Ferrari LaFerrari (2013) 950bhp Enzo successor unveiled

This is the Ferrari LaFerrari, a 950bhp supercar that succeeds the Ferrari Enzo and is poised to take on the McLaren P1. It’s Ferrari’s fastest ever road car, and just 499 LaFerraris will be built. Read on for the full performance specs on the new Ferrari LaFerrari.

A big V12 of course. The 6.3-litre engine has the same capacity as the V12 found in the front-engined Ferrari F12, but it’s been reworked for the LaFerrari’s mid-engined layout. Power has gone up from the F12’s 730bhp at 8250rpm, to 789bhp produced at a crazy 9000rpm. And the V12 will keep revving to 9250rpm. Peak torque is 516lb ft at 6750rpm.

But like the McLaren P1, the Ferrari LaFerrari is a hybrid. It’s the company’s first ever hybrid, but forget any nonsense about zero emission running because the electric motor in LaFerrari is designed purely to increase its performance. The 120kW motor adds 161bhp and 199lb ft, which equates to combined peaks of 950bhp and 664lb ft.

The hybrid system actually has two motors, one to drive the ancillaries, and the more powerful units to drive the wheels. The battery pack (weighing just 60kg) is attached to the floor of the carbon chassis, and Ferrari says the batteries are charged under braking, on the overrun, or even during cornering when the V12’s excess torque isn’t sent to the wheels but converted to energy to be stored.

The electric motor is coupled to a double-clutch gearbox, which in turn drives the rear wheels. We don’t yet know the weight of the LaFerrari, but it’ll accelerate to 0-62mph in under three seconds, to 124mph in less than seven seconds, and to 186mph in just 15 seconds. That, and it’s over three seconds quicker than the F12 around Ferrari’s Fiorano test track, and over five seconds faster than the Enzo. If you hadn’t guessed already, that makes it Ferrari’s fastest ever road car. The top speed is over 217mph.

Ferrari hasn’t released any further details of the hybrid drivetrain, but despite the extra power over the F12, the LaFerrari is cleaner: 330g/km versus 350g/km CO2

The chassis is made from four different types of carbonfibre, and built in the same department as Ferrari’s F1 cars. The seating position is fixed (the steering wheel and pedal box are adjustable) and Ferrari integrating that and the battery compartment into the chassis has helped improve rigidity and stiffness over the Enzo. The centre of gravity is also 35mm lower. Braking is by Brembo carbon-ceramic discs, and the tyres are Pirelli P-Zeros.

From the front the Ferrari LaFerrari resembles the track-only Ferrari Enzo FXX, but the rest of the design is much smoother and sleeker than its predecessor, with curvaceous lines akin to the 458 Italia. All the vents and intakes have specific functions, but Ferrari says inspiration has come from both its own sports prototypes of the late 1960s (the more exuberant forms) and its latest F1 cars (the central pylon on which the front spoiler hangs, and the central rear light). There are active guide vanes under the front of the car, and moveable diffusers and a rear spoiler at the back of LaFerrari.

Inside all the Ferrari LaFerrari’s major controls (throttle and brakes aside) are grouped onto the steering wheel: there are longer gearshift paddles, and all the secondary functions. A raised spar separating the driver and passenger carries the controls for the F1 dual-clutch gearbox.

Perhaps. The last limited-edition Ferrari supercar, the Enzo, was named after the Italian car company’s founder, so this new car is 'The Ferrari'. But do we prefix it with ‘the’? And what do the French call it? La LaFerrari. We digress…

Bring on the comparisons with the McLaren P1!

By Ben Pulman