Ferrari Engine Testbed Spied

[Giygas]

Exactly. It has to be either brand new with no plastic camouflaging, which wouldn't make much sense, or based on an existing tub/design.

It would be really over-stylized for something only to test an F1 engine, but i guess the cooling ducts and other internals would allow the job to get done.

 

[XPOWER180]

I have to ask, have either of you read the original article in post one or the link that I provided?! It clearly states that it uses a modified LaFerrari chassis, it clearly states it has Ferrari 458 headlamps/frontal area and that it's testing engines!!! It's not overstyled, it's just using available parts that happen to be stylish - BECAUSE THEY'RE OFF FERRARIS!!! It is not a street car, it is not an LM car, it is not a GT racer or a Daytona prototype. It is however a development mule. These are modified current platforms/chassis that are designed to be a test bed for new engines, generaly competition engines. Lads, this isn't rocket science - all the clues you need have clearly been given in the 2 provided articles!

 

[Bo]

Well don't you think the thread title and article title are hugely misleading then?

 

[XPOWER180]

The title may be misleading but if it said 'go and jump off canary wharf' would you??! No, I'm sure that as an intelligent young man you would form a reasoned and more logical opinion based on facts and pure common sence!

 

[Bo]

But it's not telling me to kill myself, it's stating one thing in the thread title and article title and talking about something else entirely.

 

[Giygas]

Well don't you think the thread title and article title are hugely misleading then?

Probably should be changed. The car in the OP doesn't even resemble an LMP.

I have to ask, have either of you read the original article in post one or the link that I provided?! It clearly states that it uses a modified LaFerrari chassis, it clearly states it has Ferrari 458 headlamps/frontal area and that it's testing engines!!! It's not overstyled, it's just using available parts that happen to be stylish - BECAUSE THEY'RE OFF FERRARIS!!! It is not a street car, it is not an LM car, it is not a GT racer or a Daytona prototype. It is however a development mule. These are modified current platforms/chassis that are designed to be a test bed for new engines, generaly competition engines. Lads, this isn't rocket science - all the clues you need have clearly been given in the 2 provided articles!

I'm about satisfied with that.

 

[Kamuifanboy]

I have to ask, have either of you read the original article in post one or the link that I provided?! It clearly states that it uses a modified LaFerrari chassis, it clearly states it has Ferrari 458 headlamps/frontal area and that it's testing engines!!! It's not overstyled, it's just using available parts that happen to be stylish - BECAUSE THEY'RE OFF FERRARIS!!! It is not a street car, it is not an LM car, it is not a GT racer or a Daytona prototype. It is however a development mule. These are modified current platforms/chassis that are designed to be a test bed for new engines, generaly competition engines. Lads, this isn't rocket science - all the clues you need have clearly been given in the 2 provided articles!

It did say this in the article but, there's always reason to speculate. It wouldn't be the first time a company has tested more than just the engine. Often times parts or entire cars come from these test vehicles.

 

[XPOWER180]

It did say this in the article but, there's always reason to speculate. It wouldn't be the first time a company has tested more than just the engine. Often times parts or entire cars come from these test vehicles.

Totaly agree, they do! But at this point it's fair to say they wont be releasing a new hypercar, they aren't replacing the 458 so that takes care of the current mid engined road cars! The noise in the video clip is very high pitched signifying a high rev limit - something LMP cars just don't have, or a regular road car engine!

 

[Bram Turismo]

Sometimes I feel like Audi's dominance is more based on political pull than anything else... A few years back everyone would have been chasing down the R8 but Audi had regulations changed so the new (at the time) R10 would be able to run diesel.

Audi only ever ran the R8 themselves for three years; 2000, 2001 and 2002. In these years there never was any competition for them. Then Bentley won in 2003. And in 2004 and 2005 the R8 won, ran by privateers. The R10 was a dominant car as well despite a pace deficit on the Peugeot 908. But it clearly showed much knowledge Audi had, and the quality of their drivers.

Then Toyota came along and we all hoped for a close battle with Audi. It never really came to that in 2012 and this year the TS030 has been absolutely nowhere near the R18. And then is the issue of Audi having such monumentally good drivers in their cars.

I already see many predicting Porsche will claim the battle with Audi because they have Le Mans pedigree. I fail to see what all their wins 30 years ago will contribute to the speed of their new car. And as far as I know, we know very little of Porsche's drivers as well.

I see little reason why Audi shouldn't manage to carry on their dominace much longer. Both Toyota and Porsche are going to need an exceptional car to beat Audi, because the 2013 R18 has been a monster of a machine.

 

[alonsof1fan91]

Totally aggree with you @Bram Turismo

I'm not a fan of Audi, but they are the dominant force of endurance racing.

Anyone remember the 2011 race where 2 of 3 Audis crashed out and they were left with a single car against 3 Peugeots and still won with great strategies and very fast pit stops? (Peugeot lost by 13 seconds, IIRC exactly the overall pit stop time difference between both cars)

I think the Red Bull F1 team could give them a run for their money, maybe Ferrari and Mclaren too, but they would probably need alot of time and testing to compete with the overall package of the Audi team.

 

[Kamuifanboy]

Totally aggree with you @Bram TurismoAnyone remember the 2011 race where 2 of 3 Audis crashed out and they were left with a single car against 3 Peugeots and still won with great strategies and very fast pit stops? (Peugeot lost by 13 seconds, IIRC exactly the overall pit stop time difference between both cars)

Was a strange year because early on in the race, Audi was definitely scared of Peugeots pace for the first half of the race, and was pushing really hard and taking the chances. Whereas Peugeot was sitting back and being calm for the first time. Because of that, two major driver errors caused massive accidents for Audi.

2010 was the year that was a bit suspicious to me if there is any favouritism. 2 works Peugeot cars went out with Exhaust failures whilst in the lead. The other had front end damage, whilst running second, I believe. Then the Matmut private Peugeot program had the same Exhaust failure when... you guessed it, while leading! Seems a bit fishy to me...

 

[McLaren]

Well what is it then? It conforms to no current regulations, and looks like nothing except for an MC12 GT1 that's been covered in Ferrari panels and tarted up with GTE bits. It can't be anything else. You would have to be utterly stupid to build a car that has nothing to do with any series regulations rather than using a cheap platform. It's for an engine, not for aerodynamics or suspension info.

It's just a random mule. This isn't the first time Ferrari built a completely random car to test a high powered engine out of the blue. It "looking" like a MC12 doesn't mean it's being developed on one.

Enzo mule.

F50 mule.

 

[Bram Turismo]

Was a strange year because early on in the race, Audi was definitely scared of Peugeots pace for the first half of the race, and was pushing really hard and taking the chances. Whereas Peugeot was sitting back and being calm for the first time. Because of that, two major driver errors caused massive accidents for Audi.

Audi ran their cars with a faster setup because Peugeot could run a lap longer before pitting for fuel, a bit like Toyota versus Audi last year. The R18's were the faster cars, but in my view Audi's drivers totally messed it up that year by trying to overtake the GT2 cars way too agressively. I've rarely seen McNish make such an idiotic move as in 2011. And don't forget nearly 5 hours of the race were spent behind the safety car. Peugeot should have won in 2010, no excuses, but everything just turned into disaster for them.