Ferrari F12berlinetta: The Jalopnik Meta Review

Travis Okulski

About a week ago, Ferrari hand picked a number of journalists to venture to Italy and have a day with the latest car to come out of Maranello, the F12berlinetta. This is Ferrari's new V12 powered, aluminum bodied top dog. Ferrari promises that this is the fastest road car ever to be adorned with the Prancing Horse badge.

But what did we think? That's a toughie.

(Full Disclosure: Ferrari didn't want us to drive the F12 so badly that we had to hastily assemble all the best bits of other reviews for your reading pleasure. I ate a free muffin while working on it. It was just like being in Italy. Why didn't we get an invite? Probably because of Chris Harris... or because we said it looks like a uterus. — T.O.)

In the 65-year history of Ferrari, V12 gran turismos are some of the most evocative cars that ever rolled out of Maranello. Gorgeous to behold, big and insanely powerful, these front-engined behemoths simultaneously conjured images of luxurious peregrination and the winning podium for tough endurance races.

The F12 might be Ferrari's fastest car ever, but more important, it's the most fun Ferrari in years. Slap on a grin and hop on in; this is a rolling festival of perfection; a glistening red celebration of beauty, performance, and involvement that shames the all-new Porsche 991-chassis 911, the Lamborghini Aventador, and everything between. Imagine supercar performance, luxury-car accoutrements, and driver's-car steering. It is, if you can indulge us in a made-up word that's as silly as the car's official name, F12brilliant.

It says something profound that 731 hp feels about right in the F12 berlinetta. Throttle response is instantly gratifying all the way from idle to the wailing 8,700-rpm cutout. But the V12 begins to sound musical only from 3,000 rpm, and there's a marked increase in tempo and intensity at 6,000 rpm. Although it's one of the world's most awesome engines, it doesn't dominate the F12 as you might expect. It's just one superb part of an incredibly harmonious whole.

The F12 will get from 0-62mph in around 3.1 seconds – and on to a top speed of around 210mph. If you want to make the most of this car's performance, you'll need a race track – preferably a very large one.

There's no pause between gears, it just keeps going inexorably until you run out of road or, more likely, courage.

While the F12 has seriously quick steering — 2.0 turns lock-to-lock — there's no hint of nervousness, just euphoria. Cornering loads result in a steady increase in effort and every degree of motion results in a predictable reaction from the car. Trust builds quickly when driving the F12, and the chassis does everything better than you expect it to and without any fuss. There is more roll compliance than we expected, but it doesn't negatively impact grip from the meaty Michelin Pilot Super Sports or handling stability.

The interior is modelled closely on the 458 Italia, but with certain elements that are unique to the F12. Most of the controls, including the indicators, lights, wipers, engine start and Manettino dial are located on the steering wheel. The latter allows you to toggle through five different driving modes and tweak the gearbox, E-diff, ABS, suspension and stability control. There's no central display, instead the sat-nav and audio are shown on two tft screens flanking the huge central rev counter, while the bulls-eye air vents are a completely new design.

Of course you want it. The F12 berlinetta practically defines "desirable." It updates Ferrari's most traditional road-car formula in so many ways and makes its predecessor appear a little slow and unsophisticated. The F12 berlinetta is due to launch in the United States next spring, five months or so after European deliveries begin. Based on the higher-than-599 price already announced for Europe, it is likely to cost $300,000.

Ferrari's civilian buyers, once considered merely a source of funds for racing efforts, are now important enough to drive vehicle design and development. The company is even throwing in seven years of free maintenance. Suddenly, the road-car customer is king at Ferrari, and it's good to be the king.

Photo Credit: Ferrari

For the third year running a Ferrari engine has triumphed in the prestigious International Engine of the Year Awards, this time with the company’s naturally-aspirated 6262cc V12. The 740 HP engine, which equips the critically-acclaimed F12berlietta, took the two categories - Best Performance Engine and Above 4-litre Engine - which were won in 2011 and 2012 by Ferrari’s 4.5-litre V8.

The awards, recognised as the industry’s top accolade for the world’s best powertrain technology, have seen the international judging panel increase to 86 motoring journalists from 35 nations. In the face of stiff competition, the Ferrari V12 was lauded as a masterpiece of engineering, combining blistering performance with surprising efficiency.
Jean Jacques His, head of Ferrari’s powertrain department, attended the award ceremony and commented, “Winning both these categories for the third year running is a fantastic result for everyone at Ferrari. It is testimony to the efforts of a relatively small group of engineers who constantly strive to achieve ambitious technical objectives. Three figures suffice to demonstrate the results of development: 120 HP more and 30 percent lower emissions than the previous V12 that equipped the 599 GTB Fiorano, along with a 30 percent increase in longitudinal acceleration.”

The co-chairman of the International Engine of the Year Awards, Dean Slavnich, commented: "The V12 takes over from the V8 to make it six International Engine of the Year Award wins for Ferrari in three years, a brilliant feat.”

The fastest, most powerful Ferrari production car of all time, the F12berlinetta strikes a perfect balance between maximum aerodynamic efficiency and the elegant proportions typical of Ferrari’s front-engined V12 cars. Since its launch, the car has been the object of universal acclaim from the press and public alike, with the International Engine of the Year titles following several other recent awards, from BBC Top Gear Magazine’s Supercar of the Year, Auto Bild’s “Design Award”, The Sunday Times Driving’s “Best Supercar and Luxury Car” award and the Golden Steering Wheel award from Auto Bild and Bild Am Sonntag, the first time a Ferrari has ever taken this leading German industry prize.

