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MEET THE FERRRARI FXX K

10 years ago, Ferrari launched the FXX, an Enzo-based, track-only monstrosity that you couldn'’t bring home to mother. No, literally, you couldn’'t. Maranello retained custody of the unholy beasts, hauling them to events for owners to race against each other. Hailed as a pinnacle of Ferrari tech, of sorts—a crowdfunded R&D program, one might say—the XX program continued with a 599 variant. Ferrari has now unveiled the third car in the program’s history, the LaFerrari-based FXX K. €2.5 million (roughly $3 million) buys you the car and two years of Ferrari’s stewardship. It’s also perhaps the most mind-bending thing to roll out of Maranello since the F40 set us on our ears more than a quarter-century ago. We went to Abu Dhabi to see the latest, craziest horse prance around the Yas Marina Circuit. Here’s what we learned.

Originally published at Car and Driver.

THE SPEED IS RELENTLESS.

Ferrari claims the FXX K laps its 1.862-mile Fiorano test circuit in 1 minute, 14 seconds. That’s five seconds quicker than a LaFerrari. We asked what a LaFerrari on slicks might do, and Ferrari product marketing director Nicola Boari suggests that gumballs would be good for perhaps a second. The other four ticks are 

due to the extreme aero mods and additional power.

THE POWER IS RATHER OBSCENE.

The FXX K’s naturally aspirated V-12 makes 848 horsepower, while 187 electric ponies arrive courtesy of Ferrari’s HY-KERS kinetic-energy recovery system. Total system output is 1036 horses. That’s 86 more than the 950-hp LaFerrari, previously the most powerful car Maranello had fobbed off on semi-average Giuseppes. The K in the name, rationally enough, stands for “KERS”.

IT HAS TWO STEERING-WHEEL-MOUNTED MANETTINOS.

The now-traditional steering-wheel "manettino" knob controls the chassis and throttle response, while the console-mounted KERS knob controls regeneration and output. The four-position switch’s most aggressive regenerative setting can recharge the system in less than one lap.

 FERRARI CONSIDERS THE FXX K ITS OWN MODEL—, NOT A VERSION OF THE LAFERRARI.

After spending time around it, we'’ll buy their assertion. To our eye, the K actually seems like what we wish the LaFerrari had been. It makes the Enzo-based FXX look like a crude hack-job— and the 599 variant look like somebody paraded his steed through a Pep Boys at hot-glue gunpoint. With its unique LED headlamps and more-aggressive front/rear fascias, this XX has a look all its own. For something so festooned with vents, scoops, and winglets, the K actually has a rather clean, cohesive look.

THERE LIKELY WILL BE AN FXX K EVO.

“"History tells that after two years, we are ready to do something else,"” Boari explains. The 599, you might remember, arrived after the Enzo, containing much of the knowledge the company had gleaned during the hypercar’'s development—, and it carried a variant of the Enzo'’s motor between its front fenders. The LaFerrari is so far beyond the F12 berlinetta, we can only assume that Maranello is planning an even more extreme version of its flagship supercar, rather than an F12-based XX.

source: http://www.msn.com/en-us/autos/research/11-things-you-need-to-know-about-ferraris-insane-new-supercar/ss-BBgS9Yt#image=5

by Michael Simari Davey G. Johnson