Ferrari SF90 Stradale (phev) Reviews

...a thriving business, a sponsorship deal with a prominent sports star and a respected position in the community. After a company collapse, bankruptcy and a marriage breakdown, a 30-year career in the motor industry yesterday ended in jail. Khoury, 50, and two key staff from his Croydon dealership, The European Car Specialist, his nephew and general manager Danny Bayeh, 38, and principal Najib Nehme, 35, appeared in the District Court for sentencing over their parts in a $1.3 million luxury-car fraud. The scam began during the depths of the GFC as high-end car sales plummeted, the court heard. By mid- to late-2008 Khoury was struggling to pay staff and meet repayments for loans to expand the business. Nine consignment cars, including a $650,000 Ferrari Scaglietti belonging to a Singaporean shipping magnate disappeared from the lot over a six-month period, beginning in late 2008. While the owners were stalled and told their cars were yet to be sold, the vehicles were actually in the hands of new customers and the money used to pay the business's spiralling debts. Khoury eventually pleaded guilty to fraud as a company director and making false statements to NSW Fair Trading. Judge Deborah Sweeney yesterday said the crimes capped a “dramatic fall from grace'' for former millionaire Khoury. “He personally benefited from his offences,” she said. Khoury was sentenced to a minimum of 2 1/2 years in jail. Bayeh and Nehme received good-behaviour bonds.  

Italian design house Pininfarina will unveil a new concept car honoring the late Sergio Pininfarina at next month’s Geneva Motor Show, with the first teaser image released by the company today.It’s still too early to gauge any details, apart from the concept’s sultry hue, but we know that it will be called the Sergio and that it has been designed with exclusivity, innovation and passion in mind.Sergio Pininfarina, son of Pininfarina founder Battista Farina, passed away in his home in Turin, Italy, in July, 2012.He originally started working for the family design business in the 1950s and during his reign was responsible for some impressive cars, including the Fiat 124 Spider, Peugeot 406 Coupe, the Ferrari Testarossa and more recently the Ferrari Enzo and Sintesi concept.Last year Pininfarina used the Geneva show to unveil the Cambiano concept, a stylish sedan powered by a extended-range electric drivetrain consisting of a diesel engine, lithium-ion battery array and four electric motors.Given the description of the latest Sergio concept, we have a feeling Pininfarina is planning something a little sportier this year.www.motorauthority.com  

Ferrari’s replacement for the Enzo supercar, the code-named F150, is on track to be revealed to the public for the first time at the 2013 Geneva Motor Show on March 5, although Ferrari has already beg

But don't read too much into the flat-black paintwork or the misshapen and badly-fitted camouflage body panels. Project 150 will morph from an ugly duckling to a rocketship swan within a month as the replacement for the Enzo supercar is readied for the road. The 150 - which is likely to get a new name before production begins this year - is already being previewed in Europe and a handful of Australian millionaires have placed orders, even though the car is only being built in left-hand drive. "My understanding is that probably six or seven will come to Australia," the head of Australia's Ferrari agency, Neville Crichton, reveals to Carsguide. "It will go to Ferrari owners and collectors rather than new customers. People who own an Enzo now would probably be at the top of the list." Crichton has led a Ferrari renaissance in Australia over the past seven years through his company, Ateco Automotive, with a jump in sales and new multi-million-dollar showrooms built in Sydney, Melbourne and Perth. But the success is working against him, as Ferrari is planning to set up a direct factory operation under the direction of its current Japanese chief, Herbert Appleroth. On the F150 front, European sources hint that production of the mid-engined road rocket will begin around the middle of the year as Ferrari goes head-to-head with the McLaren P1 and Porsche 918 supercars that are also scheduled for 2013. "I don't know the timing. But I wouldn't be surprised if they show it at the Geneva Show next month," says Crichton. Project 150 is the latest in a string of Ferrari supercars that includes the 288 GTO, F40, F50 and Enzo. Technically, it is powered by a hybrid package that combines a race-bred V12 petrol engine with an F10-style Kinetic Energy Recovery System for a total of around 600 kiloWatts of power. That means a 0-100km/h sprint time of just 3.0 seconds and a top speed of around 370km/h. Apart from the 150, Crichton says his Italian action for 2013 will be intense. "We're waiting for the F12 Ferrari and the new Maserati Quattroporte," says Crichton, who also holds Australia's Maserati agency, and will retain it after the Ferrari split. "The F12 will be brilliant for the brand and we expect the first cars in July. We have big plans for Maserati, with the smaller Ghibli at the Geneva show."    

