While electrification is the current buzzword in the automotive world, Ferrari continues to champion its prized V8 engines
Ferrari’s most popular model line has been its mid-engine V8 series, ever since the world saw the Ferrari 308 GTS and 488 Spider in the popular 1980s American television series, Magnum, PI. Before these icons, the original model that started it all was the 308 GTB, which made its debut at the Paris Motor Show in 1975. Since then, Ferrari’s constant evolution of its V8 series has ensured its continued success.
The styling of the new F8 Tributo is a standout thanks to the talent at the Ferrari Centro Stile, the marque’s new design centre in Maranello headed up by design director Flavio Manzoni. The mid‑rear-engined car features what is known as an aerothermal design that has air flowing around the car’s exterior as well as within it via air vents and channels under the car’s skin to extract heat built up from the engine.
However, with lessons garnered from the 488 Challenge race cars and later, the superb track-level 488 Pista, the F8 is aerodynamically 10 per cent more efficient. While it generates more downforce, it has also managed to reduce drag—or the automotive equivalent of having your cake and eating it.
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A tribute to the V8 engine
As Tributo means tribute in Italian, Ferrari, in this case, is not paying homage to a person or an old Ferrari model, but its award‑winning turbocharged V8 engine. The marque has used turbocharging in its Formula One cars and 1987 F40 model, but it was only in 2015 that it started to rigorously incorporate the technology into its road cars, starting with the 670hp 488 GTB.
Turbocharging is a fairly easy way to get a huge power output, but the downside is that the elastic delivery of turbo power hurts the car’s driveability and hence, affect its appeal to the motoring enthusiast. The principal problem is called turbo lag, which Ferrari has sought to eradicate from its current V8 turbocharged engine. This required a great amount of technical expertise, with the marque emerging largely successful. The latest engine may not have the superb response of the older, naturally aspirated V8 engines but, of greater relevance, it is well within what is acceptable for the latter, which is now nearly extinct in the market. It produces prodigious power and is more fuel-efficient at the same time.
Ferrari takes the technology a step further by electronically tuning the engine to deliver power the same way its finest, normally aspirated V8 engine would—and with a high 8,000rpm engine speed and proportional power delivery. This endears sports car enthusiasts to the new turbocharged V8 engine, which produces a thrilling 720hp. But it is cleaner and quieter thanks to a gasoline particulate filter in the exhaust system in order to meet strict Euro 6d emission standards.
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