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today’s engineers understand they are designing cars that have to be appreciated at different levels, that the straightforward goal of pure performance is no longer practical in an era when cars can easily be designed that are faster than you can reasonably drive them on the road. We see the focus of design shifting to the experience of performance… Even Ferrari tunes its exhaust to sound racy — at the expense of power. – Sam Posey, Road & Track

At the Geneva motor show, Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo announced more details on an upcoming model than his PR department might have been expecting.

It’s not the entry level Ferrari some were expecting to be the spiritual successor to the Dino but rather a V8 powered front engine rear drive coupe. Apparently many people balk at the mid engined F430 and the V12 599 and 612.

The car will make its official debut at the Paris show in October…

While it will be priced above the F430 it will share a version of that car’s V8, with Direct Injection and a dual clutch sequential gearbox likely.

In this piece on the new TT (worth a read in its own right) one of my favorite new journalists explains the differences between three kinds of cars. So next time someone says one car is ‘better’ than another, ask them to clarify which kind of car they gravitate towards…

The Driver’s Car – It’s hard to explain unless you’ve driven one, but there are cars in this world that are just as fun to drive at 15 mph through a school zone as they are to blast down back roads. They are cars like the first-generation Mazda Miata, the original VW GTI, and the BMW E30 M3. They are cars that read the road surface to your fingertips with all the subtlety of a megaphone, that demand all of your attention all of the time. They don’t necessarily need to be that capable (and by modern standards, those that I’ve mentioned aren’t); they just need to be communicative and involving.

The Atari Car – Cars to which I refer as “Atari Cars” are a modern phenomenon. They are cars that feel like a video game. Atari Cars are immensely capable – they can often out-perform supercars without even breaking a sweat. And that lack of sweat defines them – they shrug off insane speeds and laugh at corners. Nothing unsettles their suspension. They’re so good that the driver has no idea how fast he’s actually driving. These are cars like Audi’s very own RS4, a Mercedes E63 AMG, Bentley Continental GT, and, to a lesser extent, cars like the Subaru WRX STi.

The Sports Car – A sports car (in the World According to Me) is that rare car that combines the communication of a Driver’s Car with the capability of an Atari Car. The quintessential sports car that comes to mind is the Porsche 911. It, like other sports cars (the Ferrari F430 and Lotus Elise come to mind), is among the world’s most capable machines, and yet remains so communicative and interactive that its owners take the long way to the grocery store.

The Ferrari 550 was the first Ferrari we lusted after – its FR (front engine, rear drive) layout giving a more benign, intuitive feel than the edgy 355 while the intelligence of the variable damping and the engine managment made it drivable at real speeds on real roads.

When the 355 evolved to the 360 it was a step in the right direction in every sense but the increased size. Yet when the 575 replaced the 550 Modificato something went terribly wrong. The standard car was a dynamic embarrasment, set up for those who will pose as they amble down Rodeo drive. Only by ordering the Fiorani handling pack did it feel as a Ferrari should.*

Now Ferrari is readying the 600M. Needless to say, we’ve got our fingers crossed…

*We go into more detail in this piece, originally published over 3 years ago on 11.19.02:

A Tale of Two Suspensions

When ordering your new Ferrari 575M, be sure to specify the Fiorano handling pack, which includes stiffer springs that lower the car by 15mm, a larger rear sway bar, new software to firm up the steering assist and the dampers, and high-performance brake pads (as opposed to?).

I’m the last person to claim that the firmer of two available suspensions is the default choice – many times the opposite is true. It is therefore essential to drive the suspension you’re about to order; reputation -as this example shows – is not enough. Considering the comission a Ferrari salesperson makes on a sale, he should be more than willing to comply – the question is: will yours?

related post: 1

Every time we drive a Acura RL we’re stunned at the effect Honda’s SH-AWD has. Coast through a corner and the chassis feels a bit remote and nose heavy. But like an WRX, this car is meant to be driven. Hard. As with most high performance AWD cars you have to be dedicated and get on the power early, trusting that the system will sort things out. But unlike most AWD cars doing so will not result in terminal understeer – the system can shunt nearly all of the engine’s power to the outside rear wheel, rotating the car into a turn by overdriving it like a tank’s outside track. The only other car that can pull this trick: the Ferrari F430 thanks to its ‘E-Diff’.

Sadly, every review we’ve seen of the car save one has chastised the RL for having too much understeer. What these irresponsibly clueless scribes are failing to take into account is their own inability to extract the car’s potential. Every car requires a certain technique to make it come alive, and like the E46 M3 (also accused of understeering by the meek) you simply need to squeeze the loud pedal when you’re tempted to release it to make move to neutraility and beyond. (Today’s high horsepower rear drive cars need larger tires in the rear than in the front and you have to route a lot of power through them while cornering to overcome the inerent understeer of having more available grip in the rear than the front. In the RL’s case you’re overcoming the transverse front engine layouts inherent nose-heaviness).

Go ahead – stomp on it and feel what only we and 4car’s John Simister seem to have picked up on. (Simister is incorrect in stating the system can send 100% to the outside rear – the maximum is limited by design to 70%).

We never thought we’d say it but the Acura RL is the car we’d chose if we were going to be timed on an unfamiliar road. It may not walk with the stiff kneed swagger of the M45, 5 series, A6 etc., but it handles far beyond what its ride quality suggests. We can’t wait to see what the system does to the upcoming RD-X small SUV from Acura.

Bravo Honda. Now please give us the shorter gearing of the European market car. (Rev matched downshifts when in manumatic mode and a factory A-Spec chassis option wouldn’t hurt either).

