In Maranello, Italy it doesn’t matter that your Audi R8 5.2 V10 has the chassis of an Italian thoroughbred underneath. Don’t drive it through the city of Maranello. It’s just wrong and the residents won’t like you very much.

Yet another jab by Audi’s marketing folk. This time showing that the Audi R8 5.2 V10 super car brings shame and horror to the residents of Ferrari’s home town. It’s okay little Audi R8, come see us. We promise we’ll welcome you with open arms.

Those wacky guys at MotorTrend get all the fun. When they were given the keys of the new awe-inspiring Corvette ZR1, they decided to pit it against the mighty Ferrari 599 GTB, Nissan GT-R and Porsche 911 GT2. Luckily for us, they threw us a bone by recording the supercar showdown for the world to see. Hit the jump to see the 638-hp Corvette ZR1 take on some of the best and brightest from Italy, Germany, and Japan. We watched the video 4 different times, just to see the differences in the starts and finishes of 4 very different supercars.
For fun, BEFORE you watch the video, guess what will be the result and let us know if you were right or wrong. The results shouldn’t surprise you, but the start might. This Drag race of the Chevy Corvette ZR1 vs Ferrari 599 vs Porsche 911 GT2 Vs Nissan GT-R is a good one!

We just received a load of pictures of the hot and dreamy 2009 Ferrari California. Ever since the new Ferrari GT made its well-planned debut, we’ve been hungry for some high res pictures. Well here they are in full, high-color, close-up, car-pr0n detail. We’re treated to views of the new Ferrari from pretty much every conceivable angle and all sorts of interior and exterior details. For instance, there’s a close up of the steering wheel and the gauge cluster off to the left which details all kinds of fun driver information. We’re even able to see the car’s dedicated “launch” button.

Hit the jump for all the interior and exterior pics, along with our commentary.

Ferrari California Exterior Photos

Ferrari California Interior Photos

To be honest, the nav system looks amazingly like a fancy colored Chrysler unit. But yea, otherwise the rest of the car is absolutely amazing.

The back seats even fold down for a some pass-through action. Well, that is if you can consider those seats…All we can say is Ouch.

We also get a peek under the hood at the direct-injected 4.3-liter V8 that’ll be making the well-heeled sing the praises of it’s 424 horses of goodness. Anyway, take a peek for yourselves folks, ’cause that right there is how you make a damn fine-looking automobile.

As you may know, British Automotive show TopGear is back and in full swing for their 11th season already. And to show that they are still “in touch with the needs of the people” they felt the need to give advice on fuel economy and saving money. (That and apparently the BBC is sending them letters and letters and letters). And in true Jeremy Clarkson style, he decided to gather 5 supercars and have a race. But it wouldn’t be an ordinary race, oh no. It had to have that Topgear / Jeremy Clarkson touch.

The 5 cars in the race, the Mercedes SLR Mclaren, the Lamborghini Murcielago, the Aston Martin DBS, the Ferrari 599GTB, and the Audi R8 would only have 1 gallon of gas each. They raced around their TopGear Test Track until the winner was decided.

While we couldn’t link straight to the video, as the BBC would eventually come knocking down our AutoAlerts tower for copyright infringement, I’m sure you can find the results rather easily by heading over to your favorite video site and searching for the appropriate terms. Here’s some search terms we suggest: TopGear, 11, Supercar Economy Test.

We will give away a little of the result though. As Clarkson said: its not what you drive, its how you drive it.

While i doubt we can say ALL Ferrari owner’s cant drive (we know Michael Schumacher owns a Ferrari or two). We can say a lot of Ferrari drivers are probably not lacking an ego, and probably have little idea of the true capabilites of what a Ferrari can do.

The combination over an overdeveloped sense of confidence, a crowd, add a heavy horse-powered, testy car, and a pole.. and what you get is the image above.

This Australian man pulled out of a garage in South Perth, Western Australia, in his new-for-him Ferrari 360 Spyder, took a chance to impress some folks lining the street, and floored it.

The car, as they say, got upset. And the car wasn’t the only one by the time the day was over. Its never good to see (yet another) wrecked Ferrari, or to see a man being carried away from his broken exotic by the police. So Please, please learn from this and stop the madness!

Our favorite picture though, is after the wreck, seeing the driver not jump out of the car cursing or crying, but after probably realizing what he’s in for, the driver still just sitting in the car. Top that off with some mini-me clone in the blue shirt flexing in the background gets some points…

Thanks for the tip Sam!

Source: ehowa – Slighty nsfw for nasty adult ads

So for those drivers lucky enough to have gotten their hands on a Ferrari 612 Scaglietti, a little bit of bad news for you. As Ferrari states, its most likely if you actually bought a 612 Scaglietti, you probably opted for the Ferrari  automated manual F1 gearbox. With the faster-than-Schumacher shifts, the F1 transmission can make just about anyone feel like a genuine F1 driver. Unfortunately, the tranny can also leave you stranded on the side of the road if heat build-up triggers the clutch sensor.

Thus, Ferrari has an official recall of every 612 Scaglietti that could be affected by this sensitive F1 gearbox. Unlike a Ford F150 pickup, this recall of the 2005-2007 Ferrari 612 Scaglietti only affects 366 vehicles to be recalled to replace this sensor as well as a related cable holder and magnet that might cause difficult shifting or even complete inoperation. If you have one of these beauties in your garage, most likely you will be hearing from your dealer shortly. But for the proactive Ferrari owners, you can check out the official recall notice from the NHTSA after the jump.

