1999 Ferrari 550 Maranello No Reserve on 2040-cars

Auto blog

Watch Chris Harris drive the Ferrari 458 Spider like an "idiot"

Chris Harris gets to abuse his fair share of cars that we can only dream about driving, so why not add the Ferrari 458 Spider to that list. After somehow borrowing the keys to a Ferrari-owned 458 Spider, Harris spends about five minutes driving the 570-horsepower, open-air supercar like an "idiot" (his words, not ours).
In reality, it's impressive to watch the $257,000 (base price) 458 Spider being drifted and pushed hard into every turn. Not surprisingly, the car handles the "bad behavior" very well, but what is amazing is how easy it is for Harris to talk to the camera despite the top being down and the engine being at full throttle almost the entire time.
If you like watching Ferraris get sideways, you will most certainly enjoy Harris' video, which is posted below.

Ferrari teases more specs on its Enzo successor

On its web site, Ferrari has divulged a little more info about the supercar that will succeed the Ferrari Enzo. The Ferrari magazine reported that everything the Scuderia has learned in Formula One has gone into its soon-to-be-revealed animal, and this latest disclosure shows just how much that's true. We don't know its length or width, but Ferrari says one of the targets for the car was "a reduction in height and wheelbase to match that of the 458 Italia."
Rory Byrne, the Ferrari F1 designer that's been involved in 11 world championships for the team, has spent three years contributing to chassis development. That chassis will be laid up by hand in the company's F1 composites department, each chassis composed of different kinds of carbon fiber and cured in an autoclave, F1 monocoque-style. That's part of where the lighter weight and vastly heightened torsional and beam rigidity versus the Enzo comes from. Just behind the tub - and behind the driver's back - will be the batteries and fuel tank, again, just as on an F1 car.
The cockpit will be personalized to the driver in a way that is rare among road cars, with each seat made-to-measure for the driver and then set in a fixed position in the cabin. The steering wheel and pedal box will move to accommodate pilots. What's more, we're told that "the occupant's feet are at the same level as the driving position." That, and the angle of the seatback, will provide "an extraordinarily racy feeling."

Without engine deal, Red Bull could be squeezed out of F1

It would have seemed unthinkable just a couple of years ago when it was winning more races than it lost and scoring one world championship after another, but these days Red Bull can't get a competitive engine. And if it doesn't get one soon, it could be forced out of Formula One altogether. This development emerges after two years of the once indomitable but now deteriorating relationship between Red Bull and its longtime engine partner Renault. When F1 switched from the previous V8 engines to the new hybrid turbo V6 power units ahead of last season, Renault dropped the ball, and Mercedes picked it up. Ferrari has since recovered much of the lost ground to push the Mercedes factory team for wins, but Red Bull and Renault have not. The stress of falling off their perch has left both parties pointing fingers at each other to the point that the team's longtime technical director Adrian Newey doesn't think the marriage is salvageable, or worth salvaging. "Unfortunately, our relationship with Renault is pretty terminal – there's been too much of a marriage breakdown, so we have no engine," said Newey. That's left Red Bull looking elsewhere for a new engine deal, but so far it's been unable to find one. The prospect of replacing sponsor Infiniti and supplier Red Bull with a similar partnership with Aston Martin and Mercedes has apparently come to naught. And the proposed buyout and engine deal from the Volkswagen Group evidently collapsed in the wake of that brand's diesel emissions scandal. That leaves Red Bull to turn to one of the existing engine suppliers in the series, and apparently neither Ferrari nor Mercedes are willing to sell their engines to one of their chief rivals. As McLaren has demonstrated this season, the Honda engines aren't up to speed, either. Which leaves Red Bull with nowhere else to turn. And if it doesn't find something in time for next season (or the following one at the latest), Newey says it may have to pack it in and close up shop. "Red Bull should not be put in a position where they're only there to make up the numbers." Related Video: News Source: Reuters via Motorsport.comImage Credit: Felipe Dana/AP Motorsports Ferrari Renault F1