By Alistair Weaver, European Correspondent | Published Dec 8, 2011
At the launch of the Ferrari 458 Spider, Inside Line spoke to Ferrari's engineering chief Matteo Lanzavecchia, and test driver Raffaele de Simone about the development of the Spider and Ferrari's future plans.
Matteo Lanzavecchia's official title is Head of Vehicle Road Testing & Development Department at Ferrari. After completing a degree in mechanical engineering, his first job was at Alfa Romeo. He then moved to Aston Martin in 2000 and joined Ferrari three years later.
How has the arrival of the California influenced the design of the 458 Spider?
The California has allowed us to make the Spider more extreme, but not as extreme as the 458 coupe. The person who buys the Spider is different from the person who buys the coupe. The person who buys the coupe will always buy the coupe. They will go to the track, while the Spider driver goes to the coast. The Spider driver wants more comfort and compliance, and with the electronic damping control, we can provide that.
To what extent was the Spider developed alongside the coupe?
Of course, when we developed the coupe we had the Spider in mind, so many of the solutions on the coupe, such as the styling, were chosen because we also intended to do the Spider.
Did you always intend to develop a hardtop roof for the Spider?
We started to think about the roof for the 458 Spider when we developed the roof for the California with Webasto. We did some prototypes for the 458 with a fabric roof but it was quite early in the program when we decided to go with a folding hardtop. Today we are able to do a metal roof that's lighter than a fabric roof and provides much more comfort at high speed. Maybe we will do special projects with soft tops, but the future is in folding hardtops.
Will there be a 458 Spider with a glass roof?
We are evaluating it but right now there is not an answer. The roof is divided in two and to have a line in the middle is not so nice.
Ferrari has just announced a software update for the 458 Italia that changes the gearbox calibration to improve driver feedback on the track. Will we see more of this in the future?
Every year we learn more and have faster CPUs and better software. If we find something better we like to share it with our customers.
The MP4-12C has a carbon-fiber chassis. Is this something you will offer in the future?
Today we are oriented toward aluminum, using different alloys that provide strength and low weight. We did some exercises using carbon technology and in terms of the weight, it is not very different. For a low-volume car such as an Enzo it makes sense, but not for a higher-volume car such as the 458. If there is a crash, you cannot see if the chassis is damaged, which is very important to understand for the safety of the car.
How will we define performance in the future?
Our customers ask first, what is the power, and second, what is the weight? We will always strive for more horsepower and lower weight, although modern demands for safety features make it harder to achieve low weight.
It is very important to allow the customer to be able to enjoy the power-to-weight ratio. If you create a car that is capable of zero to 60 mph in 2.5 seconds but you are not able to use the performance because the car does not respond well, it is not a success. We want our customers to be able to use 100 percent of the car's performance.
It's easy to make a car fast if you have one driver and one condition, but we are not making a Formula 1 car. The car has to respond in phase with its driver. It is very important that our customers can always understand what the car is telling them. The response of the car must be linear and without delay. Our customers must be able to push the car to the limit.
Have we seen the death of the manual gearbox?
The manual gearbox is like the soft top. It is heritage. Our philosophy now is that when you drive, you keep both hands on the steering wheel. It's much more efficient. Right now, we are still evolving the dual-clutch paddle-shift system but in the future, who knows. Maybe we will have something different.
The Mille-Chili concept was designed to showcase future technologies and featured fixed seats and movable pedals. Is this still a viable concept?
We are still looking at different solutions and we are still working on this sort of concept. It makes sense.
Given how focused the 458 Italia is, can we expect a 458 Scuderia?
When we did the 360 Challenge Stradale it was a long way from the standard 360. When we did the F430 if was quite close to the Challenge Stradale so people were asking what would we do? Then we did the Scuderia. It is always the same story. Right now the 458 is close in concept to the 430 Scuderia but there is always something to do. We will see.
