15 Jan 08
Ferrari is experimenting with ethanol: the F430 Spider Biofuel concept runs on E85 fuel, an 85% ethanol-gasoline blend. It's been developed with feedback from the FIA GT and American Le Mans Series races, in which the F430 GT ran on a 10% ethanol blend, as well as the F1 team, which has been using a 5.75% ethanol fuel. Indeed, all current production Ferraris can currently use a 10% ethanol (E10) fuel.
Modifications have been made to the engine's fuel feed system and electronic control unit, but the V8 is otherwise unchanged. It can still run on petrol, but when using ethanol, there's a 10bhp power hike, torque rises 4% and carbon dioxide emissions are reduced by 5%. Ferrari is aiming to cut its total carbon dioxide emissions by 40% by 2012, and using biofuels is no doubt to be part of its strategy.
Ferrari is also showing off its 430 Scuderia coupe and 599 GTB Fiorano, and it says that it delivered over 6,400 cars to customers in 2007, a 14% increase on 2006's sales. It sold 1,762 cars in the USA and Canada last year, and has 32 dealerships in the US and four in Canada. Its American activities this year will include, besides track events for the FXX Evolution participants, the Ferrari Challenge race series, with events in Florida, Georgia, California, Quebec and New Jersey, and the Ferrari North America Driving School at Mont Temblant, Quebec.
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