Announcing the F12berlinetta: the fastest Ferrari ever built

Maranello, 29th February 2012 – Today’s on-line unveiling of the 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, combined with innovative design that redefines classic themes along with extreme aerodynamics.

Revealed to the world for the first time on Ferrari.com in preparation for its official debut at the Geneva International Motor Show, the F12berlinetta, finished in an attractive new Rosso Berlinetta three-layer colour, represents the very cutting-edge of mid-front-engined sports cars.

This is, in fact, the most powerful and high-performance Ferrari road car ever launched thanks to the incredibly efficient engine – in terms of mechanical, combustion and fluid-dynamics efficiency – which, together with advanced vehicle architecture, aerodynamics, components and electronic controls, guarantee unsurpassed driving involvement whatever the road or track.

Ferrari’s traditional transaxle layout has been revolutionised to match the more extreme performance of the car. The wheelbase has been shortened and the engine, dashboard and seats have been lowered in the chassis, while the new layout of the rear suspension and gearbox enabled Ferrari’s engineers to make the rear volume of the car smaller. The overall result is a very compact car with a lower centre of gravity that is further back in the chassis, and a level of aerodynamic efficiency that sets new standards.
Scaglietti, renowned for its expertise in aluminium materials and construction, designed an all-new spaceframe chassis and bodyshell using 12 different kinds of alloys, some of which have been used here for the first time in the automotive sector, and employing new assembly and joining techniques. This has resulted in a 20 per cent increase in structural rigidity while reducing weight to just 1525 kg (70 kg less than the previous V12 coupé) with an ideal distribution between the axles (54 per cent over the rear).
The F12berlinetta’s 6262cc 65° V12 engine delivers unprecedented performance and revs for a naturally-aspirated 12-cylinder. Its maximum power output is 740 CV which translates to a specific output of 118 CV/l. Torque reaches a peak of 690 Nm, 80 per cent of which is already available at just 2,500 rpm, and which provides an unrelenting surge of acceleration all the way to the 8,700 rpm limit. The engine is mated to the F1 dual-clutch transmission, which has closer gear ratios developed specifically for this car’s performance. The F12berlinetta boasts a weight-to-power ratio of just 2.1 kg/CV .
Fuel consumption has been reduced by 30%, with CO2 emissions of just 350 g/km – figures which put the F12berlinetta at the top of the high-performance league. These results have been obtained by extensive research and development which focused on efficiencies of the whole vehicle: engine, aerodynamics, tyres and weights.

Similarly excellent results have been obtained with the car’s aerodynamic development, thanks to the integration of the design process with extensive computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations and lengthy testing in the wind tunnel. 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). These results come courtesy of two new solutions. The first of these is the Aero Bridge which uses the bonnet to generate downforce by channelling air away from the upper part of the car to its flanks where it interacts with the wake from the wheel wells to decrease drag. The second is Active Brake Cooling, a system that opens guide vanes to the brake cooling ducts only at high operating temperatures, again reducing drag.

The F12berlinetta’s impressive technical specifications are completed by Ferrari’s latest generation carbon-ceramic brakes (CCM3) and the evolution of the magnetorheological suspension control system (SCM-E). As is now traditional with all Ferraris, its control systems (E-Diff, ESP Premium, F1-Trac, and high-performance ABS) are all fully integrated.

The result is that the new Prancing Horse 12-cylinder accelerates from 0-100 km/h in 3.1 seconds and from 0 to 200 km/h in 8.5 seconds. It also completes a lap of the Fiorano circuit in 1’23”, faster than any other Ferrari road car. Benchmark performance and maximum driving involvement are guaranteed by immediate turn-in, with smaller steering wheel angles, and increased cornering speed. Stopping distances have also been drastically reduced.

The design of the F12berlinetta is a result of the collaboration between the Ferrari Styling Centre and Pininfarina and is a perfect balance of uncompromising aerodynamics with harmonious proportions interpreting the typical elements of Ferrari’s front-engined V12 cars in an original and innovative way. A coupé with sleek, aggressive lines whose compact exterior dimensions conceal exceptional in-car space and comfort. The all-new Frau leather interior highlights the balance of advanced technology and sophisticated, handcrafted detailing. In the middle of the light and lean dashboard, there are new carbon fibre and aluminium air vents clearly inspired by the aeronautic field.
The cabin has been optimised to ensure maximum usability of the interior space with additional luggage capacity behind the seats, which can also be easily reached thanks to the large aperture offered by the tail-gate. With the cockpit designed around the driver, typical of all Ferraris, the Human Machine Interface approach is emphasised, grouping all the major commands within immediate reach to guarantee maximum ergonomics for the most involving driving experience.

TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS

Engine
Type 65-degree V12
Total displacement 6262 cc
Maximum power output 740 CV at 8250 rpm
Maximum torque 690 Nm at 6000 rpm

Dimensions and weight
Length 4618 mm
Width 1942 mm
Height 1273 mm
Dry weight* 1525 kg
Weight distribution 46% front, 58% rear
Weight-power ratio 2,1 kg/CV

Performance

Maximum speed over 340 km/h
0-100 km/h 3.1 seconds
Consumption and Emissions (ECE + EUDC combined cycle)
Consumption** 15l/100 km
CO2 emissions** 350 gr/km

*With lightweight options
**ECE+EUDC with HELE system