Ferrari 599XX - more info, more photos

The Ferrari 599XX - a track Ferrari and a rolling test bed for technology

We first got to see the Ferrari 599XX at the Geneva Motor Show in March, when Ferrari brought one along to the show, but details were a little thin on the ground. In fact, there were more details on the handling pack for the 599 – the 599 HTGE Pack – than there were for the 599XX. But Ferrari has now remedied that, and supplied us with more information and some pictures. About time too!

Track cars are a special breed. Road cars are bound by what is legal and possible, and homologated cars are bound by the regulations of the series in which they compete. But track cars have no such restrictions. They are designed to be the ultimate iteration of the car. The Pagani Zonda R is a good case in point and, to a degree, the Ferrari FXX (an Enzo based track car).

But Ferrari’s track cars are about more than just making the car as mad as possible. They are designed to test and run technology for future road use, and the cars are monitored at special events Ferrari holds for owners. So apart from being a track car they are a development tool.

So what does the 599XX have to offer? Well, Ferrari have started with a whole heap of aerodynamic bits and some engine mods. The wheels get some internal doughnuts behind the rims (a la F1 cars) for better cooling. There’s extra downforce helped by active underbody aerodynamics and a rear diffuser. The C pillars also get little wings to help with airflow. The engine gets more than a tweak, to deliver 700 bhp at 9,000rpm, and the gearbox gets reprogrammed to offer even quicker shifts.

All these changes, and more, allow the 599XX to lap Ferrari’s test track quicker than any road car, or even the Enzo based FXX. In the pipeline is said to be a road version of the KERS system used in F1, and a host of other stuff.

All in all, the ultimate 599. And a rolling test bed for the next generation of Ferrari road cars.