Althouse: Correction: "The car statistics initially gave the 0-62 mph time as 3.7 inches instead of 3.7 seconds."

April 5, 2011

Correction: "The car statistics initially gave the 0-62 mph time as 3.7 inches instead of 3.7 seconds."

The coolest Ferrari ever is not that cool.

32 comments:

Anonymous said...: Also, the FF will not do the Kessel run in less than 12 parsecs as originally reported.; 4/5/11, 1:30 PM
traditionalguy said...: Italians don't know inches from seconds.; 4/5/11, 1:33 PM
Bob Ellison said...: So few inches and so little time! Sounds like a compensation vehicle.; 4/5/11, 1:36 PM
themightypuck said...: 0-60 is like bench press. It tells you something but not nearly as much as people think it tells you.

wv: loinglo? I think the capcha has become sentient.; 4/5/11, 1:37 PM
Dustin said...: Mission Creep!

This is not a Ferrari at all!

they might as well make a pickup.

Sure, it's very fast, but in today's world, that's easy.; 4/5/11, 1:40 PM
coketown said...: Use centimeters instead of inches. It looks more impressive.; 4/5/11, 1:46 PM
Unknown said...: Let me guess:

When Meade saw inches, he wanted one soooo bad.; 4/5/11, 1:50 PM
The Drill SGT said...: An example of that observation that some folks think that if you pay enough for an FF or any big SUV, that you can violate the laws of physics :); 4/5/11, 1:51 PM
Ignorance is Bliss said...: So if I did the math right, the car would cover 3.7 inches in 0.007 seconds.

That would require an acceleration of 12557f/s^2, or 392g.; 4/5/11, 2:29 PM
themightypuck said...: Some physics geek needs to run the numbers on what is the max acceleration you can get on rubber tires. I doubt you'd be able to get much better than 1g.; 4/5/11, 3:05 PM
themightypuck said...: I should have said "with" rubber tires.; 4/5/11, 3:06 PM
Chris said...: In expressing time as a distance, I assume they're referring to the amount of time light would take to travel that distance.; 4/5/11, 3:26 PM
Rich B said...: IiB

I got 416 g's. That would be a deadly car - the driver would just be a blood puddle. However, he would reach escape velocity in about 3 seconds.; 4/5/11, 3:44 PM
chuckR said...: mightypuck

Top Fuel dragsters run on rubber tires. They make 8000hp and clear the quarter mile in the mid 4's. That would be in the 4G range.

I can't figure out why people get impressed with big HP road cars. A single cylinder of a Top Fueler puts out the same HP as all of a Bugatti Veyron's 16 cylinders. And the Fueler is going 80mph faster at the end of that quarter mile than the Bug can get to in two miles. Each may be entertaining but both are essentially useless.; 4/5/11, 3:50 PM
Smilin' Jack said...: Each may be entertaining but both are essentially useless.

Nonsense. You can pull a lot of hot chicks with a Veyron, and according to evolutionary psychology, that is the entire meaning of life.; 4/5/11, 4:02 PM
chuckR said...: Jack

I've been married more than 37 years, so a Veyron is essentially useless to me. Plus, the Top Fuelers have a feminist angle to them - remember the movie Heart Like A Wheel?

It occurs to me that while the FF may be the first factory Ferrari shooting brake, it ain't the first. That distinction belongs to a show car called Ferrambo, which is a marriage of Ferrari 348 (?) drive train and engine and an extensively reworked 1960 Rambler station wagon body. Of course, the engine and transaxle take up the entire body back of the front seats, but sensible transportation isn't the point here either. I would much rather have Ferrambo than the FF, way cooler.; 4/5/11, 4:16 PM
Ron said...: One: Hell, yes, I would want a Ferrari pickup! (Imagine what you would pickup!)

Coolest ever? I'm thinkin' Dino, or Berlinetta....250GTO...even a 308 or Testarosa....not the Grocery Getter from Marinello....; 4/5/11, 4:19 PM
peacelovewoodstock said...: Ugliest Ferrari in a long time, maybe ever. Looks like a BMW M Coupe. Ugh. Makes Porsche Panamera look sexy. Which, by the way also has AWD, makes 0-60 in 3.6 seconds with top speed of 190 mph, and carries four people and lots of luggage in supreme comfort, all for only about $175K.

OTOH, Ferrari 458 = sexiest car of the 21st century.; 4/5/11, 4:25 PM
William said...: The 3.7 inches refers to the average length of penile shaft growth as perceived by owners of new Ferraris.; 4/5/11, 5:23 PM
themightypuck said...: Top Fuel dragsters run on rubber tires. They make 8000hp and clear the quarter mile in the mid 4's. That would be in the 4G range.

