Ferrari 458 Crashes Into Brazilian Crowd and Leaves Three Injured

A festive racing event in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, turned into a horror story this past Sunday when the driver of a yellow Ferrari 458 Italia crashed through the rail guard and plowed into spectators crowded along the course injuring three people.

"We were behind the guard rail and he (the driver of the Ferrari yellow) lost control in the curve," Cida Alves, a spectator at the event told Brazil's Gaz News. "Upon impact, a cyclist (who was in the audience) was thrown into the air and the rails fell on him. He was wounded in head."

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Scoop: Ferrari F150 Sheds Even More Camo, Sounds Delicious at Fiorano

It was about time Ferrari's people got rid of that ungainly front camouflage on the Enzo replacement test car that made it look like a startled catfish. Moreover, with the company having already teased the front and rear end of the car in its magazine, it was unnecessary...

Less than a month before its Geneva Auto Show debut, it was also time we saw and heard the F150 (the car’s internal code-name) testing. YouTube uploader Marchettino took care of that, as he filmed Maranello’s upcoming hypercar during testing at the Ferrari-owned Fiorano track – and as an added bonus, there was also a red Enzo doing the rounds, too.

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Way to Go: Watch Chris Harris Drive a Ferrari 458 Spider Flat-Out on the Track

He might have claimed that Ferrari “doctors” the cars tested by the media but that didn’t stop Chris Harris from a) replacing his Porsche 911 GT3 RS 4.0 with a used 599 GTB and b) driving any car with a prancing horse on the bonnet that he could get his hands on.

The problem is that, with all the bad blood between the two parties, Harris got to drive the 458 Spider too late, after it had been reviewed by almost everyone, a fact he acknowledges right from the start.

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Lexus LFA Loses to Ferrari 458 Italia in C&D's 2013 Lightning Lap Test

It's a fact that Nürburgring lap times have become something of a standard when it comes to comparing sports cars’ performance. Car & Driver magazine decided that it was impractical to conduct its annual Lightning Lap event in Germany as they had 20 cars to test, so its editors chose the Virginia International Raceway (VIR) as the U.S. equivalent of the ‘Ring.

While the 4.1-mile long track is one-third of the Nordschleife, it features more than 30 turns and elevation changes and, according to C&D, it makes for a demanding venue in which to test each car to its limits.

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Spy Shots: Ferrari's F150 Hypercar Shows a Little Bit More Skin

Unlike McLaren, which has all but revealed the shape of the P1 and even released videos of its development, but is keeping mum on the powertrain specs, Ferrari has been very open about its own hypercar, currently code-named the F150 (rumor has it that it may be named F70). However, aside from a couple of teaser photos, Maranello won't fully show us the Enzo's replacement.

With McLaren having denounced V12s (which is ironic given that the F1 was powered by one), we hear that the P1 will feature a tweaked version of McLaren’s first in-house production engine, the twin-turbo 3.8-liter V8 that debuted in the MP4-12C, probably with an F1-style KERS system.

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Ferrari Driver Having a Hard Time to Park

We'll admit that, low-slung supercars with slots instead of normal rear windows and gearboxes that sometimes have a mind of their own aren't the easiest vehicles to parallel park.

Nevertheless, we think that this Ferrari driver had more than enough space to complete the parking maneuver if not with a single move, a couple at the most.

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Londoners Enraged by Arab Supercar Invasion, Deeply Annoyed by Their Behavior

Britain, like the rest of Europe, is facing a recession. Gulf States’ economies, on the other hand, are growing by around 6 percent a year. Add in the fact that the latter are the single largest producer of crude oil in the world and you can easily see why exotic supercars are flying out of the showrooms.

In Dubai, there’s a 20-month waiting list for the US$525,000 Lamborghini Aventador. It’s not just the Lambo: in the Gulf region, there’s every kind of supercar you can think of – and then some more.

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Capristo Opens Up a Window for Ferrari 458 Spider

If there was one thing you could change on the Ferrari 458 Spider, what would it be? Well, the answer to that question really depends on whom you ask, but for German tuner Capristo, which specializes on exhaust systems, it would be the open-top supercar's engine cover.

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CAR Magazine Puts Together a Motley Crew in its Search for the World’s Best Car

Car of the year is so old hat; picking the world’s best car, on the other hand, is quite an ambitious undertaking. It’s an intriguing one, too, and probably that’s the reason CAR magazine decided to go ahead with it for their December 2012 issue cover story.

