Ferrari says it won't make extensive use of carbon fibre in its mainstream road cars just yet.
McLaren might have gone to full-on carbon fibre for its forthcoming MP4-12C, but Ferrari will reserve the extensive use of such exotic materials for low-volume specials such as the next Enzo, due in 2012.
"The fact is that nobody today has a real understanding of what happens if you damage a carbonfibre structure," Ferrari CEO Amedeo Felisa revealed in an interview with Autocar. "After 20 or 30 years of use, who knows what state a carbonfibre structure will be in? Only the airplane industry has a long-term understanding of using carbonfibre, and there the usage is very different. Unless you have a really big accident, it is possible to repair a Ferrari today, and we don't want to lose that."
Felisa also suggested that the next Enzo will get a twin-turbo V8 rather than the force-fed V6 that some reports have hinted at: "There are no plans for a six-cylinder engine today. Ferrari will not build a six-cylinder engine until customer attitudes towards smaller engines change. The perception today is that the number of cylinders equates to the possibilities of the car."
![](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 4 3"%3E%3C/svg%3E)
![](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="https://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 1 1"%3E%3C/svg%3E)