RECALL SUMMARY

Make / Models : Model/Build Years:
FERRARI / 612 SCAGLIETTI 2005-2007

Recall Number: 08V214000

Summary:
FERRARI IS RECALLING 366 MY 2005-2007 612 SCAGLIETTI VEHICLES EQUIPPED WITH F1 TRANSMISSIONS. A NONCONFORMING CLUTCH SENSOR IN THE TRANSMISSION COULD MALFUNCTION UNDER NORMAL OPERATING CONDITIONS DUE TO THE HEAT PRODUCED BY THE VEHICLE. SUCH SENSOR MALFUNCTION MAY INHIBIT THE PROPER FUNCTION OF THE CLUTCH ASSEMBLY MAKING THE SHIFTING OF THE GEARS VERY DIFFICULT. THE VEHICLE SYSTEM IMMEDIATELY DETECTS THE CLUTCH SENSOR FAILURE AND CAUSES THE WARNING LIGHT TO ILLUMINATE.

Consequence:
THIS CLUTCH SENSOR MALFUNCTION MAY RENDER THE VEHICLE INOPERABLE AND, POSSIBLY, RESULTING IN A CRASH.

Remedy:
DEALERS WILL REPLACE THE CLUTCH SENSOR. IN ADDITION, THE CABLE HOLDER AND MAGNET WILL ALSO BE REPLACED. THE RECALL BEGAN ON MAY 19, 2008. OWNERS MAY CONTACT FERRARI AT 1-201-816-2600.

Notes:
FERRARI RECALL NO. 47. CUSTOMERS MAY ALSO CONTACT THE NATIONAL HIGHWAY TRAFFIC SAFETY ADMINISTRATION’S VEHICLE SAFETY HOTLINE AT 1-888-327-4236 (TTY 1-800-424-9153), OR GO TO HTTP://WWW.SAFERCAR.GOV.

Ferrari has been going all out advertising their brand new “bargain” Ferrari, the Ferrari California. With a fancy countdown timer on their very own Ferrari California Microsite, to pictures every week it seems.

Now, Ferrari has released some photos of the California going Topless. And no, not because some buffoon crashes the car into a truck. But actually going topless on purpose.

Ferrari has also revealed a full press release inclusive of all the verbiage we’ve come to expect and love from Ferrari — from orgasmic exclamations of “driving pleasure” to references of “Prancing Horses” instead of using their name.

Official Press Release

    FERRARI PRESIDENT LUCA DI MONTEZEMOLO TEST-DRIVES THE NEW CALIFORNIA: “I’M THRILLED. IT’S A GREAT FERRARI THAT DELIVERS UNIQUE DRIVING PLEASURE”

Particular attention was also paid to fuel consumption levels which in the case of the ECE combined cycle is 13.2 l/100 km with CO2 emission levels of around 310 g/km.

Like a family crest, most Automotive emblems actually represent something important to their maker. Whether it be something historically important for the founder, ideals the brand strives towards, or a testament to someone’s ego, the symbol of each company has a history.

We stumbled across this encyclopedia of sorts that has cataloged the origins and meanings for almost every one of the worlds major automakers, and we must say, it’s pretty darn interesting. For instance Chevy’s logo has come about from…

…Popular legend has it that the Chevrolet logo was inspired by wallpaper in a French hotel where William C. Durant was staying (the legend says he saw the pattern marching off into infinity as a design on the wallpaper and tore a piece of it off to keep to show to friends and later turn into the company logo). However, his wife says that the bowtie emblem was first seen by her husband in a Virginia newspaper on a vacation around 1912, upon which he told her that the thought it’d be a very good emblem for the Chevrolet (per Chevrolet Pro Management Magazine, October 1986).

Or, Smart’s logo…..Apart from the Smart name (all lowercase), the Smart logo features a ‘C’ for ‘Compact’, and an arrow for ‘forward thinking’.

Cool Stuff, I Swear!

Take a look at the full list here.

Ever wonder what your car’s logo looked like when it was just a baby? Well thanks to Brazilian ad agency Dentsu working with Minichamps, a die-cast scale model company, we now know what the toddler versions of the logos from Lamborghini, Ferrari, Maserati and Jaguar all look like. Wait — what’s up with a “baby” version of a trident? They don’t make baby tridents do they? How many Poseidon babies can there be? Oh well, while it doesn’t make much sense, its still cute.

Wow what a week for Ferrari. Wait, let me reiterate, What a Bad week for the lives of Ferrari’s. Well, here’s one more to head on up to the big parking lot in the sky.

Ferrari’s are known for their looks, performance, and exclusivity, but recently, you might as well tack flammability to that list. This is the latest case of Ferrari flambé involving a black 599 GTB Fiorano, which spontaneously self-ignited at a stop light while being driven by someone who wasn’t even the car’s owner.

One of the senior shop mechanics at supercar garage Romans International in Banstead, UK, was behind the wheel when he heard a strange sound, followed by a brilliant display of smoke and fire. The £250,000 exotic Ferrari was a total loss, even though firefighters had arrived on scene quickly. BUt the worst part was and the 28-year-veteran of the high-end garage had to inform his boss of the Ferrari’s fate.

The only good stroke of luck is the vehicle is still covered under warranty. But with the current wait list for Ferrari owners being 2 years, will it be worth it?