Hypercars with nearly 1,000bhp are mind-boggling. I mean, even if you can afford one, how can you possibly extract even a fraction of their performance on a public road?

The answer is that you simply can’t. Only in a track can you edge towards the impossibly high limits of performance and driving dynamics. That’s, of course, if you’re the kind of person who buys these exquisite pieces of machinery to drive them hard, not just because you can or see it as an investment.

For those brave, and wealthy, enough who want to push them to the limit, companies like Ferrari have created track-only versions that are more hyper than the stock (…) cars.

Perhaps the most well-known example was the Enzo FXX, a pumped-up in terms of performance and aerodynamics variant of Maranello’s then top-of-the-line, limited edition supercar.

Its successor is the upcoming LaFerrari XX that we’ve already seen testing under not-so-heavy camouflage. Like the Enzo FXX, it will be much more extreme than the car on which it is based, doing away with amenities such as air-conditioning and normal glass in favor of a racing interior, sticky rubber and Perspex windows for the full-on racing effect.

Until now, the XX was thought to have the same output as the road-going LaFerrari, since the latter’s hybrid powertrain was already stressed out to 950bhp. According to a Top Gear report, though, it will pump out a significant 100bhp more, for a total of 1,050! All gains in horsepower come from tweaking the internal combustion V12 engine, as the battery powered parts are unaltered at 161bhp.

TG says that the LaFerrari XX will cost north of US$3 million and will be launched in December in Abu Dhabi. Like the FXX, production run will be limited, probably to 30 units.

All cars will remain in Ferrari’s custody, with owners participating in the Corse Clienti eight-race program. That’s because, as one insider said, “We don’t want them going to collectors. We want them to be driven.”

One last thing: the XX’s output is not just 50 percent more than its F1 car but 60hp more than its obvious rival, the track-only McLaren P1 GTR. Quite a demonstration of one-upmanship, don’t you agree?

By Andrew Tsaousis

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