Asia's Most Exotic Cars

Anyone who has spent much time near a racetrack or simply getting grease under their fingernails would gravitate to a car like the Balboni. A limited-edition Lamborghini built in honor of the storied company's chief test driver, Valentino Balboni, was always going to be something special.

The more Ricky So learned about the Balboni, the more he wanted one. The owner of a successful construction company in Hong Kong, So already had a 2003 Lamborghini Gallardo and a 1996 Porsche GT2. But the opportunity to get behind the wheel of a Balboni powered by a 550-horsepower, V10 engine was simply irresistible.

"The power and the torque of a Lamborghini is so much like an old musclecar. It has a 5.2-liter engine, whereas so many other sports cars have 4-liter engines," So says. "When it comes to power, nothing can replace cubic inches."

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The Balboni weighs 30 kg less than other Gallardo models, allowing it to jump from 0 to 60 mph in 3.9 seconds, while the top speed is said to be 199 mph.

Lamborghini made just 250 of the Balbonis worldwide, and only four were delivered to Hong Kong. The $291,800 price tag and the nine-month wait after placing an order only seems to enhance the exclusiveness of owning such an exotic car.

Automobili Lamborghini's deliveries for its entire product line fell 37.7% last year to 1,515 cars worldwide due to the global recession, but sales in Asia-Pacific rose and now account for a quarter of all Lamborghinis sold. Lamborghini's network in China has grown to include seven dealers and one sales affiliate.

Asia's importance to the super high-end luxury car industry is evidenced by the growing proportion of sales generated in the region. Ferrari delivered 1,117 cars to Asia Pacific last year, 3% more than the previous year, while deliveries to North America fell by about 200 units to 1,467. Japan continues to be one of the prancing stallion's top five markets worldwide.

Ferrari unveiled one of its most exclusive and extreme sports cars at last year's Geneva International Motor Show. The 599XX was designed exclusively for the racetrack. It uses the same 6.0-liter V12 engine as the 599 GTB, but the power output was raised to 700 horsepower by modifying its combustion chambers, inlets and exhaust tracts. The car's aerodynamics were also improved, and the weight was reduced by using composites and carbon-fiber. Production is expected to be limited to about 30 cars, costing 1.1 million euros ($1.5 million) each.

Drivers like So, who prefer the sound of an engine to the sound of their car's stereo, have access to the world's most exclusive and highest-performance supercars. Aston Martin, Bentley, Bugatti, Ferrari, Jaguar, Koenigsegg, Lamborghini, Maserati, Maybach, Mercedes-Benz, Pagani, Porsche, Rolls-Royce and Spyker have all extended their sales networks to Asia.

Last year, So and a few other Lamborghini owners started a club in Hong Kong to organize driving-related events like track days and golf trips to China. The club already has 65 members, all of whom own at least one Lamborghini.

Some supercar models, particularly the ones produced in limited numbers, can hold their value over time rather than depreciate quickly like common cars. A few club members have bought Lamborghinis for over $2 million Hong Kong dollars ($255,000) and then sold them a couple of years later for just $100,000 Hong Kong dollars ($12,820) less. So says he'll probably never part with his Balboni.

Massa: Stupid mistakes can lose the title

Massa: Stupid mistakes can lose the title

Felipe Massa concedes that too many "stupid" mistakes like Ferrari's Malaysian qualifying could ultimately cost the team the World title.

Ferrari, opting like McLaren to use the weather radar rather than looking up the skies, ventured out late in Q1 believing that they would miss the worst of the rain. Instead they caught the worst of it as a second shower hit the track late in the 20 minute session.

The result was Massa qualified down in 21st place while his team-mate Fernando Alonso could only manage 19th.

"There is no point avoiding the subject: our race was pretty much over by the end of the first part of qualifying on Saturday afternoon. In simple language, we made a big mistake, me and the team together," Massa told Ferrari's website.

"It was wrong to trust too much in the weather forecast, thinking it was going to get dryer, especially as it was already raining prior to the start of the session. We ended up on track at the wrong time and failed to get out of Q1 and it is no consolation that we were not the only team to make that mistake.

"It was a stupid strategic mistake really and we must learn from what happened and try not to do it again, because in such a closely contested championship, these are the sort of incidents that could win or lose the title come the end of the year."

