Enzo Ferrari is alleged to have said, “when you buy a Ferrari, you pay for the engine.” That’s a pretty fair assessment when it comes to the 12Cilindri—the latest in Ferrari’s long line of storied V12-powered grand tourers.
The Italians have a way to making everything, and I mean, everything sound so sexy. Saving you a Google Translate click, 12Cilindiri (pronounced Doh-Dichi-Chileendree) translates to 12 Cylinders. It’s direct to the point and I love it. It also tells you the focal point of this entire car: the 6.5-liter V12 engine mounted upfront.
At a time when everyone else is going electrified or turbocharged, Ferrari is having none of that nonsense. This one is as purest as they come—normally-aspirated, 830 horsepower, 678 Nm of torque, and a 9,500 rpm redline. Lovely. It’s mated to an 8-speed dual clutch helping it producing some stellar figures: 0-100 km/h in 2.9 seconds, 0-200 km/h in 7.9 seconds, and a top speed of 340 km/h.
The V12 engine is related to the one found in the Ferrari 812 Competizione and for that, they happen to incorporate many track-to-road developments like titanium con rods, a ceramic catalytic converter, and sliding finger followers that opens and closes the valves. It also happens to implement nifty solutions to make it compliant to the ever-tightening global emissions standards.
But as the purest expression of Maranello’s spirit, engineers made sure it makes one hell of a symphony. Like a fine-tuned musical instrument, every part of the exhaust system is meticulously tuned for a cleaner, richer sound.
Then, there’s more. Much more. It goes beyond the outright power or the noise. It’s down to the depth. Despite its 9,500 rpm redline, Ferrari tuned the engine for civility. It’s kind of ironic, I know, but it’s very important. With that, 80 percent of the torque comes in at just 2,500 rpm. The ferocity of this engine this low in the rev range is shocking. After that, it’ll pull, hard. Each jab of the right foot—no matter how briefly—is matched precisely by the car. It seems to overcome its mass, seemingly defying the laws of physics at times. As a result, it’s got a far broader usable rev band than any turbo—and that’s a power band some 7,000 rpm wide. At the critical third and fourth gears, a sophisticated engine control software—Aspirated Torque Shaping (ATS)—helps sculpt the torque curve, improving a driver’s overall “perception” of it.
There’s a second part to that Enzo Ferrari quote, and it continues, “…and I will give you the rest for free.” Now, I reckon Mr. Ferrari didn’t realize the level of advancements his designers and engineers have made to the supercars that bare his name, especially the 12Cilindri.
The heavenly engine aside, the 12Clindri also boasts tech all in the name of performance and handling. It starts with a shortened wheelbase compared to its predecessor, the 812 Superfast, and a near-perfect weight distribution with 48.4 percent at the front and 51.6 percent at the back.
From there, it brings the best bits of Ferrari’s modern range of high-performance sportscars. For example, the brake-by-wire and 6D chassis sensor from the 296 are here as well as the four-wheel steering system in the Purosangue. Also, specific attention was also made to make sure the chassis has improved rigidity at a lower weight.
All in all, these technologies prove their point and are very useful whether you’re on the road or track. Driven sensibly, the 12Cilindri is tame. It stays par for the course at the straightaways and with the adapter dampers set to the “Bumpy Roads” setting, you will forget that you have 830 horsepower at your disposal.
Switch drive modes and you will feel the 12Cilindri sharpen, assessing the level of tire-to-road grip as you start steering. It makes the entire experience almost telepathic. It certainly makes short work of the twisty, mountainous roads around North Luxembourg. Give it a sniff of a corner, and the quick-ratio steering and standard rear-wheel steering do their job; it’s a car that loves to get involved. If anything, it’s so overeager to turn.
As you enter a corner, the turn-in grip is astonishing. It’s a very active car and at times, it feels snatchy around corners. Your mind simply isn’t ready for a car of this size to go in so hard and so quickly. True enough, don’t treat it with respect, and the 12Cilindri will bite back. Once you start to get into it and you start exploiting its abilities, it turns into a full-on sensory experience. You will get caught up in the pomp and the drama, for sure.
Even through a short handling course on the Goodyear Test Track, the 12Cilindri proves that it’s a capable car. It’s extremely obedient. And, despite its highly digitalized nature, it sticks to the fundamental fun-to-drive ingredients. The steering, body responses, braking—they all feel as they should and that’s a key part of what makes this car extremely good.
Compared to previous Ferrari’s V12 grand tourers, the 12Cilindri is all about clean lines and a functional approach to form. It uses volumes and intersecting panels to make the entire car look like an interconnected whole.
The front and rear ends are probably the most controversial bits. No longer does it have the elongated form and a mouth-shaped grille. Instead, there’s a wrap-around band with the DRLs jutting out like blades. The same blade feature is found at the back and this one traverses the entire rear section. It’s dramatic and unique to the 12Cilindri. Oh, and in case you’re wondering, you can’t swap that black band for any other color.
The 12Cilindri relies heavily on aerodynamics solutions for cooling and downforce. Like its modern ground effects F1 cars, air is channeled underneath and out the back to push the car down as the speeds go up. Oh, and instead of adopting a rear spoiler, designers have used two active flaps that are integrated with the rear screen. This allows the 12Cilindri to switch between Low Drag or High Downforce. The bonus is that it makes the entire design look cleaner.
Inside, the philosophy is typical Ferrari. The dual cockpit layout is on full display here and it’s almost symmetrical in form. The upper section features two distinct binnacles dedicated to the driver and passenger instrumentation and to the AC vents. A color and material change draws the eye to the two volumes separated by the body of the dash, which seem almost to float, further enhancing the feeling of lightness in this area. The driving controls, as always, are all located on the steering wheel. The buttons are mostly capacitive, controversial, yes, but they switch off when not in use, contributing to an air of minimalism.
New to the 12Cilindri, however, is its Human Machine Interface that’s comprised of three displays—a 15.6-inch display for the driver, a 10.25-inch display in the middle, and an 8.8-inch display for the passenger. Functions like climate control and infotainment are all controlled from the center screen, including wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto.
Practicality is typically glossed over, but from this standpoint, the 12Cilindri is very much so. The “Comfort Seats” offer plenty of adjustment (up to 18-ways) and it’s even heated and cooled. For the more hardcore, it can also be optioned with the “Sport Seats” which forego any electric adjustment in favor of a partly-carbon fiber construction. Towards the back, the hatch is power actuated, the cargo room is big, and there’s even a parcel shelf behind the two seats.
Few cars can exhilarate the way a Ferrari can, and among the line-up, its V12-powered grand tourers hold a special place. No one else makes a car that puts the engine front and center for good reason: because no one else builds an engine quite like Ferrari. The 12Cilindri is the clearest vision yet of what Ferrari has stood for in the motoring world since 1947. The fact that Ferrari still thinks it’s worth engineering and developing a car such as this, you don’t just drive or experience the 12Cilindri. You celebrate it.
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