Ferrari reveals 772kW track special

The latest creation from Maranello's most famous car company, Ferrari, is not road legal and doesn't comply with any racing regulations.

Based on the $2 million LaFerrari, the most powerful Prancing Horse ever made is powered by a similar hybrid powertrain but bumps up the power by 52kW and at least 200Nm.

That takes the LeFerrari's 718kW and 700Nm outputs to an astonishing 772kW and more than 900Nm of torque in the new FXX K.

Revealed online ahead of its public launch at the Yas Marina Circuit in Abu Dhabi, as part of the Finali Mondiali event, the FXX K is one of the most extreme Ferrari sports cars ever created.

Ferrari hasn't even bothered releasing a 0-100km/h figure, presumably because no technology yet exists to measure the car's frightening speed.

The Ferrari FXX K features dramatic new aerodynamic aids and is also lighter than the LaFerrari, but even the richest of Ferrari clients may not get to drive it.

So if it can't be raced, it can't be driven on the road and only a handful of exceptionally well-connected Ferrari owners will ever drive it, what is the point of the Ferrari XX K?

Development, says the Italian company.

"Unfettered by homologation and racing regulations, the FXX K will never be used in competition," states Ferrari, which asserts that the car's utterly uncompromising technological innovations "will guarantee an unprecedented driving experience" that will be made available only to an "exclusive group of Client-Test Drivers".

These lucky few, most likely chosen from the current 499 LaFerrari owners, will join the Italian company for a bespoke test program that runs through 2015 and 2016.

The idea is that this extreme vehicle will help the company hone its road and race cars even further, and enlisting customers to help with testing of the car suggests it may one day be developed for a one-make race series.

Ferrari says the FXX K "research and development programme" will help it advance its KERS or kinetic energy recovery system, which is what the 'K' stands for in the FXX K name. The testing could also contribute vital KERS data to Ferrari's F1 Scuderia team, which recently signed up four-times world champion Sebastian Vettel until the end of the 2017.

The powertrain takes the LaFerrari's 6.3-litre naturally-aspirated V12 engine and electric motor-assisted hybrid system and tweaks it to deliver extreme power levels, while the combustion engine is fitted with new camshafts and mechanical rather than hydraulic tappets.

It's also going to be loud. New intake manifolds and an upgraded exhaust system are fitted, the latter's silencers completely removed.

Furthermore, the KERS system features more adjustability, with four settings on the Manettino power adjustment controls. Ferrari explains:

Qualify: Maximum performance within a limited number of laps
Long Run: Optimised for performance consistency
Manual Boost: Instant maximum torque delivery
Fast Charge: Quick recharge of the car's battery

As well as enhancing its hybrid KERS system, Ferrari has put time and money into developing the FFX K's aerodynamics. Changes to passive and active aero systems result in a 50 per cent increase in downforce at 200km/h in low drag configuration, claims the car-maker.

This is possible due to a reworked front-end featuring a larger splitter that sits 30mm lower. Other updates that contribute to the car's aerodynamic balance include new side skirts and what Ferrari describes as "two pairs of vertical elements" and a dive plane help move the air around the car in an optimal fashion.

Ferrari's aerodynamic experts have lavished attention on the rear of the vehicle too, which features an actuating spoiler that rises a further 60mm over the regular LaFerrari's pop-up wing. A pair of winglets and a vertical fin at the rear help smooth the airflow as it passes over the car, and an extreme diffuser improves negative lift. It also features a flat underbody.

Perhaps the most important aspect of the vehicle, its contact with the road – tyres – have been upgraded to Pirelli slicks that feature a full suite of sensors "that monitor longitudinal, lateral and radial acceleration, as well as temperature and pressure".

Ferrari has also tweaked the car's electronic stability doodads, with the electronic differential's intervention threshold reduced and things like adjustable ABS, traction control and Racing SSC, or side slip angle control. In conjunction with huge carbon ceramic disc brakes, stopping power is expected to be extreme.

FXX K in detail:

KERS system
Total maximum power: 772kW (1050hp)
Total maximum torque: >900Nm
V12 maximum power*:  632kW (860hp) @ 9200rpm
Maximum revs: 9250rpm
V12 maximum torque: 750Nm @ 6500rpm
Electric motor output: 140kW (190 cv)

* With dynamic ram effect