The Brazilian, though, did draw some positives from the Sepang race, which he finished in seventh place, taking the lead in the Drivers' Championship from Alonso.

"Even after a difficult weekend like the one just gone in Malaysia, I always try to look on the positive side and although Friday and Saturday free practice showed that the F10 was not the quickest car on the track, in the race, when I was able to run alone and in clean air, the pace was reasonable compared to the Red Bull, which was the winning car," he said.

"Also, when compared to the McLarens, the verdict was quite good. In the early stages, Lewis, who along with Jenson, also joined us down the back part of the grid, was able to pass a lot of cars thanks to having excellent top speed which we were not able to match. However, after a while, I was able to close the gap on him quite easily in the later stages.

"So, I have to say that our race pace is good, but we still need to improve our performance over the single lap in qualifying. That is clear from the fact that Red Bull has been on pole position for all three races so far.

"If we improve this aspect of our package, we will therefore improve even our race performance and that is what we will be trying to do in the coming races."

Ferrari's blunder handed rivals Red Bull Racing the perfect opportunity to claim the 1-2, which they did with Sebastian Vettel leading home Mark Webber.

The team's dominant display led to some saying that Red Bull are now the team to beat, as coupled with their Sepang they would've won the previous two races had it not been for reliability issues.

Massa, though, has downplayed Red Bull's pace, saying he believes Ferrari are not that far off the pace.

"I heard people in Malaysia on Sunday saying that Red Bull was now by far the quickest car and it is true they were in the first two rows of the grid.

"But over a race distance, I believe the story is a bit different and you have to remember that in Sepang, they were racing pretty much on their own as the two teams who would have pushed them hardest, started from so far back.

"You need to keep that in mind when assessing the race. They are definitely not unstoppable, but we need to improve a bit to be in a better position to stop them."

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ORECA Peugeot fastest in first practice

Friday, April 9th 2010, 14:00 GMT

The ORECA Peugeot 908 set the fastest time of the opening free practice session for this weekend's Le Mans Series opener at Paul Ricard.

The customer diesel car of Olivier Panis, Nicolas Lapierre and on-loan factory Peugeot pilot Stephane Sarrazin set a benchmark time quarter of a second quicker than the best set by the works Audi R15 of Dindo Capello, Tom Kristensen and Allan McNish.

ORECA's own car was third quickest in the hands of Soheil Ayari, Didier Andre and Loic Duval, just half a second slower than the Peugeot. The leading Rebellion Racing Lola was just another tenth further back, with Nicolas Prost and Neel Jani sharing driving duties.

The rest of the LMP1 class, including the customer-run Signature Aston Martin and Beechdean Mansell Ginetta were more than a second off the leading pace.

Strakka Racing has stepped down to the LMP2 class this year and topped the first session with its HPD (formerly Acura), driven by Danny Watts, Jonny Kane and Nick Leventis. They were nearly a second faster than the second in class Quifel Ginetta or Miguel Amaral, Olivier Pla and Warren Hughes.

The Larbre Competition Saleen is the only GT1 car racing at Paul Ricard this weekend, and was only half a tenth quicker than the fastest GT2 car, which was the CRS Ferrari 430 of Andrew Kirkaldy and Tim Mullen.

A full second slower than them in second place was the AF Corse Ferrari of Gianmaria Bruni and Jaime Melo. Richard Westbrook and Marco Holzer were a further half a second back, and third in class, in the first of the Porsches.

Former grand prix drivers Giancarlo Fisichella and Jean Alesi finished their first LMS session seventh in class, in the AF Corse Ferrari they share with Toni Vilander.

The Schnitzer-run BMW was slowest of the GT2 cars in its first European session, with Jorg Muller and Dirk Werner driving, while the Oak Racing Pescarolo of Mathieu Lahaye and Jacques Nicolet failed to set a time.

