951 212 Inter Cabriolet with a body by Vignale for $2.2 million. It scored second-in-class at the 2014 Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance. Overturning the Ferrari trend, a 1955 Lancia Aurelia B24S Spider America rounded out the top five with a sale price of $1,952,500. While these are the most expensive vehicles to cross the block, you can check Bonhams' website for the results on all 111 lots. It's a wonderful array of largely European sports cars that are all in top shape.

Ferrari 812 GTS is the droptop 812 Superfast we only dreamed of before

Ferrari just officially revealed the convertible version of the 812 Superfast, and it’s called the 812 GTS. Not Spider, or Aperta or anything in between, just GTS. Frankly, itÂ’s likely going to be even more enjoyable than the regular 812 Superfast on account of its open-air configuration. Ferrari alluded to the sound being downright glorious on a couple of occasions already. “The result is a full-bodied V12 sound in the cabin in all kinds of driving but which is particularly appreciable when the roof is open,” Ferrari says. “The electric rear screen, which acts as a wind-stop, makes the car truly usable with the top down, while, with the top up, it [the rear screen] can be left open to allow occupants to continue to luxuriate in the naturally-aspirated V12Â’s unique soundtrack.” Yeah, we sure would love to “luxuriate” in the noises that 6.5-liter V12 is making. Power isnÂ’t changed between the GTS and Superfast, so itÂ’s still making the same 789 horsepower and 530 pound-feet of torque. The 8,900 rpm redline is the real draw here, and we canÂ’t even begin to imagine how epic it sounds with the top down. Ferrari claims this amount of power makes the GTS the “most powerful production spider on the market.” Fantastico. As you stare at the car, itÂ’s pretty easy to tell what Ferrari did to turn this into a “convertible.” The roof is a power-operated hardtop, and there isnÂ’t a whole lot to it. That big panel behind your head with the twin flying buttresses opens up to allow the roof to sit under it all, leaving passengers with a relatively small opening above their heads. Still, thatÂ’s plenty of opening to let the wind mess up your hair and the exhaust note to more easily reach your ears. Ferrari says it had to redesign the rear of the car to make this work. From the windshield forward, itÂ’s basically an 812 Superfast, though. The buttresses set it apart from the Superfast the most, as the coupe just has a long, sloping glass rear. Ferrari also changed the rear diffuser design in order to compensate for the loss of downforce from the elimination of the rear wheel arch bypass duct.  The last major mechanical change Ferrari made for the GTS comes via the seven-speed dual-clutch transmission in the form of shorter ratios. What does all this mean for the performance? The 812 GTS will get to 62 mph in under 3 seconds and all the way to 124 mph in only 8.3 seconds. Its top speed is also exactly the same as the Superfast at 211 mph.