A Balanced Education: Ferrari dedicates "Mille Chili" lab at local university

Noah Joseph — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 18:58:00 EST

Filed under: Ferrari

Ferrari technical training center pictured above for illustrative purposes

A few years ago, I helped a friend who was graduating engineering school to fill out an application for an internship with Ferrari. He didn't get it (probably my fault), but I was impressed that Ferrari was recruiting straight out of university. That's nothing new, really, but this is: Ferrari has now set up a research laboratory at the University of Modena and Regio Emilia, one of the oldest universities in the world having been founded in 1175. Called the "Mille Chili" lab, the facility bears the same purpose as the concept car by the same name that Ferrari unveiled a couple of years ago: namely, to research new lightweight construction methods.

Part of the college's engineering faculty, the Ferrari-sponsored lab will act as a classroom for undergraduates and a research center for eight select students at the university to discover new breakthroughs in lightweight construction. The facility features all the latest state-of-the-art equipment installed by the engineers at Maranello, who will also help the students in their research along with the school's faculty. Ferrari keeps on getting 'em younger, and no doubt the students will have a foot inside the door at Maranello for a job after graduation. For our part, we'll be wondering why our alma maters didn't have Ferrari labs while we wait for the Italian sportscar-maker to announce the dedication of its own grade school.

[Source: Ferrari]

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F430 Replacement: lightweight with turbo V8

Chris Shunk — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 11:28:00 EST

Filed under: Green, Supercars, Ferrari, Rumormill

Ferrari has promised to make its future products lighter and more mindful of the environment, and the first example of the Italian automaker's new direction will likely be the F430 replacement. This new Ferrari, code-named F142, is rumored to arrive towards the end of 2009 or early 2010. The vehicle will start out by weighing less than the F430, even the extra lightweight Scuderia model that tips the scales at 1250 kg. The Italian exotic could share technology and styling cues with the eco-friendly Mille Chili concept (above)from a year ago, which utilized lightweight and active aerodynamics to help reduce its CO2 emissions.

The F430's venerable 4.3L V8 is also rumored to be shrinking, but since it will still don the prancing horse, we're pretty sure it won't lose much in the way of power. CAR Magazine believes that Ferrari has turned to direct injection and turbocharging to make up for any loss in the new engine's displacement. The F142 also won't have a soft-top Spyder option, instead for a psuedo-convertible setup with hard panels. New Ferrari models don't typically decrease in price, and with all this added technology the price of the F142 is expected to easily exceed that of the F430. Ferrari wants to reduce emissions by 40% by 2012, and with lighter materials and a smaller engine, the F142 could be the Italian supercar the Sierra Club has been waiting for.

[Source: CAR Magazine]

F430 Replacement: lightweight with turbo V8 originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 28 Oct 2008 11:28:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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