Pos Drivers Class/Team/Car Time Gap Laps 1. Panis/Lapierre/Sarrazin P1 ORECA Peugeot 1m44.154s 28 2. Capello/Kristensen/McNish P1 Audi 1m44.397s +0.243 19 3. Ayari/Andre/Duval P1 ORECA 1m44.660s +0.506 21 4. Prost/Jani P1 Rebellion Lola 1m44.800s +0.646 25 5. Belicchi/Boullion/Smith P1 Rebellion Lola 1m45.568s +1.414 22 6. Fernandez/Primat/Mucke P1 Aston Martin 1m46.009s +1.855 22 7. Ragues/Mailleux/Ickx P1 Signature Aston 1m47.107s +2.953 27 8. Leventis/Watts/Kane P2 Strakka HPD 1m48.160s +4.006 24 9. Mansell/Mansell/Mansell P1 Beechdean Ginetta 1m48.272s +4.118 11 10. Amaral/Pla/Hughes P2 Quifel Ginetta 1m49.065s +4.911 20 11. Erdos/Newton/Wallace P2 RML Lola 1m49.551s +5.397 21 12. Geri/Piccini/Piccini P2 Racing Box Lola 1m50.221s +6.067 21 13. Hein/Moreau P2 Oak Pescarolo 1m50.924s +6.770 21 14. Ojjeh/Greaves/Ebbesvik P2 Bruich. Ginetta 1m50.943s +6.789 23 15. Salini/Salini/Gommendy P2 WR-Zytek 1m53.047s +8.893 24 16. Cioci/Perazzini/Ardizzone P2 Racing Box Lola 1m53.514s +9.360 23 17. Toulemonde/Zollinger/Zampatti LC Formula Le Mans 1m56.150s +11.996 25 18. Zacchia/Moro/Kaufmann LC Formula Le Mans 1m56.514s +12.360 27 19. Beche/Pillon/Capillaire LC Formula Le Mans 1m56.579s +12.425 25 20. Frey/Meichtry/Dueck P2 Race Perf. Radical 1m56.617s +12.463 21 21. Kraihamer/de Crem/Delhez LC Formula Le Mans 1m56.854s +12.700 23 22. Pourtales/Noda/Kennard P2 KSM Lola 1m56.938s +12.784 10 23. Stirling/Hines/Piscopo LC Formula Le Mans 1m58.539s +14.385 27 24. Schell/Metz/da Rocha P2 Pegasus Courage 1m58.671s +14.517 14 25. Gardel/Goueslard/Canal GT1 Larbre Saleen 1m58.955s +14.801 17 26. Kirkaldy/Mullen GT2 CRS Ferrari 1m58.979s +14.825 20 27. Barlesi/Cicognani/Chalandon LC Formula Le Mans 1m59.639s +15.485 25 28. Bruni/Melo GT2 AF Cornse Ferrari 1m59.971s +15.817 20 29. Kutemann/Basso/Hartshorne LC Formula Le Mans 2m00.095s +15.941 22 30. Holzer/Westbrook GT2 Prospeed Porsche 2m00.401s +16.247 16 31. Bell/Turner GT2 JMW Aston Martin 2m00.437s +16.283 23 32. Lieb/Lietz GT2 Felbermayr Porsche 2m00.468s +16.314 20 33. Farnbacher/Simonsen GT2 Farnbacher Ferrari 2m00.713s +16.559 26 34. Fisichella/Vilander/Alesi GT2 AF Corse Ferrari 2m00.757s +16.603 23 35. Ehret/Quaife/Kaffer GT2 CRS Ferrari 2m00.958s +16.804 21 36. Companc/Russo GT2 AF Corse Ferrari 2m01.159s +17.005 26 37. Narac/Pilet GT2 IMSA Porsche 2m01.422s +17.268 24 38. Dumbreck/Coronel/Bleekemolen GT2 Spyker 2m01.846s +17.692 23 39. Ragginger/Ried/Long GT2 Felbermayr Porsche 2m02.616s +18.462 21 40. Muller/Werner GT2 BMW 2m02.923s +18.769 29 41. Lahaye/Nicolet P2 Oak Pescarolo no time

Ferrari F430 Scuderia

I used the first of my three laps of the Ferrari test track in the new 360 Challenge Stradale to suss out the circuit, the second to pick up the pace and the third to crash. Shame, I'd had a good day up until then.

