Houston's Secret Ferrari Lab
Behind the doors of Houston's secret Ferrari lab: A rare, exclusive look inside car geek heaven
Sep 15, 2014 | 4:06 pm
Risi Competizione — a Ferrari team based in Houston — is heading to Austin for a major race.
Photo by Kevin McCauley
Unlike prototype racing cars, which are designed from the ground-up to go racing, GT cars are based on road-going cars. A prototype is built so that every system is accessible and easily adjustable. GTs, like this Ferrari 458, have to deal with some compromise of a road car platform that has the opposite goals — for example, no one wants to buy a luxury sports car with exposed oil hoses running through the cabin or access panels all over the bodywork. But the developments learned in GT racing do make their way to Ferrari road cars, and then future road cars are designed to be better racers. It’s the reason the subframe of this car can come off without much fuss. The racing benefits both sides.