[Mike430]

Mmmmm.....okay! If they say so! Anyone else heard of this....

If the performance of the Ferrari FF with 650bhp isn’t enough for you, how about a bio-ethanol (E85) conversion with 875bhp?

Despite Ferrari anoraks claiming the Ferrari FF isn’t a real Ferrari, we think it’s stunning.

With a glorious V12 producing 650bhp, 0-60mph in 3.7 seconds, room for four – and their luggage – and a go-anywhere 4WD system, we think it’s a masterpiece.

But for some, the power could do with a bit of a tweak and the CO2 emissions – an important consideration for others – are not exactly ‘Eco’. But there is an answer.

A chat with one of Cars UK’s advertisers this week has revealed a very special conversion kit available for the FF, which allows it to run on bio-ethanol (E85). Which sounds, at first, like adding an LPG tank to your shiny new FF, something most owners would run a mile from. But it’s not like that at all.

The conversion to allow the Ferrari FF to run on E85 costs a measly €1500 and, as far as we can work out, is something Ferrari are cool about, as the Ferrari FF conversion we’ve learnt about was actually done by a Ferrari dealer. And as far as we can see, there is no downside.

The conversion to E85 yields an incredible 875bhp from the Ferrari V12, and although no performance tests have yet been done the expectation is an improvement of up to 20 per cent in 0-62mph performance. If true, that would drop the FF’s 0-62mph time down below 3 seconds – a truly remarkable figure.

But the benefits don’t stop there. In case you’re of an ‘Eco’ persuasion the emissions from the FF running on E85 are apparently 80 per cent less than the FF running on unleaded. On unleaded the FF emits 360g/km, which means on E85 it will be emitting under 100g/km. Hard to believe.

At €1500 the cost of the E85 conversion for the Ferrari FF is less than the cost of almost any of the options you could specify from Ferrari. If you want the performance bargain of a lifetime for your Ferrari FF, you should probably contact The Car Finders.

[Source : CarsUK.net]

[tz 750]

Much as I would like to believe 875 HP,
I am having a lot of trouble doing so.

E85 is mostly Ethanol, a form of alcohol.

Alcohol has fewer BTU's per gallon than gasoline,
and therefore produces fewer horsepower per gallon
used.

When used with "low" compression, ethanol is even
less efficient. To burn most powerfully, the compression
must be raised substantially.

In the Ferrari FF, that might mean a compression
ratio of 16:1, which might give 10% more power,
at the cost of making the car forever useless
for street gasoline, and paying for a complete
engine overhaul in the bargain, to change the pistons.

Ad a pair of turbochargers, and with ethanol,
1,200 HP would be very obtainable.

All for EU 1,500 ?

No.

[JayG]

http://www.ferrarilife.com/forums/mo...ts-switch.html

Yeah I couldn't believe it.