MARANELLO, Italy – Bentley built its final W12 in April, an engine VW Group introduced in 2001. Mercedes and BMW already bid auf wiedersehen to 12 cylinders. But Ferrari is Ferrari. Defying trends and regulators, the corporate has created a radically reimagined GT whose name rivals “LaFerrari” for on-the-nose intent: The 12Cilindri.
The brand new Ferrari 12Cilindri was just officially revealed in Miami, but I got a deep-dive viewing two weeks ago at the corporate’s sleek Centro Stile (“design center”) in Maranello.
With all respect to the 812 Superfast, the breathtaking, Delta-themed 12Cilindri crumples and tosses its predecessor’s evolutionary design. For years now, Ferrari’s classic front-engine GTs have been overshadowed by its mid-engine V8 supercars, and now the sensible six-cylinder 296 GTB hybrid. So extending the lifetime of Ferrari’s hallowed V12 is a very good thing, but provided that the GT it powers gets some love and a spotlight as well.
Discuss an attention-getter. Whilst it nods to Ferrari’s past — including a visor-like hood band that’s a cheeky callback to the 365 GTB4 Daytona — the 12Cilindri’s winning modernity seems a profession mic drop (thus far) for design chief Flavio Manzoni.
Fans of ICE-fueled overabundance will give because of 12 apostles, seated for supper in red-haloed rows, below the Ferrari’s DaVinci-spec hood. Those cylinders will deliver a decidedly unholy 819 horsepower, up from 788 within the 812 Superfast, and matching the track-focused 812 Competizione. Ferrari pegs 0-62-mph (100 km/h) acceleration in 2.9 seconds, a 7.9-second rip to 124 mph, and a top speed beyond 211 mph.
The Ferrari V12 that began all of it was Gioacchino Columbo’s controversial 1.5-liter design, whose 1946 blueprints are preserved in Maranello. Critics scoffed that the tiny displacement was higher suited to a four-cylinder. Italian racer Franco Cortese recalled a general consensus on Enzo: “He’s a nutcase. It’ll eat his money and finish him.”
As an alternative, Enzo’s one-off 125 C (and a single 125 S) rolled from the factory gate and into history in 1947. That 125 C conked out with fuel-pump problems while leading its first race, which Enzo dubbed “a promising failure.” The snub-nosed red barchetta won six of its next 13 races — though not the Mille Miglia — making 100 horsepower from its 60-degree V12. Ferrari wouldn’t construct a road automotive with no front-engine V12 for 20 years, until the mid-mounted V6 Dino 206 in 1967. So Ferrari’s 12-cylinder loyalty is just natural, including within the naturally-aspirated Purosangue SUV.
Eight many years of growth have lifted displacement to a big-blocky 6.5 liters, with the aforementioned 819 horses and 500 pound-feet of torque. I’m already dreaming of a test drive when Manzoni lifts the biggest hood ever fitted to a Ferrari: a single hunk of hot-formed aluminum long enough to make a Viper blush. The front-hinged clamshell eliminates cutlines across the hood, in a automotive inspired as much by aeronautics as automobiles. Say arrevederci to a standard grille. Headlamps are integrated into the wraparound “Daytona” band, with blade-like daytime running lights. A pair of asymmetric hood vents are the one visual break within the fluid form. Sexy, swelling front and rear fenders are connected by a subtle update of Ferrari’s familiar semi-circular indent line.
Again dishing out with nostalgia, Manzoni and Co. went for top, functional drama out back: A sweeping rear window and carbon-fiber roof nod to an aeronautic flybridge. And reasonably than a standard rear spoiler, that rear window melds right into a pair of moveable, batwing-like flaps at each corner. The electrical winglets can lift as much as 30 degrees to spice up downforce, but won’t move independently. (Ferrari engineers say the load and complexity of a dual-motor system weren’t justified by aero gains). An aggressive rear diffuser juts like a lineman’s facemask, the one area where function arguably intrudes on an otherwise-elegant form.
The window and, um, “batflaps” form the automotive’s signature Delta shape, with the greenhouse surface in contrasting body color. A gem-like lighting blade (with no round taillamps, scusi) wraps a concave rear. Viewed from behind, the 12Cilindri appears to be a double-wide supercar fantasy: Owners had higher prepare to be chased by Insta-snapping fans.
Ferrari unveiled the coupe in a coat of gray-white “Bianco Artico” paint, which seemed hard to top — until we traipsed into its Atelier (where customers select leathers and other options) for a gander on the 12Cilindri Spider. The convertible was shown in “Verde Toscana,” a spring awakening of green-gray that flattered every line. As within the 296 GTS, the space-saving retractable hardtop opens or closes in 14 seconds at quickens to twenty-eight mph.
