Affordable Ferrari California

  • Thread starter Thread starter exigeracer
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You don't hear about the GT2 because they don't race it. It seems Porsche has no willingness to compete with it in GT1. Kind of a shame, really, as the GT3 has taken off in fame.
 
I'd expect a 'cheap' Ferrari to cost about the same as a 911 GT3. I doubt they could knock them out to compete with a base 911, they're not really set up to do so, so aiming at the GT3 (and similar priced Aston V8 Vantage and Audi R8) will probably give potential GT3 owners a much harder choice.

*edit*

Latest F149 Mule:

 
I don't see the porsche :odd:

The Aston appears on the very front edge, the rear is almost corvette and everything inbetween almost says lil' 599 to me.
 
If you compare it to a 599 GTB, it would appear that this mule is heavily based on a 599 body. In fact, i wonder if it is the F149 or a next-gen 599 hack?
 
I like the idea of a small Ferrari, but... come on, a nearly 5 litre V8? That's hardly a small sports car engine. Can't they design a compact powerful V6 like the original 246 Dino? Three litres max and an exhaust note to die for. Something to really give the Cayman S a run for the money.
 
Away from school now. Bad news is that I'll be back home with dial-up. The new mule looks great to me. I initially thought Ferrari was going for some kind of fastback for this F149. The roof profile suggests the F430 in a way. I can imagine the final build having a small side air duct near the rear tires much like on the F430. I am envisioning the rear somewhat looking like her brother, the 599. Unless Ferrari wants to style the headllights like the Maserati Granturismo, I could see F430-style headlights or even headlights similar to the 599. They'd probably want to base a lot of the geometry and style on the car based on the 599. Maybe make it like the 599, but with some newer styling cues that may inspire future Ferraris.
 
I'm definitely seeing 599 lite, there. Still...the whole idea comes on as "Marketing exercise" to me, like just about everything else Ferrari does.
 
That picture is beautiful, but the rear end looks either too much like a Callaway or a C5 Corvette. That doesn't mean that it doesn't look good, however.
 
It looks like all Road & Track's 'sneak previews' are all very bad photoshops. Check out the one for the "Lotus Eagle"
 
Actually, it doesn't look that bad. At least this looks better than that blasphemous Lotus Eagle from that link Nissan Tuner posted (go ahead and defend the Lotus's looks). Did anyone say this was going to be the new Dino? Not yet, really. I'm not even sure they would make an honest-to-God modern re-creation of the lovely Dino 246. If this design is what Ferrari is going for, it's not really a bad design to me. I could probably do without the vents near the headlights as well as the ducts on the front bumper. Its design up front kind of reminds me of the Honda S2000. Instead of the ducts on the front bumper, I'd just go with the front bumper openings on both corners of the front bumper like on its 599 GTB Fiorano brotheren. I like this car's design. It's not a terrible-looking piece of crap in my view.

[UPDATE] So it's a doctored photo? It's still not really a bad start.
 
Why is it Ferrari V8s sound to me like Tuned Inline fours? I could swear that was a 4A-GE I just heard...
 
I think it's a combination of the amount it revs and the type of exhaust bypass valve they use. They've got a really unique sound for a V8, but a Ferrari 360 can sound like a Kawasaki Ninja, and a Toyota Celica can sound like a Ferrari 360. Not the case with their V12s though; I heard a 599 for the first time today and holy crap, what a sound.
 
They can take their Adobe Flash Player 9 and 🤬 it. :grumpy: In other words I can't listen.
 
exigeracer
I think it's a combination of the amount it revs and the type of exhaust bypass valve they use. They've got a really unique sound for a V8, but a Ferrari 360 can sound like a Kawasaki Ninja, and a Toyota Celica can sound like a Ferrari 360. Not the case with their V12s though; I heard a 599 for the first time today and holy crap, what a sound.
Click to expand...

It's also a symptom of the flat plane crank they use - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/V8 (and go down to "crankshaft design" about a quarter down the page). It allows higher revs because the 180 degree crank has lower inertia. The reason it does share sounds with things like a high-revving inline four is because the crank is effectively like two inline four cranks firing simultaneously.

The final distinct Ferrari sound is down to their exhaust manifold and valve design.
 
Jim Prower
Dont' get me wrong, it's not a BAD sound...but it lacks growl.
Click to expand...

point is the two engines sound nothing alike(or alike any inline 4)and what kind of "growl" are you going to get with a 4.3 v8 revving at(or near)the 8500rpm redline. nothing growls at that kind of engine speed, its supposed to scream
 
Oh, I guess the fact that I'm a little resentful of Ferrari's "We're the best" attitude has me rooting against them. and the fact that Clarkson fawns over them so much.

Truth comes out, huh?
 

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