Paris show: Ferrari GTC4Lusso T steps up

THE Italian supercar shooting brake niche has doubled with the reveal of a ‘base’ Ferrari GTC4Lusso T ahead of this month’s Paris motor show.

Almost identical to the $578,888 (plus on-road costs) V12 AWD all-wheel-drive flagship unveiled at this year’s Geneva Motor Show, the front mid-mounted engined newcomer ushers in a variation of the Ferrari California T’s 3.9-litre twin-turbo 90-degree V8.

Delivering 449kW of power at 7500rpm and 760Nm of torque between 3000rpm and 5250rpm to the rear wheels via a seven-speed DCT dual clutch transmission, the GTC4Lusso T can reach 100km/h in just 3.5 seconds, on the way to a top speed in excess of 320km/h.

In contrast, the 507kW/697Nm 6.3-litre 12-cylinder version is only 0.1s quicker to 100km/h, with a top speed of a dazzling 335km/h.

Claimed to have zero off-the-line lag thanks to the company’s VBM Variable Boost Management technology, the blown V8 features changeable torque delivery outputs in third and seventh gears, to help ensure what Ferrari calls “a feeling of vivid but superbly progressive acceleration”.

As with the V12, there is also a four-wheel steering system backed up by trick traction control software, with the rear wheels turning the same direction as the front ones while entering and exiting corners for improved stability.

The Maranello firm says that ditching its sophisticated 4RM AWD gear not only saves 50kg (dry weight is rated at 1740kg), it alters the GTC4Lusso T’s front-to-rear mass distribution closer to the back axle, for a more favourable 46:54 balance. For pollution-fearing Ferrari fans with a frugality fetish, fuel consumption falls by almost four litres per 100km, from the V12’s ferocious 15.3L/100km (and 350 grams/km), to a more palatable 11.6L/100 for a 265g/km CO2 emissions rating.

Inside the four-seater GTC4Lusso T scores the same 10.25-inch HD capacitive touchscreen multimedia system as its V12 stablemate, but beyond that, Ferrari isn’t saying much more.

That’s because complete specification details – including possible Australian pricing – have been held off until at least after the superwagon’s Paris show press-day premiere on September 29.