Raffaele de Simone is a development test driver for Ferrari. He has been with the company 10 years, having joined as a 20-year-old. Modest and affable, he achieved fame last year for completing a 6-minute, 58-second lap of the Nurburgring Nordschliefe in a Ferrari 599XX.
What were the key benchmark cars when you developed the 458 Italia and Spider?
The biggest competitor was ourselves. We knew what we wanted to do and there was nobody else where we wanted to go. Our reference point was the F430 but we wanted to introduce a new era for the V8 cars.
How has the development of electronics changed your work?
It has changed the job a lot. Starting with the 599XX project, we have developed a very holistic approach. Today we do not begin with the mechanical setup, then tune the electronics. The two are developed together and complement each other. It is important that the electronics increase the driving fun and are not a limiting factor. In Race mode, for example, the setting of the electronic differential is actually more extreme than it is when the stability systems are turned off. This is because it works with the ESP. When the ESP is turned off, it is less extreme so that the average driver can feel the limit more easily. The limit must be accessible.
As a skilled driver, is it difficult to tune a car for the everyman?
If I develop a car for the 0.01 percent of people who drive like me, I have not done a good job. We want our cars to be the best choice for the pure driver but they must also be accessible. That's why road cars are more difficult to tune than racing cars. In Formula One, Ferrari used to tune the traction control for every corner of every circuit. In a road car, the logic must be able to respond to a huge range of different environments.
Ferrari does not normally quote times for its cars around the Nurburgring Nordschliefe. Why is that?
We use the Nurburgring for testing, but it is not a reference for us. A Ferrari needs to behave well there because so many of our customers go there. It must be safe, fun to drive and fast. But it is dangerous to set a car up there because the 'Ring promotes understeer. Traditionally, a Ferrari has always been developed in the hills around Maranello.
How terrifying was it to complete a lap of the Nurburgring Nordschleife in under 7 minutes?
When you are practicing and preparing for a run, then you push the limits and at times you have to be a little scared. But for the record run, you are prepared and you just drive to the maximum.
Interview: Ferrari's Development Chief Matteo Lanzavecchia
At the launch of the Ferrari 458 Spider, Inside Line spoke to Ferrari's engineering chief Matteo Lanzavecchia, and test driver Raffaele de Simone about the development of the Spider and Ferrari's future plans.
Matteo Lanzavecchia's official title is Head of Vehicle Road Testing & Development Department at Ferrari. After completing a degree in mechanical engineering, his first job was at Alfa Romeo. He then moved to Aston Martin in 2000 and joined Ferrari three years later.
How has the arrival of the California influenced the design of the 458 Spider?
The California has allowed us to make the Spider more extreme, but not as extreme as the 458 coupe. The person who buys the Spider is different from the person who buys the coupe. The person who buys the coupe will always buy the coupe. They will go to the track, while the Spider driver goes to the coast. The Spider driver wants more comfort and compliance, and with the electronic damping control, we can provide that.
To what extent was the Spider developed alongside the coupe?
Of course, when we developed the coupe we had the Spider in mind, so many of the solutions on the coupe, such as the styling, were chosen because we also intended to do the Spider.
Did you always intend to develop a hardtop roof for the Spider?
We started to think about the roof for the 458 Spider when we developed the roof for the California with Webasto. We did some prototypes for the 458 with a fabric roof but it was quite early in the program when we decided to go with a folding hardtop. Today we are able to do a metal roof that's lighter than a fabric roof and provides much more comfort at high speed. Maybe we will do special projects with soft tops, but the future is in folding hardtops.
Will there be a 458 Spider with a glass roof?
We are evaluating it but right now there is not an answer. The roof is divided in two and to have a line in the middle is not so nice.
Ferrari has just announced a software update for the 458 Italia that changes the gearbox calibration to improve driver feedback on the track. Will we see more of this in the future?
Every year we learn more and have faster CPUs and better software. If we find something better we like to share it with our customers.
The MP4-12C has a carbon-fiber chassis. Is this something you will offer in the future?