Earlier on, lowering myself into the carbon-fibre bucket seat of the new Ferrari, there had been no nerves, only boyish excitement as I set out for a session of road driving before taking to the track in the afternoon. The Ferrari 360 Challenge Stradale is the new, hot version of the 360 Modena. 'Stradale' means 'road compatible', 'usable' and that, essentially, is what it is - a road legal version of the cars racing in the 360 Challenge series. Lighter, leaner, lower and faster than a 360 Modena, it's the Saxo VTS of the range. So a bit of fear then, maybe just a light film of sweat over the brow. The tension isn't reduced by the fact that stripped-out racer though this is, it still weighs in at £133,025. That's an extra 30 grand over the 360 Modena.

Three hundred Ferrari owners take part in the Ferrari Pilota driving courses every year, and on average most Ferraris spend 10 per cent of their time on tracks. So there is a demand for a Ferrari with the emphasis on track performance rather than luxury.

For the Stradale, Ferrari has trimmed an impressive 110kg off the 360 Modena, most of it from the body with the rest coming from the engine and the fitting of F1-developed, carbon-ceramic brakes.

The 3.5-litre engine has been buffed up and tweaked to give 420bhp, an extra 20bhp over the 360 Modena. This makes it the most powerful normally-aspirated Ferrari V8 ever and, together with the reduced weight, means a 0-62mph time of 4.2 seconds.

But despite bearing a price tag big enough to drain the colour from even the blackest Amex card, the Stradale is, right from the start, as accessible and welcoming to drive as a Lotus Elise, albeit with three times the power.

It takes only minutes, and a spot of clear road, before I find myself exploiting the full rev range. The sound is beautiful, a high pitched, urgent yelp and bark as the F1-style paddle-shift gearbox automatically blips on fast downchanges.

The ride is perhaps the most amazing thing. In a car so focused and determined, you brace your backside in anticipation of a brutal battering from a no-compromise, race-car ride. But no, it soaks away the bumps and ridges of even the most vulgar stretches of road with all the confidence of a luxury saloon, albeit whilst keeping you directly informed about what's going on down below.

Braking into corners, there is a barely discernible dip of the front end and then such reassuring grip from those Pirelli tyres (unique to the car) that the road is really not the place to find the limits of the Stradale. The titanium front and rear springs are stiffer than on the 360 Modena and the rear anti-roll bar is a larger diameter. As result, there is next to no roll and steering input results in immediate and confident changes in direction. The carbon-ceramic brakes too are sensational. Smoothly progressive, they operate with gentle but firm insistence and even after several hours of hard road driving, there is not the slightest sign of them fading.

A deeper front spoiler, re-sculpted sills and smooth underbody improve the aerodynamics of the Stradale over the Modena and give a 50 per cent increase in downforce. Another advantage of an aerodynamically optimised, smooth underside is that there are no awkward bits of metal hanging down to get caught on the road when the suspension takes a real hammering, which it did on a stretch of mountain road more suited to rally cars than track-oriented Ferraris. So it's tough, then - perhaps tougher than its still glamorous looks might suggest. The Stradale really is a race car and not some Monte Carlo poseur.

And then, back at Ferrari HQ, it was my turn to slip out onto the Fiorano test track. I concentrated on navigation on my first lap. By the second, I was able to taste just how confident, competent and assured the 360 Stradale is on a track. It flatters the driver, it compensates for idiot decisions.

And then came lap three and a sequence of left and right jinks that I assumed a racing driver would 'take flat'. So I tried it. And then I span. I sidled back to the pits where the technicians were waiting to download the timings and, in my case, to pick out the grass from the cars nooks and crannies.

"I span off. Sorry," I muster, with a rather English, apologetic grin.

"It's OK, it happens. No damage," comes the reply.

The Ferrari 360 Stradale is the best road car I have ever driven. It flatters, inspires confidence, rewards effort and copes with real-life roads, race-circuit thrills and film premiere glamour. It's a proper Ferrari: hard, fast and intoxicating. Don't ever say that Ferrari has gone soft. It hasn't.

Richard Hammond

Ferrari admits engine problems

Ferrari may lead both F1 championships after the first three races, but alarm bells are at full blast in Maranello, following a series of unexpected engine problems affecting the team's V8 motors. Fernando Alonso lost a certain 9th place two laps from the end of the Malaysian Grand Prix with a spectacular engine failure - the latest of the woes affecting the Ferrari V8 - but Felipe Massa and both Sauber drivers, Kamui Kobayashi and Pedro de la Rosa, experienced problems with the same unit. De la Rosa didn't even get to the grid in Sepang after his engine stopped three corners after he left the pitline, while the young Japanese driver retired after just eight laps with a problem in the pneumatic system of the Ferrari V8.

