Detroit Show: Ferrari F430 Spider Bio-Fuel Concept

You know that something’s definitely changing in the automotive world when Ferrari decides to show off a biofuel-powered concept. Based on the F430 Spider, the prototype is equipped with a V8 engine that runs on biofuel E85 which was developed with using experience gained in competition. In particular, Formula 1’s technical regulations demand that petrol (gasoline) with 5.75% biomass-derived content must be used, while the FIA GT and American Le Mans Series (ALMS) where Ferrari took part with the F430 GT2 in 2007, use fuels with 10% ethanol. -Continued

According to Ferrari, certain modifications were made to the F430 V8’s fuel feed system and most importantly to the engine CPU to allow the engine use E85. Developing the CPU, two fuels (Flex Fuel) can be used by the engine with the same compression ratio. All of the other technical characteristics have remained unchanged with respect to a standard production engine, however. The use of this type of biofuel and the modifications made resulted in an increase in maximum power output (+ 10 hp at the same rpm) and torque (+ 4%) while overall weight was unchanged. The advantages to the environment translate into a 5% drop in CO₂ emissions