NOTE: Newer readers may have missed this link from an earlier post now in our archive).

UPDATE: Another of the few that ‘gets it’ – MPH’s Eddie Alterman – adds:

the car never feelslike a front-driver, with the inevitable tugging on the steering wheel. Yet it’s no rear-drive tire smoker, either.
The car just feels perfectly set up for every corner, shifting its weight predictably through turns. Its driving experience is so tight and direct that it sometimes seems as if the two rear seats aren’t there.

UPDATE 2: Edmunds also favors the RL among AWD luxury sedans (ahead of the quietly revised 5 series and the rorty M35x):

all-wheel drive isn’t just about blizzards and black ice. Adding all-wheel drive to front-wheel-drive platforms, like those under the Acura RL and Audi A6, also gives the car more balanced handling… Not only did the RL post the fastest speed through the slalom course, it was the easiest car to drive through it. Keep your foot in the gas, point it in the right direction and the computer does the rest. In the other cars, all-wheel drive is almost an afterthought. In the Acura, it’s as important to its performance as the engine.

UPDATE 3: We forgot to mention an option worth considering that is not listed in the brochure, the A-Spec kit.

The RL A-SPEC package enhances the already crisp handling and aggressive styling with a track-tuned suspension package that lowers the car by approximately 3/4 inch, 18-inch alloy wheels equipped with Michelin Pilot Sport [A/S] tires, an underbody kit, and a deck lid spoiler. The RL A-SPEC kit will be priced at approximately $5,500 plus dealer installation and covered under a factory warranty. [source: Acura Press release]

(We’d opt only for the suspension package, tuned by the same man who worked with Aryton Senna to dial in the suspension of the NSX - the wheels and tires detract more from ride quality and foul weather traction than they contribute to handling).

As horsepower numbers climb ever upwards, we predict an increasng number of manufacturers will turn to all wheel drive.

As much as we advocate traction control to limit wheelspin or electronic stability control to prevent loss of control, both systems are subtractive – i.e. they use the brakes which can a) slow the car down and b) overcook the brakes.

The problem with all wheel drive is that – weight aside – it affects the steering: drive an original BMW X5 (constant 63:37 split) and an updated one with xDrive (rear drive until slip occurs) and you’ll feel the difference.

Now Ferrari is experimenting with a system that (like BMW’s xDrive or Infiniti’s Intelligent all wheel drive) will send power to the front wheels only when needed.

The system will only be engaged for short bursts and so should be seen more as a way to reduce power-on oversteer rather than to air winter traction, etc. We don’t expect it to replace the current traction or stability control systems, but it should reduce the number of times those systems will have to ‘subtract’ from the fun quotient…

Many buyers are wowed on the test drive by the Tiptronic style automatic transmissions that Porsche pioneered in the early 90s, but in reality they’re just automatic transmissions with more control over what gear is being used. Owners soon tire of stubborn computer overrides and jerky shifts and leave the car in Drive, negating any potential benefit.

More recently there has been a trend towards so-called Sequential Manual transmissions – the difference here is that the transmission is identical to a manual but the clutch is manipulated for you. These systems lack the smoothing effect of a torque converter and even the fastest ones seem to take ages (while they’re faster than even the most skilled driver, said driver has nothing to do but wait for the next gear to be ready…)

While we prefer such transmissions to your average automatic, they pale in comparison to exceptional automatics – e.g. ones that lock the torque converter whenever possible such as those in Mercedes AMG models or the new VW Jetta. These sequential manuals sully the driving experience wherever they’re used (the Maserati Quattroporte & new BMW M5/M6 are two examples that spring to mind).

We’re convinced the future of transmissions is the twin-clutch sequential gearbox available in some Audis and Volkswagens. Called DSG, this box has separate clutches for the odd and even numbered gears – as one clutch starts to disengage the other engages without the slightest hesitation. Shifts are so fast and clean you’ll scratch your head in disbelief and the cars tend to be quicker to boot: the R version of the upcoming Golf is .3 seconds faster to 60 with the DSG system than with the manual (and unlike the manual’s claimed number the DSG car’s is repeatable by the average driver without abusing the car).

Many have waxed lyrical about the shift speed and smoothness of the DSG box – 4car’s Euan Sey recently described it as

instantly slotting in the next ratio… without so much as a polite cough.

while Motor Trend’s Neil Chirico says:

You can opt for a standard stick, but why? The DSG is faster and delivers shifts as smooth as in the best automatics. And it blows away everything else in the clutch-pedal-less manual-transmission category. BMW’s base-level Sequential Manual Gearbox? Nein. Ferrari’s pricey F1? Arrivederci. Toyota’s SMG? Sayonara, too… There’s none of the jerky action the others dole out while in automatic mode…

This type of gearbox is planned for use in the next M3 (they’ll call it DKG) and Mitsubishi Evolution and we’d hoping Porsche will release a version of VW/Audi’s DSG in the 911 and Boxster/Cayman. It’s only a matter of time before others catch on as well…

(If you can’t wait for it to trickle down to all cars, go try a VW Jetta with the 2.0T or TDI motors, the Audi A3 with the 2.0T or the soon to be replaced TT with the 3.2L VR6).

UPDATE: The $1,000,000+, 1,000hp+ Bugatti Veyron is fitted with a 7 speed DSG gearbox. According to 4car’s Andrew Frankel

With the twin-clutch DSG gearbox, changes are so fast the human brain cannot actually discern any pause at all between shifts. It is also seamlessly smooth, so the effect, particularly if you don’t bother with the paddles at all and let the electronics change up at peak power for you, is that the engine has no gearbox…