2011's Best Supercars: The Ferrari Ff And Lexus Lfa

The Ferrari FF represents a range of firsts for Ferrari, and by the way, FF does not stand for Ferrari Firsts, although, perhaps it should. The FF in reality is short for Ferrari Four. The car is a four seater, which is replacing the outgoing Ferrari 612 Scaglietti. Then again Ferrari have crafted several four seaters before now, this is actually the 1st occasion that Ferrari has used four wheel drive on a road going car.

Four wheel drive is not the only first for this particular car though. Fans cannot fail to notice the appearance of the FF - as it is radically different than cars which have gone before. The structure is called 'shooting brake' and can be seen as a cross between a coupe and an estate. The other way of describing it it is thus - it's a hatchback! The internal room that this generates permits anywhere up to 400 litres of luggage, but, additionally, the rear seats also retract down permitting the storage capacity to be multiplied by 2. Can you picture doing all of your food shopping and then being able to fit the whole lot in the back of your Ferrari!

Nevertheless, this is clearly not a Ford Focus. This particular hatchback has a potent V12 engine which generates a whopping 660 bhp as well as 504lb ft of torque. That's sufficient to propel the Ferrari FF from zero to 62mph in 3.7 seconds, attributed to some extent to its 7 speed transmission presently available in the Ferrari 458 Italia together with the California. The top speed is not too bad either - 208 MPH. Moreover, the engine - in excess of 6.2 ltrs - is simply the most mighty motor Ferrari have added into a production car, and it's noteworthy that it delivers a pretty good (for a Ferrari) 18 miles per gallon.

The body-work design comes from Ferrari's preferred styling house, Pininfarina, nevertheless you wouldn't suppose so looking at it, such is the departure from prior models. To tell the truth I suppose it is going to be a love it or hate it design, but one thing is for sure, it will turn heads.

It's quite apparent too that Ferrari is hoping to increase the scale of their potential audience with this car. Its four wheel drive system for example will mean that it will be driveable in more shifting road conditions, especially rain and snow. The shooting brake layout means that the FF is also reasonable to use every day, as you no longer will need to make a choice between taking the children or your shopping home from the stores.

Should this be the blueprint for Ferrari then I can't wait to see what the replacement for the 599 will look like.

Yep, Lexus and supercar may now be found in the same sentence, due to some confidence displayed by the Lexus chain of command, plus the flawless engineering skills to not only pull it off, but to excel with their very first effort.

In the past, Lexus has without exception created and provided luxury - there were certainly not any doubts there. Yet there is a considerable gap between a top quality car and a high end supercar, which becomes evident the minute the Lexus LFA's incomparable V10 engine starts to sing.

The carbon fibre frame was specifically manufactured not only for visuals, but to manipulate finer acoustics out of the 4.8-liter V10 engine. As stated by Lexus, it's challenging to manufacture a V10 that'll sound as pleasing as a V8 or V12, so this supercar contains personalized air intake sectors to equalize the acoustics.

The official unveiling of this first ever Lexus supercar occurred at the Tokyo Motor Show, with the North American launch taking place within 24 hours in Miami, Florida. The press pack at the American launch for the LFA were sufficiently lucky to get not just the opportunity to stay at South Beach's magnificent Mondrian Hotel, but to also drive this unique supercar across the Homestead Race Track. And here is where the distinction became apparent between a luxury car and a supercar - with 552 horsepower hitting the 0-60 point in 3.6 seconds. The Lexus LFA levels off at approximately 202 miles per hour, combined with $10,000 brakes that are up for the challenge.

For a 1st attempt, Lexus most certainly seem secure and confident in their new undertaking, and have supplied a good addition to the always growing supercar scene. The LFA is predicted to come with a price of around $375,000 (or 240,000). Lexus only intend to construct 500 LFA supercars, with 1st shipping scheduled for the tail end of this year.