Yahoo Autos 2025 Ferrari 12Cilindri Belts Out a Classic Tune
"Dodici cilindri."The name of this new Ferrari sounds much better uttered by a native speaker of Italian. "We wanted a name that represents the essence of the car itself," says Jacopo Marcon, product marketing manager. "So it's 12Cilindri, as simple as that."
While V-12s grow rarer by the day, Ferrari's new grand tourer celebrates that magnificent engine configuration, one so central to the brand. As a replacement for the 812, the 12Cilindri is the classic Ferrari arrangement: V-12 engine up front, seating for two, rear-wheel drive. But even more than its predecessors, the new GT's styling leans into the brand's rich history yet seems more modern than retro.
The front end is an unmistakable nod to the 365GTB/4 Daytona—but Ferrari says it is also inspired by sci-fi in that it's designed to impart a "faceless" appearance by masking the headlights. An equally arresting visual is the C-pillar graphic that extends over the roof to give the appearance of a forward-jutting grab handle. The black roof section ahead of it is dark-tinted glass. An exaggerated cab-rearward design makes for a classically long hood, with the body form interrupted by swollen fender arches under which 21-inch wheels are wrapped in 275/35ZR-21 front and 315/35ZR-21 rear footwear. Unlike on Ferrari's sports cars, aerodynamic elements are not on full display. Rather than a large rear spoiler, for instance, flaps above the taillights deploy during spirited driving to add downforce at speeds between 37 and 186 mph. Keep the steering wheel pointed straight, and they lie dormant.
Inside the New Ferrari
The interior has a traditional dual-cockpit design, but the dash houses a trio of screens: a 15.6-inch driver display, a 10.3-inch center infotainment screen, and an 8.8-inch passenger's display. Ferrari's infatuation with touch-capacitive switchgear continues. Some work fine, like the haptic start/stop button on the steering wheel; others are pointlessly frustrating, like the touch-swipe side-mirror adjustment. The physical manettino, thankfully, remains a knob for selecting Wet, Sport, Race, CT Off, and ESC Off.
The standard seats are comfortably sculpted but firmly padded. Think twice before opting for the available sport seats, which have limited adjustability. The curvaceous front fenders—which create almost a scoop shape, seemingly to gobble up pavement—frame the field of vision over the low cowl. The view straight back is not bad, but there are large blind spots in the rear quarters.
Under the clamshell hood sits the F140HD, a naturally aspirated 6.5-liter V-12 that was previewed in the outgoing 812 Competizione. The horsepower stays the same—819 at a lofty 9250 rpm—while torque is down slightly to 500 pound-feet at 7250 rpm. The redline remains a stratospheric 9500 rpm.
Nestled into an aluminum spaceframe architecture said to be 15 percent torsionally stiffer than the 812's, the engine pairs with a new eight-speed dual-clutch transaxle. Ferrari claims a 48/52 percent front-to-rear weight distribution due in part to the rear-mounted transaxle and setting the engine behind the front axle line.
Driving the 12Cilindri
Cursed wet roads in Luxembourg, where our drive took place, demanded an abstemious right foot, and the long-travel accelerator helps in precisely metering out the furious 12's tremendous energy. To create the most scintillating sound, the exhaust outlet runners are all the same length, and the exhaust system aft of the catalytic converters has been revised. There are no switchable exhaust-sound modes, however. The engine emits a sharp bark at startup, but pops, crackles, and other juvenile artifices are not on the menu. In low-speed driving, the engine's voice is muted. It only begins to make its presence known around 3000 rpm. At 4000 or so revs, the music really starts, then it builds. And builds. And builds. Cross 6500 rpm, and the red LEDs at the top of the steering wheel start illuminating, and as you approach the 9500-rpm redline, the final two blue LEDs light up and then flash when you reach the limit.
Eventually, the skies cleared and the pavement dried—good thing, since only the most monastic driver could keep these 819 horses corralled indefinitely. The engine-management system employs what Ferrari calls "aspirated torque shaping" (maybe it sounds better in Italian) that alters the torque curve in third and fourth gears to achieve a feeling of "endless acceleration," according to Ruggero Cevolani, powertrain project leader. Our road drive offered a taste of that promise. At the Goodyear test track, though, we got to feel the brunt of it, with the car still pulling strong at 170 mph at the end of the straightaway. Ferrari claims a top speed north of 211 mph, and we think it'll hit 60 mph in 2.7 seconds. Fortunately, the carbon-ceramic rotors (15.7 inches up front, 14.2 at the rear) are indefatigable, and the brake-by-wire system, with its minimal pedal travel, is reassuringly firm underfoot.
Like its predecessor, the 12Cilindri has rear-axle steering, or Virtual Short Wheelbase in Ferrari-speak, now in its third generation (it originally debuted on the F12tdf ). It makes for instantly responsive turn-in and a quick flick to gather up the rear end when it steps out in wet conditions. Yet the steering, which is super precise, never strays into dartiness. The suspension, with its magnetorheological dampers, also impressed us with its supple ride on the road.
Huge, column-mounted carbon-fiber shift paddles stir the new eight-speed dual-clutch transaxle, which has a wider ratio spread than the 812's seven-speed. A trio of metal flippers on the console select reverse, switch between auto and manual mode, and activate launch control—the arrangement visually recalls Ferrari's metal gated shifter, but that's as close as you get to a manual here.
Ferrari has had 12-cylinder cars going back to 1947, but none has used its engine configuration as its name. Could this mean the 12Cilindri is the last of the line? "Some people have suggested that," Marcon admits, "but that's not our meaning. We're not saying yes, and we're not saying no." We suspect that if Ferrari can keep the V-12 beat going, it won't stop the music prematurely. But finale or not, the 12Cilindri has the notes of a greatest hit.
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