No prizes for guessing how many cylinders exactly lies under the hood of the Ferrari 12Cilindri.
Ferrari has recently taken the covers off its latest flagship front-engined grand tourer, and it seems the big focus on this new 812 Superfast successor is what lies under its hood. It is to be christened the 12Cilindri after all, which for those who didn’t get the memo, literally translates to 12 cylinders.
Though Ferrari may have a point with the 12Cilindri name, as this is all but likely to be the last prancing horse to purely be powered by the 12 cylinders under its hood. And it has to be said too that giving the engine top billing on its name is not exactly a fluke, because the 6.5-litre naturally-aspirated V12 could really be considered a masterpiece in its own right.
Touching on the headline figures first on this latest evolution of the F140 65º V12 (that first appeared in the Enzo two decades ago), Ferrari currently claims for it to be capable of churning out a whopping 819 hp @ 9,250 rpm and 678 Nm of torque @ 7,500 rpm. More deliciously as well, these 12 cylinders propelling this 12Cilindri only redlines at the ear-splitting heights of 9,500 rpm.
In terms of out and out speed meanwhile, the coupe 12Cilindri is quoted to hit 100 km/h in just 2.9 seconds and 200 km/h in 7.9 seconds, before topping out at 340 km/h. Its Spider counterpart on the other hand takes 0.05 seconds more for the century sprint and 0.3 seconds longer to reach the 200 km/h mark, owing to it gaining 60 kg over the 1,560 kg dry weight of its fixed roof sibling.
Taking a small detour here and indulging the engineers for a bit, among the bigger changes made to this newest iteration of naturally-aspirated Ferrari V12 is the adoption of titanium con rods that reduce rotating mass by 40% relative to previously used steel items. Its 12 pistons is now honed out of an aluminium alloy as well, with it then to be rotating a rebalanced and lightweight crankshaft.
The typical hydraulic lifters has further been ditched for a rigid system utilising F1-derived sliding finger followers, which is then carbon coated to reduce the coefficient of friction and improving the engine’s mechanical efficiency. Its manifold and plenum have also been made more compact, with Ferrari also bringing to the table its new Aspirated Torque Shaping system that can electronically alter the torque curve in third and fourth gears on the fly.
And speaking of gears, the 12Cilindri comes as standard with a rear-mounted eight-speed dual-clutch gearbox that promises 30% quicker shifts than the 812’s transmission. Other technical toys worth noting with this latest flagship Ferrari includes the new Slide Slip Control 8.0 (SSC 8.0) ultra-advanced chassis control systems that now more quickly estimates tyre grip levels, a new clever independent four-wheel steering system and a brake-by-wire system.
Now moving swiftly on from all the nerdery and turning towards the design of this 12Cilindri, this latest Ferrari flagship has certainly taken quite a lot of inspiration from its spiritual 365 GTB/4 Daytona predecessor. That much is clear from the gloss black element that runs right across its long and low front end, which is reminiscent of the plexiglass panel on the earlier iterations of that aforementioned vintage prancing horse.
Among the other exterior aesthetic elements worth highlighting here includes the rather pronounced haunches atop its 21-inch rear wheels, which adds some curves to the 12Cilindri’s sleek side profile. As for its arse, this latest flagship V12 supercar has gone with the current Ferrari current corporate rump that first made its debut on the Roma.
Turning towards the interior of the 12Cilindri, a 10.25-inch central infotainment display and 8.8-inch passenger screen are to be joined by a massive 15.6-inch digital instrument cluster found behind its button-fest of a multifunction steering wheel. Massive fixed paddle shifters are also to be featured on this Ferrari, along with a dinky central gear selector contraption that the prancing horse marque keeps in memory of the (long-gone) gated-shifter days.
This latest 12Cilindri currently retails for €395,000 (RM 2 million) for the coupe and €435,000 (RM 2.22 million) for the spyder in its home market of Italy, with it to likely be about the same (before tax) when it eventually makes landfall in Malaysia. Though it remains to be seen whether any will officially be registered over here any time soon, considering rumours of there being a waiting list stretching years already before this swan song V12 Ferrari was even unveiled…
