Here it is, folks. The $3,000,000, already-sold-out, Ferrari FXXK – the made-for-track-only, experimental hybrid masterpiece. Up until today – we have only seen renders of this car – but behold, we can now view the new Ferrari FXXK in the flesh.
The not-road-legal FXXK uses the same basic V12-plus-electric drivetrain as the road-going LaFerrari, but makes 101bhp more power, boosting total output to 1036bhp: 848bhp coming from the 6.3-litre naturally aspirated V12 (at 9200rpm!) and 187bhp from the electric motor.
Combined torque stands at ‘over 664lb ft’. Keep in mind this car is developed as a high-revving track monster, not exactly an earth-rotating torque monster like you may see coming out of the United States – but 664+ lb ft. torque is still ridiculous.
The engine has been dramatically overhauled for track duty: new camshafts, redesigned intake manifolds and, most intriguingly, mechanical tappets replacing the traditional hydraulic efforts.
Ferrari also claims that the ‘silencers’ on the exhaust system have been ‘eliminated’. This may cause hearing damage, but who cares.
Though there are no claims for a 0-60mph time, that extra power – along with some Pirelli slicks – which feature embedded sensors feeding back information on longitudinal, lateral and radial acceleration – will mean a substantial decrease on the road-going LaFerrari’s 2.9-second benchmark. So in other words, it will be downright-scary fast.
Aero? You can’t handle the aero. The FXXK has sprouted a plethora of additional downforce devices, innovations Ferrari says are derived from its expertise in endurance racing’s GT genre.
At the front sits a deep, double-deck downforce wing, with vertical fins that channel air over the car’s rear, and boost the efficiency of the aerodynamic underbody.
There’s yet more craziness in the rear, where a monster diffuser optimises air extraction from the underbody. Can you imagine trying to park this car in the streets of La Jolla or New York?
Most interesting are those fin-winglet wings on either side of the retractable rear spoiler. In ‘low-drag’ configuration (with the rear spoiler retracted), these fins function as guide vanes, while boosting the spoilers efficiency in ‘high downforce’ mode.
Ferrari says it all adds up to 50% more downforce than the standard LaFerrari can muster, the FXXK generating nearly 1,200 lbs at 133mph.
The LaFerrari’s F1-derived HY-KERS electric system has been overhauled for race duty, too, with four modes now selectable from the steering wheel controls. The modes are: Qualify (for maximum performance), Long Run, Manual Boost and Fast Charge. Speaking of those steering wheel controls, you’ll also be able to call up a newly calibrated version of Ferrari’s genius Slide Slip Angle Control traction technology, which will do a far better version of channeling power to those 345-wide rear tires than your puny right foot will ever manage.
A point of order: this is not, officially at least, the LaFerrari FXXK. Ferrari refers to it simply as the FXXK, with no mention of the LaFerrari anywhere in its press release. The ‘FXX’ part you’ll be familiar with, while the ‘K’ refers to its kinetic energy recovery system. Any resemblance to a popular expletive is purely coincidental. We still consider the base LaFerrari the ‘F70′, anyway.
Like Ferrari’s previous XX models, the FXXK won’t qualify for any existing race series, with ‘client-test drivers’ feeding into a Maranello ‘test program’ over the next two years.
Ferrari hasn’t yet announced how much you’ll pay for the privilege of sort-of-owning an FXXK, or even how many will be built. Based on previous XX models, we’d suspect a price tag somewhere around $2.5 Million, and a production run of 30 cars.
