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Styling - Aerodynamics
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Aerodynamics
In developing the Enzo, Ferrari set itself two pure performance targets which would represent a milestone for ultra-fast cars: to increase the grip limit in medium-fast bends by increasing
downforce (lateral dynamics,) while maintaining a very high top speed, over 350 km/h (longitudinal dynamics.) This meant that different aerodynamic configurations with contrasting characteristics had to coexist on
the same car.
In racing cars, this problem is solved by developing wings and special aerodynamic accessories for each circuit. But in the case of the Enzo, for which the various targets had to coexist in a
single aerodynamic configuration, a concept of active, integrated aerodynamics was developed. The high downforce configuration was obtained with a basic aerodynamic set-up developed on the basis of contemporary
concepts for the definition of covered-wheel racing cars combined with the expertise of Ferrari Gestione Sportiva. The optimal aerodynamic set-up is kept stable by special elastic features of the car's engineering
and by active aerodynamic control. As the speed increases from low-medium to high-very high, the engineering ensures that the car takes on the optimal aerodynamic set-up (maximum downforce obtained with an optimal
load distribution) by varying the rigidity on the basis of ground clearance. As the speed climbs even higher, this set-up is maintained by the combined action of the flexible mechanical components and by active
control of the spoilers. At very high speeds, the actively controlled spoilers (front and rear fins) limit the maximum vertical load, thus making it possible to keep the car above a set minimum ground clearance. On
the Enzo, the aerodynamic load and balance can be modified on the road by means of a pair of flaps positioned in the front slides and a rear spoiler
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Styling
Never before has style been derived so directly from function as in this model. Pininfarina wanted to create an uncompromising car that would break away from the approach used for the GTO, F40 and
F50 that preceded it, to develop a new formal language that looked to the future.
The engineers tried to create visual links with the world of Formula 1, to which the Enzo owes its technology, while
highlighting its compactness and lightness. The result is a complex, sculpted form. The use of advanced composite materials for the bodywork, with parts made of sandwich panels of carbon fibre and Nomex, allowed the
designer to structure the bodyshell while keeping the weight to a minimum, and creating "extreme" stylistic forms. The front, with its two air intakes for the radiators and a raised central section, is an
interpretation of the Formula 1 front section with a small pointed, raised nose and air-intakes under the spoilers in a gull-wing effect.
The sides, also benefit from the use of composites, shaped to
optimise air-flow with respect to internal fluid dynamics. The large spoiler has been eliminated from the car's rear section which now boasts small aerodynamic appendages and very effcient ground effects.
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