There's a Lot More to It Than Only Horsepower

Oh, the timing. The man who recently oversaw the development of the most powerful rear-wheel-drive car Ferrari has ever created, the 869-hp 296 Speciale, reckons the horsepower war is pretty much over.

- Angus Mackenzie

"We are near the limit for a rear-wheel-drive car," said Ferrari chief product development officer Gianmaria Fulgenzi of the hybrid 296 Speciale's power output. He was speaking during the reveal of the extra-high-performance version of Ferrari's entry-level mid-engine sports car in Maranello in April when he acknowledged, "We can push the boundaries a little bit more, but probably not with the same gradient of the last 10 years."

Still, Ferrari admits there might be a little more to come from the 3.0-liter twin-turbo V-6 combustion engine at the heart of the 296 lineup's PHEV powertrain that in Speciale tune now makes 691 hp at 8,000 rpm. Powertrain engineer Raoul Dautry said Ferrari could push the 3.0-liter V-6 to make more than 700 hp. The problem, Fulgenzi said, is the 296's eight-speed dual-clutch transmission cannot reliably handle much more torque, and the specially developed Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2 tires would struggle to cope with much more than 880 total horsepower from the gas/electric hybrid powertrain.