The 599 GTO features the latest version of the Ferrari F1 gearbox with 60 millisecond shift times, making gear changes even more responsive and the car even more thrilling to drive, thanks also to the new multiple downshift feature when keeping the Down paddle pulled when braking hard.
VEHICLE DYNAMICS
The characteristics it has inherited from the 599XX greatly enhance the new GTO’s sporty personality: compared to the 599 GTB Fiorano the steering wheel angle has been reduced 15 per cent, and response times by 20 per cent. The result is sharper turn-in with a smaller steering wheel angle.
Apart from some obvious tweaks to guarantee the car’s road-going homologation, the same innovative methodology used for the 599XX and F1 cars was employed with the GTO: the chassis set-up (springs, shock absorbers, anti-roll bar, tyres) and vehicle control systems were designed and developed in tandem from the very earliest phases of the project. The car has a different 20” tyre and rim set-up too: 285/30 Michelin tyres on a 9.5’’ channel are now used at the front while 315/35 Michelins on an 11.5’’ channel are used at the rear. This set-up guarantees greater lateral acceleration, more stability in cornering and thus faster cornering all round. Rigidity-roll distribution is biased towards the rear to minimise understeer. This translates into less steering wheel
angle for any given corner.
With regard to vehicle control systems, the engineers have seamlessly integrated the development of the SCM2 (second-generation Magnetorheological Suspension Control), ESP (Electronic Stability Control) and F1-Trac (Traction Control) systems. The SCM2 is a suspension control system that uses a fluid which reacts to an electronically controlled magnetic field generated inside the damper to change its viscosity. Thanks to new accelerometers and a different ECU, the control software adjusts the intensity of the magnetic field every millisecond which means that the
SCM2 reads the road surface instantaneously.
The Stability Control System acts independently on all four brakes. The F1-Trac now estimates grip across a broader range of frequencies. The overall effect is sharper turning into bends and a more accurate line through the corner, with the SCM2 optimally and very rapidly distributing damping between front and rear axles whilst, contemporaneously, the ESP acts independently on all four wheels to increase and control yaw rate. Coming out of the bend, the SCM2 continues to monitor the car’s balance, working in tandem with the F1-Trac to maximise longitudinal and lateral
acceleration, thus allowing the driver to accelerate harder and earlier.
Essential to guaranteeing the 599 GTO’s benchmark performance and superlative driver involvement was the work carried out on all areas of the car to reduce weight, including using high-performance composites and track-oriented technologies. Thinner gauge aluminium (-20 per cent) and glass was used, while the second generation CCM2 brakes, forged aluminium wheel rims, hollow roll bars, titanium wheel bolts, and a carbon-fibre racing seat all helped shave off more weight. The boot lid was also redesigned, cutting its weight by 40 per cent. The car’s bumpers, aerodynamic underbody and sill covers were also redesigned and manufactured in composites and
carbon-fibre. With regard to the mechanical components, there’s a lighter torque tube and the redesigned exhaust system is hydroformed which means that the sheet metal from which it is made is pressed into the die by a high-pressure hydraulic fluid. This track-derived technique allows thinner gauge metals to be used as well as doing away with any need for welds, thus saving on weight. The fact that despite the restrictions imposed for road-going vehicles, an impressive 100 kg has been cut off the car’s weight means that it has a weight-to-power ratio of just 2.23 kg/CV.
BRAKES
The 599 GTO’s benchmark performance is due in no small part to its new carbon-ceramic
CCM2 brakes which are lighter and more efficient than the previous version. The new brakes guarantee optimal performance and stability even in extreme driving, thanks to exceptionally high fade resistance despite the lighter construction.