More pics: Ferrari FF hits the snow

FERRARI has released the first action images of its all-new FF, which was first revealed more than two weeks ago ahead of its world debut at the Geneva motor show on March 1.

Italy’s famed prancing horse brand said the collection of dynamic driving images, which shows Ferrari’s first all-wheel drive model undergoing testing on snow in Finland, was released in response to “international pressure from hundreds of thousands of fans worldwide intrigued by the prospect of a four-wheel drive Ferrari”.

Designed to show Ferrari’s patented new 4RM all-wheel drive system at work, the action shots follow the release of more studio images last week, in a staged reveal campaign that will culminate in the crucial new model’s global public debut in Switzerland in three weeks.

First examples of the hatchback successor to Ferrari’s current flagship, the four-seater 612 Scaglietti grand tourer ($698,000 in Australia), will arrive here – where more than 10 well-heeled Aussies have already placed orders – either late this year or in early 2012.

Ferrari claims its exclusive 4RM hardware weighs 50 per cent less than a conventional four-wheel drive system, allowing the FF to maintain “perfect” weight distribution, with 53 per cent over the rear axle.

Replacing the 612’s 387kW/588Nm 5.8-litre V12, the FF’s all-new 65-degree 12-cylinder engine displaces 6262cc and adopts direct fuel-injection to deliver 485kW at 8000rpm and 683Nm at 6000rpm.

It will power all four wheels via a California-style rear-mounted dual-clutch automated manual transmission, the new drivetrain accelerating the lighter 1790kg FF to 100km/h in a claimed 3.7 seconds while returning official EU average fuel consumption and CO2 emissions of 15.4L/100km and 360g/km.

It will come with the company’s latest magnetorheological damping system (SCM3) and Brembo’s newest carbon-ceramic brake technology.

Ferrari has also revealed the four-seater FF measures 4907mm long, 1953mm wide and 1379mm high, while offering class-leading luggage space of between 450 and 800 litres.