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Another Ferrari 458 Italia Goes Down, this Time in Poland

The relentless slaughtering of exotic Italian sports cars continues with a fairly new Ferrari 458 Italia that fell victim to the perfect storm: some careless driving mixed with rain and a roundabout. The accident took place in the city of Świdnica in southwestern Poland on Thursday night.

The local media reported that the owner of the 458 Italia was fined 200 złoty (€48 or US$63) for reckless driving, which is a drop in the ocean for the damages that the €300,000 (US$400,000) sports car sustained from the crash.

On the other hand, fortunately, no one was hurt in the accident.

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Ferrari California Driver Rear Ends a Pair of Lincoln Town Car Limos in Tokyo

While our previous Ferrari-related accident of day, which took place in Germany, was caused by the love/respect of a man for animals/life, this incident involving a California hardtop roadster in Tokyo, Japan, is most likely the result of some careless driving.

The driver of the Ferrari California reportedly lost control of the car and smashed into a Lincoln Town Car limousine that was parked on the side of the road.

The crash was violent enough to push the white Town car into the rear end of the black limousine of the same brand parked right in front of it.

As you can see for yourself in the video that follows below, the grey Ferrari roadster sustained a lot of damages.

Source: Carscoop

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Past Glory takes us on a Magical Automotive Trip at Amelia Island's Concours d'Elegance

Ferrari GTO, AC Cobra and Duesenberg are just some of the historic cars that made the trip to Amelia Island in Florida last month to participate in the 17th annual Concours d'Elegance. But for Justin Lapriore, who filmed this video, the event was mostly about the Gran Turismo Omologato.

"I spent the weekend of March 11th chasing Ferrari 250 GTOs around Amelia Island FL at the Concours d'Elegance. This is what came of it. It seems like a good fit for the website," Justin told us in an email.

We'll agree Justin and we'd like to believe that our readers will enjoy it as well. You can watch the short film in the video that follows right after the jump.

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Motor Trend's European Road Trip with a Corvette ZR1 and a Ferrari 458 Italia

One of the many perks of working for a large magazine like Motor Trend is that you have the opportunity to perform trips and projects that most people can only dream of – like travelling from Munich, Germany to Maranello, Italy, in a Corvette ZR1, and while in the land of supercars, hop in a brand-new Ferrari 458 Italia for quick ride.

If you follow the break, you can watch MT's Editor at Large Angus MacKenzie and British racecar driver Justin Bell, take the ZR1 up to 200mph (321km/h) on the Autobahn before hitting the Stelvio Pass and driving the 458 Italia in its homeland.

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Ferrari Confirms V12 Hybrid Future

The future of Ferrari V12s has been secured by hybrid technology that will ensure the company can hit its CO2 targets without having to compromise on engine layout.

At the launch of the Ferrari F12 Berlinetta earlier this month, Ferrari made a veiled reference to the future use of V12 engines in its range by describing the car as “the first in a new generation of V12s”.

It is understood that environmental pressures had forced Ferrari to evaluate other engine layouts, but development of the F1-derived KERS system has given it the opportunity to keep V12s in its line-up. “We will roll out new technology that is there first and foremost to introduce a green factor to our cars and ensure that we can keep our product where it is in terms of CO2,” Ferrari boss Amedeo Felisa told Autocar.

“Our hybrid system won’t just be about creating power, but saving energy, too. Yes, that technology is expensive today, but the road ahead is open and evolution will bring down the cost and weight disadvantages.
“I’m not saying when, but it is possible that this technology will be on all Ferraris. It has been designed to fit all our future architecture, and if we go ahead it will be fitted as standard. It is not the sort of thing you offer as an option.”

The firm first experimented with hybrids in the 2010 HY-KERS concept, an otherwise stock Ferrari 599 GTB with a KERS system. It featured a low-capacity electric motor at the front to drive ancillaries when running on electric power alone, and a rear-mounted one rated at 100bhp and 110lb ft. The battery cells was spread over the floorpan.

A production version of this system is first expected to be adopted in the next Enzo, which will feature a mid-mounted V12.

As part of its commitment to reducing CO2 emissions, Ferrari is also considering adopting six-cylinder engines. Felisa hinted that such engines were likely following F1’s push in that direction.

“Why not six cylinders?” said Felisa. “It is far away in the future, perhaps, but it is clear perceptions have altered. Even in the US, where until a few years ago eight cylinders was the minimum, it is clear attitudes have changed. We have to think in that direction.”

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