And this is what a supercar
should sound like! No miserable V8s,
or puny little turbochargers. That is Ferrari's Greatest Hit! The sound of 12 cylinders
properly arranged in a V. Molte grazie! And then there's the price. LaFerrari has the other two licked there,
as well. The Porsche 918, £646,000. The McLaren V1, £866,000. The LaFerrari? A million pounds! That's a proper price! No mucking about! And there's more. Pinky and Perky have been
at great pains to explain just how clever the McLaren
and the Porsche are. Well, this is also very clever. It's built from not one,
but four different types of carbon fibre to keep it as light as possible. In fact, it's lighter
than the Porsche or the McLaren. The driver's seat is fixed and instead,
it's the wheel and pedals that move. This means
you don't need a seat mechanism, which means the driver can sit lower, the roof can be lower
and that drops the centre of gravity... to the benefit of cornering. Then, we come to the engine. Like the McLaren and the Porsche,
LaFerrari is a hybrid. It has a petrol engine
and an electric motor to drive the wheels. But whereas the other two
can be driven on electric power alone, like a Toyota Prius,
the Ferrari can't, because, Ferrari say: "We are not interested in electric cars." Instead, the battery and electric
motor combination works a bit like the kinetic energy
recovery system in an F1 car. In very simple terms, it captures
energy that's normally wasted, during braking, for example,
and keeps it for when you need it. The electric motor, the petrol engine,
they're all working together, all of the time. You cannot separate them. This is simply a 950 horsepower supercar. But, despite the racing technology, you don't find yourself in a world
of austere track-car misery. You've got the sat nav,
the air conditioning. It's perfectly comfortable. Actually, it's very civilised. However, this is also supposed
to be the fastest and most exciting road car
Ferrari has ever made. And to find out how exciting,
we must come here... Ferrari's Fiorano test track. To Prancing Horse fans,
this is the sacred tarmac where the company's
greatest F1 cars were born. But when I rolled up,
sacred wasn't the word that came to mind. Oh, cock! After two hours of dithering
on the start line... Pedals a little bit further away. No, that's too far away. Hang on. ...the track was finally dry enough
for me to have a go. Red, red, red... God's holy trousers! Strewth! I'm already at the first bend. Lots of brakes. That, ladies and gentlemen,
is 950 horsepower for you! And while we're at it... 950 horsepower is a slam-dunk
top trump over the other two. And so is the top speed,
218 miles per hour. But it's not just the amount
of horsepower that's impressive. It's the way it's served up. Even if you're a bit clumsy,
or a bit timid, as I am being on this one,
you've still got that enormous grunt. It just hits you like a runaway train. That's the KERS system working.
That's exactly what it's for. On top of that, Ferrari has remembered
that not everyone who'll drive this car will be called Sebastian or Vettel. Because LaFerrari will go
quite a lot faster than you can think, Ferrari do
quite a lot of thinking for you. It has for example a very, very
sophisticated traction control system based on Formula 1 tech
and you can leave it turned on. Why not? Stops you crashing. LaFerrari also bristles
with active aerodynamics. That's not new on a supercar, but this system is controlled
by 21 computers... which means,
according to the Ferrari eggheads, even I should be able to take
Fiorano's notorious Turn 7... flat out. Active aerodynamics, here we go. Don't bottle it. Don't bottle it! It works! Look at that! The faster you go, the better it works! I mean, like Jennifer's McLaren,
it is pure rear-wheel drive and that's quite intimidating,
but it's not a widow maker. Oh, my God! Oh, yes! Wahey! Sorry! Right, let's just slow this down a bit. Richard Hammond, he says the Porsche 918, that's the one that takes
the hybrid supercar the furthest. It's the most responsible, if you like. Jeremy likes the P1 because he says it takes an idea that was essentially
an environmental one and uses it
to make the supercar more dramatic. In this respect,
the Ferrari is more like the McLaren. Except for two things... LaFerrari looks better... and I reckon it is better. This is the greatest car in the world!
Jesus Christ that title.
I think my favourite May segment was the Fiat Panda (Started with a vauxhall corsa nurburgring edition). Just a fun little car
"We are not interested in electric cars" - Ferrari
<3
I like May so much. Don't tell the other two. ^
It's all about the fizz.
/r/titlegore
But nice car tho
Also Kavinsky-Roadgame https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N8ZAx_OvKpM a good driving song actually.
"GOD'S HOLY TROUSERS!!!" Is still one of my all time favorite lines from May.
I can't wait to see this go head to head... to head... with the P1 and 918. Gonna be an exciting thing to watch!