Ferrari's Team Principal Stefano Domenicali admitted his concerns at the end of the Malaysian Grand Prix: "When we have a problem with reliability, this is always a worry and we have to make sure we can solve it as soon as possible. We don't know what is exactly the nature of Fernando's engine problem at the moment, and we don't know what is the situation on Sauber's engines. But what I can say now, with the information I have, is that these problems are all from different natures. This is, in a way, something that will add another reason to make sure we are on top of the reliability problems on the engine side. More than that at the moment is difficult to say."

It has to be reminded that Ferrari took the unusual step of replacing Alonso and Massa's engines from the cars just hours before the start of the race in Bahrain, after discovering overnight that their V8 had run above the recommended maximum temperature in qualifying. This meant both drivers lost an engine for the rest of the season in terms of qualifying sessions and races, as those units can only be used in Free Practice from then on. Alonso's situation is the worse, because that first engine of the season has already covered 1,141 kilometres and should only be capable of covering three more races in Free Practice - China, Spain and Monaco. The engine used on the race in Bahrain has not been used again, and has covered 319 kilometres, while the unit that blew up in Sepang had covered only 743 kilometres, when all Formula One engines are expected to have a life of 2,000 kilometres.

This means that for the remaining 16 races of the season Alonso has only five new engines to use, with one unit still capable of doing around 1,680 kilometres and another one, available only for Free Practice, with close to 860 kilometres left.

According to Italian sources, it's quite likely Alonso's engine failure in Malaysia was due to the gearbox problems he had during the entire race. The Spanish driver lost the gearbox-clutch connector as soon as he left the pre-grid on Sunday afternoon and struggled with no clutch on downshifts during the entire race. As he explained shortly after retiring, "I had to brake all the time in a weird way. I first had to get the gears down and then push the throttle hard so it would engage in the gear I wanted for each corner."

It's highly likely that while learning how to drive the car in such an unusual way Alonso may have over-revved the engine a couple of times, and it certainly looked like he couldn't get any gear engaged when he overshot his braking points while trying to pass Button just seconds before his retirement. When he finally got a gear in, Alonso's engine started to smoke and blew up in the next couple of seconds, so it's expected that when the engine is analyzed in Maranello the Italians will find out there was nothing wrong with the unit as such, but that it was the clutch problem that caused it to fail.

In any case there's no shortage of work at Ferrari's engine department, as de la Rosa and Kobayashi's engines are also due to be analyzed in the next couple of days, giving very little time for the technicians to sort the problems up before sending a new batch of engines to Shanghai at the start of next week.

The Red Baron is no more but will the Silver Knight rise again?

Michael Schumacher is one of the greatest if not the greatest driver ever in motorsport history. He is a former 7 times World Champion and holds every possible record possible. But a lot of things have changed in the sport since the time he left in 2006 to what it is now. Three years may not be long enough span in other sports but in F1 lots of things have changed. Apart from the rules and regulations, 4 teams namely Honda, Toyota, MF1 & Super Aguri do not exist anymore while BMW has left Sauber while Renault is not in control of its own team.

 

Kimi Räikkönen, the man who was hastily pulled in as a replacement for Schumacher managed to have a stellar season during his debut for Ferrari and erased the image of Schumacher for a while after a stunning victory at the Brazilian GP to snatch the titles from the McLaren duo of Alonso and Hamilton. This was to lead another golden era for the team but then Kimi started to fade and he became very erratic. Kimi had way too many ups & downs that his teammate Massa who was expected to be the 2nd driver rose up for the challenge and fought hard for the Championship during the 2008 season and ended up losing it by a point to Hamilton despite winning more races through the season.

