The 819 hp Ferrari 12Cilindri Is Revealed. Right here’s What We Know.

Whilst electrification is driving Ferrari into new and uncharted territory, the marque’s thrumming twelve cylinders proceed to compose a lyrical by way of line of Maranello’s gran turismo historical past, which incorporates Enzo’s first 125 S that rolled from his manufacturing unit in 1947. And the on-the-nose identify Ferrari selected for its latest GT speaks to its delight and defiance of business developments. For many who anticipated Ferrari to stroll away from its internal-combustion heritage, meet the just-revealed Ferrari 12Cilindri.

Previous to this night’s official debut of the mannequin, tied to the Miami Grand Prix, Robb Report was invited to a exhibiting of the 12Cilindri (pronounced “Chill-IN-dree) in Maranello, the place Ferrari’s design chief Flavio Manzoni pulled covers off the successor to the 812 Superfast, revealing a contemporary GT with a delta-wing design that makes the automobile look prepared for takeoff.

The 12Cilindri offers a cursory nod to Ferrari historical past, but in addition represents a transparent break from its previous. The mannequin’s lineage reveals within the black band that wraps the prolonged hood like a classic Armani cummerbund. It’s an immediately recognizable callback to the plexiglass, headlamp-covering nostril of the late-Sixties-era 365 GTB/4 “Daytona,” earlier than U.S. laws pressured a swap to retractable headlamps in 1971. Manzoni says the visor-like band additionally suggests a “futuristic spaceship” in a design that eschews a standard grille.

A delicate tackle a semicircular indent line—one other Ferrari signature—sweeps the perimeter, anchoring voluptuous fenders and accentuating the automobile’s size. Wheel arches are stuffed with 21-inch solid alloys carrying Michelin Pilot Sport 5 S tires. Issues get wilder towards the rear. A carbon-fiber-capped greenhouse incorporates a rear windscreen, the latter that includes a triangular form impressed by an aeronautic flybridge. The blacked-out windscreen flows right into a pair of electrically powered flaps that rise to 30 levels to spice up aerodynamic downforce. The rear winglets bookend a set heart spoiler supposed to create a full-width “blade” impact. Then there’s the 4 gem-like taillights, a departure from Ferrari’s spherical illumination of yore.

Sadly, the design of the aggressive rear diffuser—a set of aero jail bars—detracts from the fluid silhouette. However such are the purposeful calls for of a two-seater with 819 hp and 500 ft lbs of torque, output that may supposedly launch the 12Cilindri to 211 mph after it knocks off zero to 62 mph in 2.9 seconds.

The 12Cilindri boasts the most important hood ever fitted to a Ferrari. Sizzling-formed from a single sheet of aluminum, the front-hinged clamshell appears sufficiently big to drift a number of island castaways. The red-headed V-12 mill perches under deck, shoved behind the axle in a mid-front-engine format.

The 1946 blueprints for Enzo’s unique V-12 engine define a 1.5-liter displacement. Practically eight a long time later, Ferrari’s naturally aspirated V-12 has grown to a Detroit-sized 6.5 liters within the 812 Superfast, 812 Competizione, and Purosangue SUV. The 12Cilindri adopts many of the Competizione’s track-centric engine, together with its aforementioned output (up from 788 hp within the Superfast). Gianmaria Fulgenzi, Ferrari’s chief growth officer, mentions that the ability plant’s reciprocating elements are 40 p.c lighter than earlier than, because of weight-saving measures similar to titanium connecting rods and a brand new aluminum alloy for the pistons.

We suspect drivers will really feel the largest kick from an eight-speed, dual-clutch F1 gearbox, first provided within the SF90 Stradale hybrid. In comparison with the 812’s seven-speed iteration, the additional cog with this one is touted to shorten the gearing by 15 p.c, making shifts quicker by eight p.c general, no less than these are the claims. In accordance with Ferrari, the paddle-shifted gearbox addresses the 812’s greatest shortcoming: acceleration in third and fourth gear that feels much less forceful and linear than some house owners may favor. Bear in mind, there’s no turbocharger cheat code right here, however moderately a hand-built engine that should spin like a mad Rumpelstiltskin to make energy.

Ferrari additionally charts a notably heightened torque curve versus that discovered with the 812s, claiming that the 12Cilindri delivers 12 p.c extra torque to pavement than the Superfast. We listened to a recorded tease of the 12Cilindri shrieking to its violent 9,500 rpm redline and barking by way of downshifts, a seeming taunt to modern-yet-mute EVs. A totally redesigned exhaust system (together with equal-length runners for each cylinder banks) is meant to focus on the free-breathing nature of the mill.

The brand new mannequin’s wheelbase is shortened by 0.8 inches versus the 812 Superfast and its variants. That doesn’t sound like a lot, till you notice that four-wheel steering just about shortens the wheelbase by one other 1.2 inches. And an all-new chassis boosts torsional stiffness by 15 p.c in comparison with the 12Cilindri’s predecessors.

Driver-adjustable MagneRide magnetic dampers are matched to the brake-by-wire system from the 296 GTB—the six-cylinder hybrid that stops faster than any present Ferrari. And the Aspect Slip Management system, the nerve heart for Ferrari’s traction-and-handling methods, reaches its 8.0 model and combines with multi-axis sensing that enables particular person braking at every wheel.

At Ferrari’s Centro Stilo, we had been stunned by one other debut, that of the 12Cilindri Spider in a modern coat of Verde Toscana (“Tuscan Inexperienced”). The hardtop convertible adopts the 296 GTB hybrid’s space-saving roof design, opening or closing in 14 seconds at speeds as much as 28 mph.

The inside of each coupe and convertible take cues from the 296 GTB and Purosangue, the dual-cockpit impact as a consequence of binnacles that appear to individually wrap the driving force and passenger. Fronting the enveloping sport seats is the acquainted flat-bottomed steering wheel, its manettino lever enabling the pilot to twiddle by way of efficiency modes. There’s additionally the haptic start-stop swap that’s a less- compelling contact level than the bodily button it changed.

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Concerning misguided contact factors, Ferrari house owners and critics have given thumbs-down to thumb-pad sliders and different maddening parts of the infotainment system on the 296 GTB and Purosangue. These fashions additionally function a separate display screen for shotgun passengers, however eschew a middle display screen, leaving drivers locked in fight with an overtaxed driver’s show that handles just about each operate. The 12Cilindri eases that distracting workload with a ten.3-inch heart touchscreen, along with shows for the driving force and passenger.

Entrance-engine GTs had been as soon as Ferrari’s lifeblood, however they’ve been overshadowed by the corporate’s mid-engine supercars. Most not too long ago, the SF90 and 296 GTB/GTS have grabbed the highlight by adopting hybrid know-how. This next-gen GT seems to be Ferrari’s cussed protection of internal-combustion ideas, wrapped in a physique that teases an alluring future—no matter whether or not it’s with or with out 12 cylinders.  

The primary 12Cilindri coupes are scheduled to achieve clients within the fourth quarter of this yr, with convertible examples following in early 2025; the variants beginning at €395,000 and €435,000, respectively. U.S. pricing has but to be introduced.

Click on right here for extra images of the Ferrari 12Cilindri.