Just like the Roma and Purosangue, the 12Cilindri adopts a dual-cockpit design that wraps driver and passenger in beautiful, near-symmetric binnacles. A physical Manettino driving-mode selector patrols the racy flat-bottom steering wheel, unfortunately with the capacitive Start/Stop switch of other recent models, reasonably than an analog button.
There’s also a digital screen for the passenger to noodle with. However the stop-the-presses news is a 3rd digital display: A ten.3-inch center screen tucked below the artistic dash, whose infuriating absence on Purosangue and 296 models left drivers thumbing through an overtaxed (and distracting) driver’s display for each last function. Ferrari executives refused to bite on suggestions that multilingual cursing and complaints from owners can have sparked this change-of-heart. But we’ll exit on a limb and say that even probably the most coordinated driver doesn’t need a fussy steering-wheel slider to scroll Spotify or adjust navigation maps.
Press that haptic Start switch, nevertheless, and the V12 will remind you of Ferrari’s reason for being. Ferrari cues up a recording of the engine scaling to 9,500 rpm like a runamok Pavarotti, ripping through downshifts with murderous glee. Nessun Dorma indeed — or “None Shall Sleep” — since the wake-the-dead wail of a Ferrari V12 can be talked about, mourned and ultimately preserved by collectors into the following century. They’ll just have to preserve some unleaded as well.
An all-new exhaust system, including equal-length runners for the 6-into-1 manifolds, also flatters the “noble combustion orders” of the 12-cylinder mill.
As on the 812 Competizione, the dry-sump engine’s reciprocating parts are 40% lighter. Titanium connecting rods and a brand new aluminum alloy for pistons trim more weight. Sliding finger followers for the valvetrain mimic Ferrari’s F1 cars, and diamond-like carbon (DLC) surface coatings reduce friction.
Ferrari’s spectacular eight-speed, dual-clutch gearbox should deliver palpable gains, versus a seven-speed on all 812 models. First seen on the SF90 Stradale, that F1 transmission brings 15% shorter gearing and eight% speedier shifts. That ought to solve the 812’s tendency to expire of oomph in its tall third and fourth gears. Relatively speaking: After I’ve run through gears in an 812, with as much as 819 horses, I are inclined to give attention to a shortage of runway and brains, not power.
Here, Ferrari claims a primary for its naturally aspirated engines: a patented software solution that helped sculpt a sturdier torque curve in third and fourth gears. Company engineers were a bit vague about how it really works, but said their “Aspirated Torque Shaping” boosts the feeling of maximum torque and unbroken momentum. Add up the changes, and Ferrari cites a 12% jump in torque on the rear wheels versus previous V12 berlinettas.
Chassis torsional stiffness grows by 15%, with an adjustable MagneRide suspension and 21-inch forged wheels throughout. Engineers say suspension turning roughly splits the difference between an 812 and the hardcore Competizione. Owners make a choice from Michelin Pilot Sport S5 or Goodyear Eagle F1 Supersport tires. (Are you kidding? Take the Michelins). Energetic air flaps work with five underbody vortex generators to channel and extract air. Shock towers integrate recycled aluminum for the primary time to trim CO2 emissions during casting.
The largest gain here appears to be a wheelbase that’s shortened by 0.8 inches. That’s not much on paper, until you add rear-wheel steering. By tightening the turning radius, the feature virtually shortens the wheelbase by one other 1.2 inches. Ferrari engineers say the entire 2.0-inch reduction helps create a decisively more-agile GT.
To halt a big-bodied Ferrari with a claimed dry weight of three,432 kilos, the 12Cilindri adopts a powerful brake-by-wire system from the 296 GTB, the shortest-stopping automotive within the Cavallino stable. Engineers say the 12Cilindri brakes from 62-0 mph in 107 feet, with “6D multi-axis sensing” allowing each wheel to brake independently. Side Slip Control, the massive brain behind the corporate’s otherworldly traction and stability systems, is now in its eighth iteration.
All this and more, for €395,000 to begin in Italy; or closer to €435,000 for the 12Cilindri Spider that’s set to follow in early 2025. U.S. pricing has not been set. But when you may have to ask …
Between the coupe, Spider and Purosangue for garden-center runs, Ferrari could have three V12 models. Executives said that’s the culmination of a call made 4 years ago to proceed investing in ICE powertrains, including for loyal customers who still clamored for a V12.
“It shouldn’t be as much as us to impose technology,” said Enrico Galliera, chief marketing and industrial officer.
Even now, Galliera said, Ferrari “won’t have the arrogance” to say these are their final, ultimate, no-foolin’ V12 models, whilst the corporate readies a brand new constructing in Maranello (set to open in June) to accommodate its fast-growing electric operations.
As for the 12Cilindri name, Gianmaria Fulgenzi, chief development officer, called it a “declaration of affection.” Executives joked they’ll offer training sessions to assist folks pronounce it accurately. For the record, it’s “DOH-di-chee Chill-IN-dree.” Or, you might just whistle.
This Article First Appeared At www.autoblog.com
