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Ferrari SF-15T will look to reclaim former F1 glories in 2015

The parade of cars for the 2015 Formula One World Championship continues apace, as Scuderia Ferrari has unveiled the vehicle that fans of the Italian team will doubtlessly be hoping drivers Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen will pilot to victory. After the questionable styling of last year's vehicles, this new Ferrari continues the trend of more aesthetically pleasing designs. The vacuum-cleaner-like snout of last year's F-14T has been replaced with a longer, rounded bill that feeds more gracefully towards the cockpit. The new front end is arguably the most noticeable change for 2015, while changes elsewhere on the open-wheeler's body are mere evolutions of last year's design. In fact, that's kind of the theme around the SF-15T. The brake-by-wire system, clutch and gear ratios (which are locked after the first race) have all been optimized based on last season's experiences, while the weight of the car has increased by just 11 kilograms, as per sporting regulations. Take a look at Ferrari's batch of images showing its new challenger, and let us know whether you think this new design will fare better than last year's troubled F-14T. TECHNICAL FEATURE OF THE SF-15T The SF15-T the sixty first car built by Ferrari specifically to take part in the Formula 1 World Championship. It is the second car made by Ferrari since the reintroduction of turbo engines in 2014. The first year of these new regulations was extremely challenging for the Scuderia and the lessons learned have been applied vigorously to the SF15-T to create a car that is in every respect a large step forwards with respect to the F14-T. Chassis The most striking visual difference between the SF15-T and its predecessor is the lowering of the front end of the car in accordance with the change of regulations for the 2015 season. After a few seasons of rather unappealing aesthetics, the 2015 rules permit the SF15-T an attractive nose shape which also brings excellent aerodynamic performance. Aside from the nose area, the regulations for 2015 are largely unchanged. This has given the Team a stable base on which to engineer a much stronger chassis than the year before: A casual glance at the back of the car reveals a much more tightly packaged rear end which allows more downforce to be extracted from the critical surfaces around the rear of the car. The rear wing family has been extensively redesigned to deliver stable performance in corners while producing a larger DRS effect on the straights.

Ferrari design challenge looks for the supercar of 2040

Ferrari launched a design contest to imagine what one of its cars might look like in 2040. Some 50 schools entered from around the world, and now that list has been whittled down to four. The finalists are: the College for Creative Studies in Detroit, Hongik University in Korea, Hochschule Pforzheim in Germany, and the ISD-Rubika in France. Each school was invited to prepare three designs and spent the last year preparing them for final evaluation. The total of 12 entries are presented here from multiple angles in the gallery above. They range from the realistic to the fantastic, and while some were rendered in black, silver, or white, naturally most were imagined in the marque's signature red. The point in showing them to you is that the public gets to vote for their favorite. The winner will be awarded the Premio Speciale by popular choice. The Gran Premio, however, will be selected by a jury that includes Sebastian Vettel, Paolo Pininfarina, and musician-collectors Jay Kay (frontman of Jamiroquai), and Nick Mason (of Pink Floyd fame). The winners will be named on January 15, so cast your vote now on the dedicated Facebook page. What will the Ferraris of 2040 be like? The Top Design School Challenge enters its final phase Maranello, 4 December 2015 – What seemed like the wildest science fiction in the days of Jules Verne has been more than surpassed by modern invention. Maybe in a quarter of a century's time, we'll be saying the same about a slew of present-day projects that endeavour to envisage the Ferraris of the future. We are talking, of course, about the 12 models to have reached the finals of the Ferrari Top Design School Challenge. Also run in 2005 and 2012, this is the third outing for a competition in which the world's most prestigious design institutes vie for supremacy. Around 50 schools were considered in the first round and this number was then whittled to eight before four third-level institutes (spread across three continents) were selected as finalists.

Phony Fauxrrari and Shamborghini replicas seized in Brazil

A shop in the state of Santa Catarina in Brazil has been raided and shut down by police after it was discovered that it was turning out shoddy replica supercars. The Fauxrrari and Shamborghini (we borrowed the latter clever term from the Associated Press) copies themselves look impressively detailed considering that they were reportedly coming out of a father-son operation, but the engineering, underpinnings and powertrains are surely a wee bit shy of what's flowing out of the real factories in Italy. According to the Folha de Sao Paulo newspaper, one replica was powered by the engine from a Chevrolet Omega, which we knew at one time in the U.S. as the Cadillac Catera. Scrolling through the image gallery above, though, we see at least one Ferrari knock-off that appears to have a bright red intake manifold behind the passenger compartment, so who knows? Police reported that the replicas were being offered on unknown social media channels for between $45,000 and $60,000. Needless to say, that's nowhere near the price of a real Ferrari or Lamborghini. And this isn't the first (and likely, not the last) time this has happened, either. According to the AP, the raid was conducted after at least one of the Italian marques tipped off authorities. Eight vehicles in various states of completion were found, along with tools, molds and what looks to be a treasure trove of car parts. It's not clear how many finished vehicles may have rolled out of the shop, or how many may already be in the hands of buyers. The father and son duo who ran the operation have been arrested on industrial property charges.