New cars: 2010 Ferrari 599 GTO

Automobile

The 599 GTO is “one of the fastest, most perfectly balanced, most capable cars in the world.” Ferrari will build only 599 of these street-legal race cars, each with “fully revised aerodynamics” that let it reach a top speed of 208 mph. Get behind the wheel and it “reacts to your requests instantaneously,” thanks to computer-assisted driving modes and a smooth-revving, hand-built 670-hp V12 engine.

AutoWeek

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

Sure, the GTO is a “supercar,” but one with “enough luggage room for a weekend away and enough ride comfort for daily use.” Performance is enhanced by a six-speed F1 racing gearbox with “60-millisecond shift times,” industry-first carbon ceramic brakes, and a down force–producing undercarriage that maintains traction at high speed. This is no ordinary car, and “it’s no ordinary Ferrari, either, if there can be such a thing.”

Road & Track

One of just three race-bred Ferraris since 1984 to be adapted, or “homologated,” for off-track use, the 599 GTO offers “neck-snapping acceleration” and such incredibly confident cornering that it “begs you to drive harder.” This beautiful beast has brains, too: Computerized Low Grip, Sport, and Race settings can actually improve a driver’s abilities and overcome missteps.