One of the most important cars of the decade, Ferrari’s replacement for the Enzo supercar, the code-named F150, is scheduled to be revealed in the coming weeks.Ferrari has already teased us with a few shrouded images of its new flagship, and revealed some of the car's technology, but so far most of the details remain secret.For those readers that can’t wait any longer, and that probably means you, Iacoski Design has come up with a new rendering that provides clues as to how the Ferrari F150 will look.Based on prototypes spotted in the wild, as well as the previous teaser images, the rendering lights up the darkness and shows us the stunning beast hiding in the shadows.The rendering shows an evolution of the Enzo, with influences from the track-only FXX experimental cars as well as Ferrari’s Formula One race cars. This makes sense as the F150’s chief designer Flavio Manzoni previously stated he wanted a look inspired by F1 but not a carbon copy. The rendering also shows that the F150 will likely benefit from an advanced aerodynamics package, which may include active flaps in the front bumper. On the F12 Berlinetta, these open up to feed air to the brake cooling ducts, but only at high operating temperatures in order to minimize drag.The hood and lights, meanwhile, are designed to generate downforce by channeling air away from the upper part of the car to its flanks where it interacts with the wake from the wheel wells to decrease drag.At the heart of the F150 is a full carbon-fiber monocoque, which has been under development for over three years. Heading the design is none other than Rory Byrne, the engineering chief of Ferrari’s F1 team, who has selected four different types of carbon fiber for the monocoque and plans to build them to the same standard as the F1 cars.The end result, says Ferrari, should be a monocoque that displays 27 percent more torsional rigidity and 22 percent more beam stiffness than the Enzo. The structure will also be quite small, with the oversize of the F150 being about the same as the 458 Italia despite it packing a V-12 engine and hybrid system.The engine will be an evolution of the F12 Berlinetta’s 6.3-litre unit, though it will benefit from the addition of Ferrari’s HY-KERS hybrid setup to boost output and lower emissions. Ferrari claims a 10 percent reduction in the 0-200 km/h sprint, along with a 40 percent reduction in emissions compared to a non-hybrid solution.The system will allow for precise torque vectoring, traction control and brake force distribution, too, all of which translate to faster times around a race track. Even the batteries have been chosen for optimal weight and output, giving the electric power component of the F150 the same power-to-weight ratio as systems used in F1.Final output of the F150 could be as high as 686 kW while overall weight could be as low as 1,100 kilograms.Next year is shaping up to be huge for supercar fans, as well as fans of advanced powertrain technology. Not only will we see the launch of the hybrid Ferrari, but arch rival McLaren is planning to launch its new P1 supercar, which is tipped to feature a hybrid system of its own, and then there’s Porsche with the 918 Spyder plug-in hybrid.www.motorauthority.com       

Friends and fans of Ferrari will soon have a direct line from Australia to the supercar maker's headquarters in Italy. The expanding network of full Ferrari factory operations is expected to reach down under during 2013, ending the traditional link through an independent importer. The move comes as Ferrari sales continue to boom in Australia and with the impending arrival of a new supercar flagship, codenamed F150 and the replacement for the Enzo road rocket. But the move will not affect Maserati, even though the two Italian brands are currently handled in Australia by the same company, European Automotive Imports. Ferrari denies any plans for a distribution change despite a recent visit by the company's Asia-Pacific boss, Herbert Appleroth, while the head of EAI is predictably guarded. Neville Crichton, who is also the trump at Ateco Automotive, refuses to discuss any Ferrari change despite strengthening rumours. "No comment," Crichton tells Carsguide. But both sides admit there is scope for improvement and change. "There's a lot of growth to be had in Australia," Appleroth reveals to Carsguide. The Sydney native is hugely experienced in the sports car business and worked for the previous Ferrari importer, the Sutton Group in Sydney, before Crichton won the franchise. He moved to Maserati in Italy before sliding across to Ferrari, where he now heads the factory operation in Japan as well as handling the Asian region. Although Crichton refuses to talk about a distribution change, he admits a Ferrari switch is inevitable. "At some stage, for sure, they'll do it. Eventually Ferrari will want to come and do their own thing," says Crichton. The Italian brand is powering through Asia and, in contrast to the European car sales collapse this year. Japanese sales have jumped by 20 per cent and Chinese deliveries are also up by seven per cent, even though the USA is still the biggest market for the brand Ferrari is heading for a solid profit in 2012 and is credited with more than $1 billion in cash reserves. On the Maserati front, EAI looks solid after a recent commitment from Italy that covers the company's massive product overhaul. It is just about to begin production of an all-new Quattroporte and has three other high-profile models to follow, including its first SUV. "Maserati's position in Australia and New Zealand has been transformed over the past seven years with EAI lifting customer service to new levels of excellence, growing sales and developing the brand's awareness and public perception to previously unseen levels," says Gaetano Marino, the Asia-Pacific regional director for Maserati. "This provides the ideal foundation to launch Maserati's new models over the next few years and we look forward to working hand-in-hand with EAI."  

The first official images of the highly anticipated successor for the Ferrari Enzo - codename F150 - have popped up in the Italian sports car maker’s in house magazine. The pictures show the nose of the car and feature swept-back headlights and an attractive sculpted bonnet. The Enzo replacement is rumoured to use a 7.3-litre V12 together with an F1 style KERS electric motor to develop in excess of 590 kW of power. That’s significantly more than the legendary original Enzo which produced 478 kW. That sort of power combined with significant weight savings - which Ferrari has already foreshadowed at The Paris Motor Show with their carbon fibre chassis – is guaranteed to result in exhilarating performance. The new Ferrari is tipped to have relentless acceleration and a 0-100km/h time of less than 3 seconds. There’s also talk of a double clutch gearbox and ceramic brakes as standard but that’s to be expected for such a flamboyant supercar. When this top of the range Italian stallion goes on sale sometime in late 2013 it is unlikely to retain the F150 codename given the 2011 legal stoush with Ford over the name. It seems The Blue Oval were upset about alleged misappropriating of the famous Ford F-150 pickup name when Ferrari tried to name their 2011 F1 car F150. As a result the successor to the Enzo is rumoured to be wearing a F70 badge.                    

Authorities are expected to move to strip the tennis ace of his driver's licence. A Queensland Transport paperwork bungle mistakenly issued the tennis ace with his open licence -- despite his driving history. Tomic racked up nine demerit points during a series of public run-ins with Gold Coast police, but because the 20-year-old contested the fines, the points were not processed until the court action was finalised months later. The transport loophole allowed Tomic to be issued with his open licence before the fines -- and the demerit points -- were processed. However, Queensland Transport is finally reviewing Tomic's history and the troubled tennis star is expected to be stripped of his licence. Read the full story here.