Ferrari F12berlinetta, 2013
The Ferrari F12berlinetta ushers in a new generation of Ferrari 12-cylinders in the form of a car that delivers unprecedented performance from an exceptional new engine, unparalleled handling and innovative design and aerodynamics.
Every time Ferrari has unveiled a new 12-cylinder sports car since 1947, something magical has happened. Perhaps this has to do with the fact that our very first car, the 125 S, was itself a 12-cylinder or maybe it's because purists see the 12-cylinder as the engine size par excellence. Be that as it may, every time a Prancing Horse car of this kind makes its debut, it hails the start of a new era. There have been several 12-cylinder models built here at Maranello that have gone down in the annals of automotive history because of their technological prowess and the results they've delivered. The 1953 375 America, for instance, had an engine derived directly from the F1 single-seater of the day, while the 250 GTO in the 1960s was the perfect melding of styling and performance. That list must also include, of course, the 1969 365 GTB4, better known simply as the Daytona, which, thanks to its brilliantly balanced architecture delivered absolutely unique driving emotions. All of these engines and cars are now eagerly sought after by collectors the world over and each one represented major generational leap forward when it debuted. The story continues today with the Ferrari F12berlinetta which is not merely our latest mid-front 12-cylinder model but the first in a whole new generation of this kind of car. In fact, it is the most high performance Ferrari ever built yet it still effortlessly marries extreme performance with benchmark efficiency, delivering fuel consumption and emissions levels that are 30% lower than the previous generation. The challenge for our engineers and technicians this time was to create a front-engined car with blistering performance that was still able to offer the same driving pleasure and involvement at lower speeds. A difficult task because it meant improving on the design of the 599 GTB Fiorano, deemed the most beautiful Ferrari ever. However, their commitment and determination has produced a car sporting an exceptional new 740 hp mid-front V12 engine that delivers 690 Nm of torque.
Its engine and driver's seat have both been lowered, the wheelbase is shorter and a new suspension and gearbox layout have helped compact the rear. The result is a more compact car than the 599 GTB Fiorano. One that also has perfect weight distribution with 54% over the rear axle and a lower, pulled-back centre of gravity to boot. Thanks to all these characteristics, the Ferrari F12berlinetta delivers truly exceptional performance figures: 0-200 km/h in 8.5 seconds and a lap time at Fiorano of just 1'23". The Ferrari F12berlinetta's spaceframe chassis and bodyshell are both entirely new too and employ 12 different aluminium alloys - some being used for the first time in the automotive sector - and an array of leading-edge assembly and joining technologies. This helped cut the car's overall weight to just 1,525 kg and maximise its performance efficiency, boosting torsional rigidity by 20%. As with every Ferrari, the F12berlinetta's aerodynamics were developed hand-in-glove with its styling, resulting in a plethora of innovative solutions. Not least of these are the Aero Bridge, which uses the car's bonnet to create downforce for the first time, and Active Brake Cooling, a system of guide vanes on the brake air ducts which open when brake operating temperatures are high enough. The result is that the Ferrari F12berlinetta is the most aerodynamically efficient Ferrari ever (a figure of 1.12 - double that of the 599 GTB Fiorano) with a Cd of 0.299 and downforce of 123 kg at 200 km/h.
The product of the ongoing collaboration between the Ferrari Style Centre and Pininfarina, the Ferrari F12berlinetta's design centres around the car's brilliantly bilance proportions. It has an original innovative style featuring typical Ferrari 12-cylinder styling cues. Clothed in sleek, aggressively sculpted lines, it offers a superb standard of occupant space and comfort despite its compact exterior dimensions too.
The Powertrain
The Ferrari F12berlinetta's 200-bar, direct-injection 6262 cc 65° V12 delivers absolutely unprecedented performance for a naturally aspirated 12-cylinder engine. It has a maximum power output of 740 CV at 8250 rpm, while its specific power output is a record-breaking 118 CV/l. Responsiveness and strong pick-up is guaranteed by maximum torque of 690 Nm, 80 per cent of which is already on tap at 2500 rpm, with a constant surge of power all the way up to the 8700 rpm rev limit. Just as is the case with F1 engines, the V12 has very low inertia and thus revs rise very rapidly.
Driving involvement is intensified by the rich, full exhaust soundtrack typical of Ferrari'snaturally-aspirated V12s. The Ferrari F12berlinetta's performance levels give a good idea of the engine's incredible efficiency, where both fuel consumption and emissions are now 30 per cent lower thanks to the Stop&Start system, a "smart" alternator, and Multispark ignition system. These, along with numerous other technical solutions, have reduced internal friction making the F12berlinetta best-in-class for its power-emissions ratio.
The car's compression ratio has also been increased to 13.5:1 and a new 3.0 ECU has been adopted that uses ionisation currents to control sparking and detect misfires. The Multispark ignition generates three sparks of different durations and intensities in quick succession. At low engine speeds, this optimises combustion and, consequently, lowers fuel consumption. The engine is also equipped with Stop&Start and a "smart" alternator which recharges the battery only when there is no demand for power. Meticulous attention was also paid to reducing internal friction, exhaust backpressure and intake depressurisation. The cylinder block has four oil scavenge pumps with rotors using smaller diameter blades which optimise extraction efficiency. Lubrication is guaranteed by an engine oil pump with variable geometry. The design of the pistons includes an anodising treatment to the first piston groove, with PVD (Physical Vapour Deposition) coating on the first piston ring and Graphal-coated piston skirts. All of this reduces friction between the piston and the cylinder liner. The camshafts are super-finished using a lapping process that reduces surface roughness to under 0.05 Ra, thus minimising the coefficient of friction between the cam lobes and the tappets. The tappets themselves have been given a DLC (Diamond Like Carbon) coating that reduces their coefficient of friction, increasing performance and reducing fuel consumption.
