On the Track With the Ferrari 599XX

Theoretically the 2010 Ferrari 599XX could be regarded as the greatest four-wheel folly of all time. After all, this is a car that will never be raced and must never be driven on the road. And since just 29 examples will be built over the next two years, you will almost certainly never see one. And did we mention that it costs $1.8 million?

But this folly might be the most important Ferrari in 10 years. In fact, it could be the most important Ferrari for the next 10 years, because this car is a test bed for the new automotive technologies under development at Ferrari right now.

So think of the 2010 Ferrari 599XX as the Maranello company's prime research and development project, a kind of NASA space shuttle, only painted red. The 599XX will determine the course of Ferrari's evolution in the next decade, and do so in public, where we can all bear witness to the successes and failures.

Breaking the Sound Barrier
Among all the dynamic barriers broken by the 2010 Ferrari 599XX, one particular achievement stands out. And this is that the 599XX is a full 10 seconds quicker around the Ferrari test track than the exotic Ferrari Enzo, quite an accomplishment by a conventional front-engine, rear-wheel-drive automobile.

OK, so the 599XX runs on full racing slicks, 305/30R19 front and 325/35R19 rear Michelins. This probably accounts for 4 of the 10 seconds, but the remaining 6 seconds of speed come from more power, less weight, improved aerodynamics, an advanced braking system and an array of new electronic driving aids. In fact, the 599XX incorporates more racing technology than any car that has ever turned a wheel outside of a Formula 1 paddock.

There's none of the terror normally associated with throwing a 720-hp car sideways.

It starts with the 599XX's 5,999cc V12, which has had its internals "super polished" to reduce friction, a measure that helps increase its output to 720 horsepower at 9,000 rpm and 505 pound-feet of torque at 6,500 rpm. The software for the automated manual transmission has been rewritten to produce slightly faster upshifts and much quicker downshifts, and it will shift down to whatever gear it thinks you need with just one pull on the paddle, just like a Formula 1 car. The lightweight carbon-ceramic brakes carry ferrous-iron brake pads for better modulation. Meanwhile, the car weighs just 3,153 pounds, so it has physics on its side.

The 599X also has aerodynamics on its side. We're not just talking about a few extra wings and skirts here and there. In the 599XX's trunk there is a pair of fans that actively suck air up and away from the rear aero diffuser between 30 mph and 155 mph, creating more downforce without adding more aerodynamic drag. The 599XX has 12 percent more downforce than a Ferrari 599 GTB Fiorano, yet it has 15 percent less drag, making it 30 percent more efficient overall aerodynamically.

The driving aids are controlled by two small manettino dials that sit on the center stack of instruments, not on the steering wheel. One offers three different settings for the American-designed magnetorheological dampers, while the other lets you select from no fewer than nine different programs for the stability control, compared to five on the 599 GTB Fiorano. In this car, the driving aids are not safety measures but instead performance parts, meant to enable the driver to go as fast as possible.

You might just be able to match the stability control system for a couple of corners, but over an entire lap the electronics will win every time. And that's why the XX is half a second quicker around Fiorano with the system engaged, even in the hands of Ferrari's most skillful test driver.

More Drama, but Less Intimidation
Just like the 2005 Ferrari FXX, the modified Ferrari Enzo that tested much of the technology that later found its way to the Ferrari 458 Italia, the 599XX is meant to be used at Ferrari-sponsored track events where a phalanx of Ferrari mechanics will take care of the car, so you get pretty much the same deal that Fernando Alonso and Felipe Massa get on a Formula 1 race weekend.

It's a little nerve-racking to be strapped into the 599XX while a crowd of mechanics in scarlet overalls looks on, but this is very much how Ferrari wants you to feel. After all, the 599XX has as much downforce as a GT2-specification Ferrari F430 racing car for the 24 Hours of Le Mans and the same selection of driving aids as a 2007 Formula 1 car, so the experience should be hugely dramatic, very loud and mind-numbingly fast.

And yet the experience is not remotely intimidating. Quite the opposite, in fact. Inside the cabin, the 599XX feels like half road car, half racer, with a viselike bucket seat to hold you in position but also cargo pockets in the doors. On the dashboard you find a new feature called "Virtual Race Engineer." This is a big digital screen where the instruments would normally sit, and there are five different menus to scroll through, all meant to help you get the most out of the car.

Track Day
When you're accelerating in a straight line, the 2010 Ferrari 599XX feels almost impossibly fast (and sounds like it, too, thanks to the car's lightweight, titanium exhaust system). You don't bother with 1st or 2nd once you're up and running, and they're gone in a blur. Once in 3rd gear the V12 still picks up so cleanly and so quickly that you need to concentrate hard in order to keep from hitting the rev limiter. It gets to 100 km/h (62 mph) in 2.9 seconds and the overall gearing limits top speed to 196 mph.

But it's the 599XX's chassis and its various aero and electronic aids that make this Ferrari feel so otherworldly to drive. It's astonishing to find that you can throw the thing at a corner and then let the electronics guide you through, and yet you never feel as if the intervention of the electronics is very intrusive. Basically, you just aim it and the XX goes. Maybe there's a hint of understeer in tight corners, but otherwise the car feels neutral for the rest of the time.

Once you reach the middle of a corner you can open up the throttle 100 percent and simply wait for the system to decide when there's enough traction to actually deliver full throttle. As it monitors the slip angle of the car as well as other dynamic parameters, the car then gradually gives you more power, but only when it knows it is capable of getting that power to the road. And then, presto, you exit the corner perfectly, with precisely the right amount of adhesion.

Get used to the way it works and you can dial down the level of electronic assistance and perform perfect drifts — not the big, dramatic ones that photographers like, but instead the small, efficient ones that stopwatches prefer. And there's none of the terror normally associated with throwing a 720-hp car sideways.

The XX Experience
Driving the 2010 Ferrari 599XX really is an otherworldly experience, one that a few lucky people are going to enjoy on a level that's never been available before outside of a Formula 1 car.

And if you think the $1.8-million price still sounds a bit steep, bear in mind that Ferrari will throw in two free track test sessions per year with the asking price, complete with full technical backup, plus a ticket to its end-of-year Ferrari bash at Mugello. And you get to become a Ferrari development driver as well.

To be honest, though, the 2010 Ferrari 599XX itself is priceless, as is the driving experience it offers. The other stuff is just a bonus.

Portions of this content have appeared in foreign print media and are reproduced with permission.