V8

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Ferrari SF90 XX debuts as automaker’s most powerful road car

Ferrari’s SF90 XX Stradale and XX Spider supercars recently unveiled are a track-prepped spin on the standard SF90. They are the first double-X Ferrari to offer road-capability, making them the most powerful road-going vehicles the manufacturer has produced.  With three electric motors and a tuned version of the twin-turbocharged V8 in the standard SF90, the double-X Ferraris reach a combined 1,016 horsepower. Maranello engineers polished the engine’s inlet and exhaust ports, crafted new pistons and increased the compression ratio for a V8-only output of 786 hp, an increase of 17 versus the standard SF90’s engine.  This power let the SF90XX clock a 0-62mph time of 2.3 seconds — two-tenths quicker than the standard SF90. A new “Extra Boost” feature pushes

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Aston Martin unveils DB12, the world’s first ‘super tourer’

Aston Martin called upon 73 years of heritage to unveil last week not only a new member of its iconic DB line, but a corresponding new vehicle category. In debuting its newest DB12, Aston packed so much “new” into the latest DB it required its own category — the super tourer. The DB12 super tourer — and the simultaneous farewell to the DB11 — offers a lot more. More power, more performance, more timeless styling and more technology are deployed to perfect the hardware used by its DB11 predecessor.  The part-aluminum chassis utilizes a reworked cross brace, undertrays, a crossmember, and strut towers for a 7 percent increase in torsional rigidity. Engine components are also shared between the predecessor and

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New Ferrari Roma Spider: 50 years in the making

Has it been 50 years? In 1973, Ferrari debuted the soft-topped 365 GTB/4 Daytona Spider. Five decades after the last of those convertibles left the Maranello, Italy factory, Ferrari recently announced the Prancing Horse will gain be worn on a soft-top, front-engined grand tourer. The automaker took the veil off the roofless Roma with “Spider” at the end of its name. The Roma Spider will replace the Portofino M as the new entry-level Ferrari. A company spokesperson confirmed the news to Road and Track. The new Roma Spider is complete with a retractable, woven fabric soft-top and a powerful, turbocharged V8. Ferrari reworked several mechanical elements to make the Roma Spider as road-worthy as its coupe counterpart. The soft-top, available

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Hennessey unveils track-ready Venom F5 Revolution

American high-performance automaker Hennessey has dialed up track performance to the proverbial “11” with the release of the Venom F5 Revolution. The 1,817-horsepower hypercar adds large downforce components to the standard, top-speed focused Venom F5 Coupe to maximize its competitiveness on the racetrack. Hennessey says the Revolution will be street-legal and priced at $2.7M. Only 24 units will leave the production line. Hennessey Chief Engineer John ‘Heinrocket’ Heinricy said in a statement the original F5 was designed to be “ultra-light and monstrously powerful, with dynamics to match.” Heinricy stated the Revolution’s purpose is to take Hennessy’s existing hypercar and “create a machine that is the ultimate visceral and emotional driving experience.” Adding new aerodynamics to the most powerful production car

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