Today we are oriented toward aluminum, using different alloys that provide strength and low weight. We did some exercises using carbon technology and in terms of the weight, it is not very different. For a low-volume car such as an Enzo it makes sense, but not for a higher-volume car such as the 458. If there is a crash, you cannot see if the chassis is damaged, which is very important to understand for the safety of the car.
How will we define performance in the future?
Our customers ask first, what is the power, and second, what is the weight? We will always strive for more horsepower and lower weight, although modern demands for safety features make it harder to achieve low weight.
It is very important to allow the customer to be able to enjoy the power-to-weight ratio. If you create a car that is capable of zero to 60 mph in 2.5 seconds but you are not able to use the performance because the car does not respond well, it is not a success. We want our customers to be able to use 100 percent of the car's performance.
It's easy to make a car fast if you have one driver and one condition, but we are not making a Formula 1 car. The car has to respond in phase with its driver. It is very important that our customers can always understand what the car is telling them. The response of the car must be linear and without delay. Our customers must be able to push the car to the limit.
Have we seen the death of the manual gearbox?
The manual gearbox is like the soft top. It is heritage. Our philosophy now is that when you drive, you keep both hands on the steering wheel. It's much more efficient. Right now, we are still evolving the dual-clutch paddle-shift system but in the future, who knows. Maybe we will have something different.
The Mille-Chili concept was designed to showcase future technologies and featured fixed seats and movable pedals. Is this still a viable concept?
We are still looking at different solutions and we are still working on this sort of concept. It makes sense.
Given how focused the 458 Italia is, can we expect a 458 Scuderia?
When we did the 360 Challenge Stradale it was a long way from the standard 360. When we did the F430 if was quite close to the Challenge Stradale so people were asking what would we do? Then we did the Scuderia. It is always the same story. Right now the 458 is close in concept to the 430 Scuderia but there is always something to do. We will see.
Raffaele de Simone is a development test driver for Ferrari. He has been with the company 10 years, having joined as a 20-year-old. Modest and affable, he achieved fame last year for completing a 6-minute, 58-second lap of the Nurburgring Nordschliefe in a Ferrari 599XX.
What were the key benchmark cars when you developed the 458 Italia and Spider?
The biggest competitor was ourselves. We knew what we wanted to do and there was nobody else where we wanted to go. Our reference point was the F430 but we wanted to introduce a new era for the V8 cars.
How has the development of electronics changed your work?
It has changed the job a lot. Starting with the 599XX project, we have developed a very holistic approach. Today we do not begin with the mechanical setup, then tune the electronics. The two are developed together and complement each other. It is important that the electronics increase the driving fun and are not a limiting factor. In Race mode, for example, the setting of the electronic differential is actually more extreme than it is when the stability systems are turned off. This is because it works with the ESP. When the ESP is turned off, it is less extreme so that the average driver can feel the limit more easily. The limit must be accessible.
As a skilled driver, is it difficult to tune a car for the everyman?
If I develop a car for the 0.01 percent of people who drive like me, I have not done a good job. We want our cars to be the best choice for the pure driver but they must also be accessible. That's why road cars are more difficult to tune than racing cars. In Formula One, Ferrari used to tune the traction control for every corner of every circuit. In a road car, the logic must be able to respond to a huge range of different environments.
Ferrari does not normally quote times for its cars around the Nurburgring Nordschliefe. Why is that?
We use the Nurburgring for testing, but it is not a reference for us. A Ferrari needs to behave well there because so many of our customers go there. It must be safe, fun to drive and fast. But it is dangerous to set a car up there because the 'Ring promotes understeer. Traditionally, a Ferrari has always been developed in the hills around Maranello.
How terrifying was it to complete a lap of the Nurburgring Nordschleife in under 7 minutes?
When you are practicing and preparing for a run, then you push the limits and at times you have to be a little scared. But for the record run, you are prepared and you just drive to the maximum.
Interview: Ferrari's Development Chief Matteo Lanzavecchia