 

2009 is a year which Ferrari should forget as they had their worst ever showing since the Schumacher era but Massa’s accident nearly made Schumacher to make his comeback for the Ferrari team but then his neck was not yet healed and instead longtime test driver Luca Badoer was Massa’s replacement while after just 2 races he himself was replaced by fellow Italian Giancarlo Fisichella who’s long dream of racing for the Scuderia was fulfilled. Brawn and Jenson Button managed to win both the titles and for a while there was talk of both Nico Rosberg and Nick Heidfeld both linked with both McLaren and Brawn. But with the exit of manufacturers like BMW and Toyota, the driver market was turned upside down and the signing of Alonso, the man who beat Schumacher to 2 World Championships with Ferrari ended in the exit of Kimi.

 

The most shocking turn of events began when Mercedes decided to pull out from the McLaren team and decided to take over the Brawn team. Though Jenson Button was expected to stay, he ended up moving to McLaren to prove that he did not win the title only because of his car while Nico Rosberg after months of speculation joined the newly reformed Mercedes GP team. Though Nick Heidfeld was expected to partner Rosberg in an all German team, the team lacked the star value which rivals McLaren, Ferrari and Red Bull had and both their drivers were yet to win a race. Ross Brawn has send an SOS to long term friend Schumacher and the unthinkable happened. The Red Baron quit Ferrari to join rivals Mercedes and made one of the most dramatic comeback in sports by racing for the Silver Arrow team.

Schumacher is 41 years old and made his F1 debut when Toro Rosso driver Jaime Alguersuari was just one year old. Though he is very fit, he has not been racing or even testing during the last 3 seasons and him making a comeback and finishing in points at the Bahrain GP itself is an awesome achievement which only he could have done it. Last season Rubens Barrichello who was Button’s teammate had one podium finish after the 1st 3 races while Button won 2 races and managed a 3rd in the other race. Though Barrichello was quick and was racing in F1 without a break, he was totally outpaced and outclassed by Button during the 1st half of the season.

 

This season Rosberg who was always been a good driver but never had the car to win races even now does not have a car which can win races. Mercedes is improving but no way is it close to Red Bull, Ferrari or the McLaren cars. It is a decent car which can challenge the other 3 teams but it is not like Rosberg is winning with the current car while Schumacher is failing to finish races. It is still early days and if Mercedes does have a car which can challenge for wins, Schumacher will be in the hunt. It may take some time but Schumacher will win more races before he retires permanently.

 

The talk of Schumacher’s comeback as a failure is very premature and childish as also Schumacher’s 9 points compared to Rosberg’s 35 points is also because of the new points system. It is early days and it is a long season, once Mercedes is up to pace, Schumacher will be back. Ruling out a legend like that is just plain stupid and however good you are, if the car is not fast enough you just cannot produce results. A good example of this was Alonso during the last season when the Renault was just not performing. Schumacher is more motivated than ever and by the end of the season if Mercedes do have a car which can be quick, expect some wheel to wheel racing between Schumacher & the young guns like Hamilton and Vettel.

 

 

 

Ferrari best UK used car deal

FERRARI says it now boasts the most reassuring official used car warranty support package on the market.

The firm reports it is seeing a big upturn in interest for used stock following its extended used car warranty announcement.

This sees Ferraris aged up to 8 years covered by a full 2 year used car warranty underwritten by Ferrari itself. It means a used Ferrari will potentially have better coverage than a used Kia will have in a few years’ time!

‘Nobody can beat our offer at the moment,’ said a spokesman.

All Ferraris Approved Used models aged up to 8 years are covered by the 2-year warranty, which means you’ll get a maker-approved and comprehensive warranty for Ferraris up to 10 years of age.

Basically, so long as they’re sold through a Ferrari car dealer, they will enjoy 2 years’ warranty reassurance.

What’s more, Ferrari also offers a free breakdown recovery service to all its cars – every Ferrari ever made!

Car Dealer reported on this a while ago, but it remains amazing. In short, so long as you’re registered, you can call a Ferrari helpline if your motor stops, and you’ll be recovered to the nearest dealer.

If you instruct the dealer to do the repair, the recovery charge will be free, too. If, however, you choose to take it elsewhere, you’ll have to pay.

It’s Ferrari’s way of getting older car owners back into the UK dealer network, and requires an annual registration. But it really is totally free of charge!

Could Ferrari thus be the surprise victor in this year’s franchised used car honours roundup?

By Richard Aucock

Tags: ferrari, hyundai, Kia, used car, warranty

This entry was last updated on Friday, April 9th, 2010 at 6:14 am and is filed under Latest News.