Geneva show: Ferrari puts the boot in with FF

THE Geneva motor show provided a public debut for Ferrari's all-new four-seat, all-wheel drive FF grand tourer and the first ever glimpse of its spacious interior and impressive load-carrying capacity.

Designed to provide comfort for up to four occupants, the plush leather-lined FF cabin offers sumptuous-looking individual magnesium-framed sports seats and a 1280 watt, 16-speaker surround-sound entertainment system with screens for rear-seat passengers – should they tire of listening to the bellowing V12 as it belts out 485kW at 8000rpm and 683Nm at 6000rpm.

The driver is faced with a 458-style steering wheel that includes all controls usually found on column stalks and an instrument binnacle housing a large central rev-counter flanked by displays for the traditional engine coolant, oil temperature and speedometer. A large centre-console mounted screen provides access to the infotainment and navigation functions.

Where the FF marks a departure for Ferrari and indeed the field of grand-tourers is the shooting brake-style bodywork that not only provides ample headroom for rear passengers, it enables the hatchback Ferrari to offer a 450-litre boot capacity – 100 litres greater than that of a Volkswagen Golf.

Left: Ferrari FF interior. Below: 458 Italia.

What's more, both rear seats fold down independently, with maximum load-lugging ability extending to a maximum of 800 litres. Ferrari claims the FF beats all-comers in its class for boot capacity and many four-door sedans.

To prove the point, Ferrari's press shots show the FF with its rear seats folded and the cargo area crammed with golf equipment and exquisite Ferrari-branded suitcases.

As GoAuto has reported, the first Australian-delivered FFs are expected to arrive either late this year or early next, when it replaces Ferrari's current flagship, the $698,000 612 Scaglietti.

The FF will be the first Ferrari with all-wheel drive and the first to feed V12 power through a California-style dual-clutch transaxle transmission. The 6262cc V12 is claimed to thrust the 1790kg four-seater from 0-100km/h in just 3.7 seconds, maxing out at 335km/h.

Also joining the FF on Ferrari's Geneva stand is a 458 Italia featuring Maranello's HELE (High Emotion Low Emissions) technology, which debuted on the California at last year's Paris show and is claimed to cut the 458's CO2 emissions by 15 per cent.

To achieve the efficiency improvements, the HELE system combines idle-stop with 'intelligent' control for the engine fan, fuel pump and air-conditioning compressor. The gear-shift pattern also adapts to match the driving style, recognising where savings can be made but allowing for enthusiastic driving where required.

Overall, HELE reduces the 458's CO2 emissions from 307 grams per kilometre to to 275g/km – claimed to be the lowest of any sportscar in its class and 11 grams less than produced by a manual Commodore SSV.

European Automotive Imports public relations manager Edward Rowe told GoAuto that HELE-equipped Ferraris are on their way to Australia, starting with the California later this year. Whether the CO2-reducing technology will become standard-fit or optional is yet to be finalised.

126 prancing horse-badged supercars found homes in Australia last year and the brand has started 2011 well, selling 23 cars to well-heeled Australians so far.