The cylinder head features different conduit designs, new intake manifolds and new plenums fitted with resonators. The resonators create overpressure inside the intake tract the moment the intake valve opens and immediately before it closes, guaranteeing improved cylinder filling and generating a powerful supercharging effect which increases engine performance. The whole exhaust sequence has also been optimised - the catalysers have been miniaturised and hydroformed manifolds have been adopted, reducing their form and size without impinging on their capacity, resulting in improved permeability and reduced backpressure. The system's geometry and materials have been developed to harmonise the intake and exhaust soundtracks to underscore the car's extremely sporty character. All of the pipes connecting the 6-in-1 exhaust manifold to the single catalyser per bank are of equal length and this optimises the sound giving predominance to the first-order combustion harmonics. The characteristic engine sound can clearly be heard in the cockpit in all driving conditions.
The seven-speed F1 dual-clutch transmission boosts both performance and ride comfort at once. The technology involved is based on the independent management of odd and even gears which are pre-selected using two different in-put shafts. Gear shifting time - calculated as the overlap between the opening and closing phases of the two clutches - is thus zero and there is no interruption of torque delivery to the wheels. Shortened ratios have been developed for the Ferrari F12berlinetta and 7th gear is a direct ratio, not an overdrive, to ensure that the car's huge performance potential can be exploited in every gear. The E-Diff3 electronic differential has also been integrated into the gearbox, helping to cut the car's overall weight.
The Architecture
The Ferrari F12berlinetta delivers truly extraordinary performance and driving involvement thanks to its highly evolved transaxle architecture which was developed with extremely ambitious objectives in mind. These were to reduce overall weight, lower and move the centre of gravity rearwards in the chassis, and reduce the car's frontal area whilst contemporaneously increasing passenger and luggage space compared to the previous V12 coupé to ensure maximum comfort over lengthier journeys. To achieve these objectives, the engineers lowered the engine, dashboard and seats. Furthermore the rear of the car is now more compact, thanks to the repositioning and reduction in size of the fuel tank (permitted in part by a more efficient engine which delivers the same range as before) and to the new transaxle layout allowed by the rear multi-link suspension and F1 dual-clutch transmission with integrated electronic differential. Rather than a traditional separate boot, the F12berlinetta features a generous tail-gate incorporating the rear screen which contributes both to the compactness of the design, and the generous luggage space and its accessibility, while ensuring maximum structural rigidity. The solution also ensures that more of the car's mass sits inside the shorter wheelbase to the benefit of handling dynamics. The end result is a car that's lighter by 70 kg with a centre of gravity that's 25 mm lower. It's also shorter (-47mm), lower (-63 mm) and narrower (-20 mm) compared to the previous V12 coupé. The rear overhang has been greatly reduced (-82 mm) while the front one has been estende (+65 mm) to accommodate the cooling systems required for the powerful V12 engine. Weight distribution is ideal - 54% at the rear - and is unmatched by competitors within the segment.
Chassis and Bodyshell
The Ferrari F12berlinetta's spaceframe chassis and bodyshell are completely new and use different types of materials and technologies, many of which originated in the aeronautical industry. No fewer than 12 different types of alloy have been used, including two new structural alloys. This has helped keep the car's weight down (50 kg has been saved on the body-in-white alone which equates to a saving of 90 kg if the previous chassis were re-engineered to meet crash legislation) and maximise the efficiency of its performance (torsional rigidity has been increased by 20 per cent). Crash resistance (lateral pole impact and roof roll-over) is already in line with future legislative requirements and particular attention was taken during the design phase to improving production quality, and minimising repair times and thus costs for the client.
The Aerodynamics
The Ferrari F12berlinetta's aerodynamics were developed hand-in-hand with its styling, using CFD (computational fluid dynamic) simulations along with more than 250 hours of testing in the Wind Tunnel. Aside from external air flows, research focused on internal ones with particolar attention given to thermal factors (including the radiators, heat exchangers and brakes). Apart from boosting the car's fluid dynamic efficiency, this research also led to a reduction in volumes through the optimised packaging of the car's mechanical components. The result is that it is the most overall aerodynamically efficient Ferrari ever, a fact attested to by a figure of 1.12 (double that of the 599 GTB Fiorano). Downforce has been boosted by 76 per cent (123 kg at 200 km/h) while drag has been significantly reduced (the Cd is just 0.299).
The Ferrari F12berlinetta's aerodynamic efficiency brass is mostly generated by three elements: the Aero Bridge, the Blown Spoiler, the aerodynamic underbody. The Aero Bridge is an innovative solution that uses the bonnet to create downforce for the first time. It does so by availing of an aerodynamic channel on each side. These pass below a bridge in the area between the front wheelarch and the bottom of the A-pillar and deflect the airflow into scoops in the flanks where it interacts with the wake from the wheel wells to decrease drag. The Blown Spoiler uses the air flows near the rear of the car to modify, via special intakes, the pressure field in the wheel well, boosting overall efficiency. Lastly, the car's flat underbody has been greatly evolved, not least thanks to the fact that the front splitter which is now separate to the bumper.
