Ferrari's F12 will be its fastest street car yet

Ferrri's newest supercar will be named the F12, rather than the 620 as widely reported.

By Paul A. Eisenstein, The Detroit Bureau

One thing about a Ferrari, it’s able to make a fast turn, and apparently that applies to the Italian automaker itself, which has delivered a surprise today, announcing that its newest supercar will be named the Ferrari F12, rather than the 620 as widely reported.

One key detail hasn’t changed, however: the new super GT will be the fastest and most powerful automobile ever to wear the prancing pony badge.  Its 6.3-liter V12 will be able to launch the Ferrari F12 from 0 to 60 in about 3 seconds – with a top speed of more than 310 mph. 

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The replacement for the Ferrari 599 will land in an increasingly crowded supercar market that will feature the likes of the new McLaren MP4-12C and the Lamborghini Aventador, so the opportunity to deliver anything but extreme performance will be minimal.

Of course, Ferrari will also put a premium on luscious Italian styling, an advantage it figures it can leverage over the incredibly competent McLaren.  But form, here, is also supposed to enhance function.  And the new F12 will feature a new concept dubbed Aero Bridge that generates additional downforce by funneling air flowing over the hood to its flank.

Then there’s the Active Brake Cooling system, which uses active vanes to guide air, when needed, through ducts to improve brake performance. 

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While there may be subtle visual similarities to the outgoing 599, the Ferrari F12 is a completely new car, the maker insists, with an all-new chassis that features a slightly shorter wheelbase.  The engine, seats and other key components have been lowered to improve the center of gravity.

Ferrari also concentrated on lowering the new supercar’s overall weight, which comes in at 3,355 pounds, about 155 less than its predecessor.  That helps enhance acceleration, handling – and fuel economy, which is reportedly 30% better than the old Ferrari 599.

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Under the hood: a naturally-aspirated, 6.26-liter V-12 making 740 horsepower and 509 lb-ft of torque.  The maker says that will propel it to 100 kmh (62.5 mph) in 3.1 seconds, with 200 kmh (125 mph) in 8.5 seconds, with the top speed 340 kmh.  The F12 reportedly cut something on the order of 2 seconds off the laptime record for a production car at the Fiorano race circuit, at 1:23.

By comparison, the old 599 made 611 horsepower.

We should get a closer look at the new Ferrari F12 at next week’s Geneva Motor Show. 

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The fastest cars you can buy for under $30,000

Think you have to spend big if you want a fast car? Think again.

Much more affordable cars will to 60 mph in less than six seconds NULL; Some are the price of racers from Porsche or BMW one-third.

Mustang GT, Ford Mustang coupe and the Subaru Impreza WRX rally style are just a few who the economical speedsters, the luxury coupes give a run for their money to the Ford. Our list of the fastest among 30,000 US dollar has the others.

Behind the numbers
To compile this list, we have zero up 60 mph times for 2011 models of Edmunds' InsideLine.com tested. The fastest 10, the $ 30,000 cost or less made the cut.

It is no surprise that the cars with blistering really zero up 60 mph times, such as the Aston Martin V12 Vantage and the Porsche 918 Spyder hybrid-4.1 and 3.1 seconds, or - are far too expensive for this tally.

But a surprising and remarkable absence on our list that is much revered Mazda MX-5 Miata. During track nerds and weekend drivers love the small Roadster, it just had to compete not the PEP.

"" The Miata is good fun and handles and is to beat some of these vehicles on a race track, but it has not the power to accelerate from 0 to 60 quickly,"says Dan Edmunds, Director of vehicle testing for Edmunds."Handling and cornering speed are where the fun is for many, but acceleration is another factor. "

Another note: our list contains only cars. We pickup trucks would have included the $26,410 would Toyota Tundra (zero to 60 mph in 5.1 seconds) qualified have.

Search speed for Nonluxury prices
Is trick when looking for a fast car to know, where and how search: models such as the Mitsubishi Lancer Ralliart and Mazda Mazdaspeed3 zero to 60 in 5.8 and 6.4 seconds go, because short, easy and Turbo are. They need to not very large engines quickly they accelerate because no whole lot from the beginning weight.

You want the price to keep on a sporty car, it will also help give module upgrades as a whole. Take the Chevrolet Camaro, for example, which fell to make our list only short: with a Sprint time of 6.7 seconds, the v6 version was not fast enough; the $31,795 V8 SS variant, was while fast, a bit too expensive.

"Technologies such as direct injection (fuel) and variable valve timing systems... even the smallest machines generate rich maintaining adequate levels of fuel efficiency, enable", says Ed Hellwig, the editor of InsideLine.com.

The same attitude of economy should apply packages for comfort such as leather seats and technology - choose your car of easier, faster of these resources and be more cost effective. But this sacrifice of the finer things in life should not too much of a problem for most buyers in this area. Cars such as the Subaru Impreza WRX and Mazda's hatchbacks are popular for their rough-and-tumble rally personalities, not for interior perfume or extra design elements.

In other words, Ford in the last few years, small cars with high-quality and decent interior design do a great job done has. (The two ' specify Stangs on our list this obligation.)

Hyundai and Kia the same did, says Eric Lyman, the Director of the residual values for automotive analysis firm ALG. In fact, the Hyundai Genesis R-spec 3.8 Coupe, Hyundai Sonata SE and Kia Optima SX qualified for our list because they are fast and affordable.

"Hyundai has done remarkably well in the last few years, and we expect KIA on a similar trajectory, the Hyundai was," says Lyman.

A final thought because, somewhat fast and frugal: always a charge command is luxury brands such as BMW and Mercedes-Benz, which were their only sets reach for someone looking to save money. The BMW 1 Series Coupe would have our list when it was introduced, but the recent price increases have the base price, which came a 128i to $30,950. And purchase a for even, that the price is unlikely, says Edmunds.

The cars come with upgrades and extras, the numbers, even $35,000 a lucky deal would be loaded.

© 2011 Forbes.com

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