I had a feeling I didn't know what I was talking about. Thanks. Also pretty damn impressive. That's a lot of grip.; 4/5/11, 5:31 PM
Toad Trend said...: @William

LOL for sure. The 0-60 time is impressive. If you've never experienced that, it doesn't mean much.

Speed limit in most locales is 70-75mph, max.

The car is fugly; if you've ever owned a nice car and had some a-hole run a key down the side, you would NEVER park it anywhere except your own garage.

So the $300k price tag is a total non-starter. You can spend a lot less and go fast with any number of muscle cars, be able to insure it, and have money left over to take your girlfriend out for dinner.; 4/5/11, 5:33 PM
Chip S. said...: Here the cowbells play Beethoven's "Ode to Joy" and busty women in over-tight dirndls repair the roads.

Who'd want to drive rapidly through this kind of terrain?; 4/5/11, 7:32 PM
Sprezzatura said...: " If you've never experienced that, it doesn't mean much."

Complete BS! getting to sixty is the best use for these cars on the streets. On-ramps and street lights on major arterials are perfect when you want to pin yourself (and passengers) to your seat. It feels awesome. And, the difference between cars that get there in the threes and supposedly fast cars--that get it done in low five--is very noticeable.

Getting to sixty really is the only time you get to flex proverbial muscle on the streets. Some folks like hitting the big numbers on the highway, but that's not as exhilarating as the Gs that occur during serious acceleration. [Of course, it is true that you are still in the fun acceleration phase well past sixty. But, the scary-fast launch is still the best part, so tapping out around sixty isn't such a burden.]

Beyond getting to sixty, yes, you do need a track. That's where the fun really begins. Folks who don't race fast cars can't truly grasp what it's like to have no speed enforcement (beyond the laws of nature) and cars that would make their TTs (for example) look like Yugos w/ a blown head gasket, bald tires (not race slicks!), and leaking break lines.

It's addictive.; 4/5/11, 7:36 PM
Anonymous said...: Hopefully they offer better service on Ferraris than Lamborghinis, especially in China.

http://photoblog.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2011/03/15/6272978-one-unsatisfied-owner-poor-service-leads-lamborghini-driver-on-destructive-path; 4/5/11, 8:08 PM
Methadras said...: It looks like a weird hybrid of a BMW Z4, an aston martin, and the new jags. Very odd body styling.; 4/5/11, 8:56 PM
Minicapt said...: Rather derivative: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jensen_FF

Cheers; 4/5/11, 9:16 PM
Wince said...: Where's the engine of this Ferrari?

What struck me about the Ferrari when I actually got in one is that the engine is bascially in the back seat behind your head.

It's a car for the purpose of performance driving and showing off, period.; 4/5/11, 9:27 PM
XWL said...: If this old Mini ad is to be believed, then 3.7" sounds just about right for a Ferrari owner...; 4/5/11, 9:39 PM
Hector Owen said...: Silvio had better watch out. Great on snow? Think how good for frozen lake races!; 4/5/11, 10:35 PM
Steven said...: I note that ″ is a symbol used to mean both "inches" and "seconds" (and arcseconds, for that matter). If someone was familiar with the first usage but not the second, they could reasonably make an incorrect substitution while doing article layout.; 4/5/11, 11:06 PM
Dustin said...: "Where's the engine of this Ferrari?"

It's in the front. It's a fundamentally different car from a pure, ultra high performance Ferrari, which would have an engine closer to the center of the car.

A true Ferrari is the 458 Italia or F40. This is a very expensive daily driver with a Ferrari badge and engine. you might as well get a much cheaper Maserati, or even a BMW.

I realize this sounds silly, but if you're going to go to the expense of a ferrari, you should get one that has that ultimate performance on a track, rather than being bloated with power and elite enough to impress witnesses.

This is like a prime steak covered in ketchup, or a Swaravksi vajazzle. It's not elite just because someone said it was.; 4/6/11, 3:51 AM
Toad Trend said...: @pbj

"" If you've never experienced that, it doesn't mean much."

Complete BS! getting to sixty is the best use for these cars on the streets. On-ramps and street lights on major arterials are perfect when you want to pin yourself (and passengers) to your seat. It feels awesome. "

Obviously you are a high-schooler.

0-60 times mean nothing to most people. Speeding fines can be steep. This stat only means something to a car enthusiast, of which I am one, but I am not naive enough to say that everybody is all a-twitter as you seem to be.

There is more to a car than its 0-60 time, sandwich head!!!; 4/6/11, 5:32 AM