Ferrari 599XX news - Double X - 2009

See more Ferrari 599XX pics

Ferrari has released a whole bunch of shiny photos and new details on its unhinged 599XX, the hypertech track-focussed edition of its front-engined supercar. And, quite frankly, that's all the excuse we need to treat you to a big shiny gallery. Click it and be happy.

Just in case you've forgotten, here's the big news on the 599XX: Ferrari has revised the 6.0-litre V12 to put out a massive 700bhp at 9,000rpm. It weighs just 1,330kg, thanks to obsessive use of carbon fibre. It is, essentially, a track-only racer, armed with slick racing tyres, carbon ceramic brakes and a whole bunch of bewildering tech to improve downforce and air flow.

Bewildering tech that includes the use of a porous material in the diffuser, and a pair of fans in the boot which channel air flowing beneath the car out through two grilles by the taillights. Oh, and ‘synthetic jets' (an excellent name for an indie-electronica band, no?) incorporated into the rear which, along with those mad buttresses, smooth airflow over the surface of the car. It all combines to produce 280kg of real downforce at 120mph, and a massive 630kg at 185mph.

You want more tech trickery? How about a revised transmission which now changes gear in just 60 milliseconds? Or F1-style ‘doughnut' brake covers? Or brake pads made from carbon fibre?

What's that? The price? How does 1.1 million Euro grab you? And you don't really get to properly own the 599XX for that - instead, like the FXX programme, you become a Scuderia test driver, providing data from a bunch of invitation races to help Ferrari develop its future road cars, and getting one of only 15 599XXs thrown in as a garage ornament for good measure.

If you're muttering to yourself about feckless rip-off merchants, here's one last stat for you: the 599XX lapped Ferrari's Fiorano circuit in 1m17s, just a second slower than the FXX and quicker than, well, just about everything else bar the Scuderia's F1 cars. That's fast.

So, hypothetical millionaires: one of these, or that beautiful P4 that's up for auction soon?