818 hp. 211 mph. We get behind the wheel of the mighty Ferrari 12 Cilindri
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00:27The Italian language makes the mundane sound magnificent.
00:30Meet the Ferrari Dodici Cilindri, it means simply the Ferrari 12-cylinder.
00:37And that tells you exactly what's under the hood of this stunning new sports car from Maranello.
00:43A car that's been designed from the wheels up,
00:46to celebrate Ferrari's most iconic engine layout, the naturally aspirated V12.
00:53Codenamed F140D, the Dodici Cilindri's 6.5-litre V12 traces its origins back to the engine that
01:02powered the mid-engine Ferrari Enzo. Its basic architecture is thus more than 20 years old.
01:09The F140HD is a comprehensive rework of the engine used in the 812.
01:16But many of its performance-enhancing components and technologies were previewed in 2022,
01:22in the V12 that powered the limited edition mid-engine Ferrari SP3 Daytona.
01:30It is the most powerful naturally aspirated Ferrari engine in history,
01:34punching out 818 horsepower at 9,250 rpm and 500 pound-feet of torque at 7,250 rpm.
01:45Those dizzying crank speeds are the result of titanium conrods
01:49that are 40% lighter than equivalent steel items, plus lighter pistons and a lighter
01:54rebalanced crankshaft. The engine drives through a new eight-speed dual-clutch transaxle transmission
02:01that has faster shift times and sends more torque to the rear wheels than the seven-speed
02:06transmission in its predecessor, the 812 Competizioni. Much of the Dodici Cilindri's
02:12suspension and braking hardware has been carried over from the 812 Competizioni,
02:16but the all-aluminum chassis is brand new and three quarters of an inch shorter in the wheelbase,
02:22plus it has 15% better torsional rigidity. The Dodici Cilindri also has the rear-wheel
02:29steering system that debuted on the 812 Competizioni. The proportions of the Dodici
02:35Cilindri are classic front-engine V12 Ferrari, but this is not a retro car.
02:42Apart from a sly wink at the 1968 Ferrari Daytona in the way the black panel at the front of the car
02:48connects the headlights, the Dodici Cilindri is perhaps the first mainstream Ferrari since the
02:53Enzo that doesn't obviously reference Marinello's back catalogue. The Dodici Cilindri's surfacing
03:01and graphics echo the futurism seen in Italian product design in the 60s and 70s, and also some
03:08of the visual aesthetic of science fiction movies such as 2001 A Space Odyssey and Star Wars,
03:15especially here. I mean, this looks like a stormtrooper in gold.
03:20But it's not all showbiz. These flaps at the corner of the car can actually lift into the
03:26airstream at speeds between 38 miles an hour and 186 miles an hour to generate downforce
03:33on the rear axle. And this lip here, call it an older next time you see Adrian Newey if you want
03:40to impress him, is designed to keep the car stable at speeds above 186 miles an hour.
03:47But as befitting a car company that also owns a Formula One team, much of the really cool
03:53aerodynamic trickery is under here, out of sight. At the front section of the underbody are three
04:00pairs of Vortex generators that work with the front splitter to increase the downforce on the
04:05front wheels. The central part of the underbody is designed to channel air to the rear diffuser,
04:10and a further pair of Vortex generators are located between the rear wheels. A series of
04:15carefully designed and precisely placed vents direct hot air from the engine and the radiators
04:21away from the floor's downforce generating elements. More hot air is extracted from the
04:26engine compartment via the two vents on the hood. There's a lot to wrap your arms around in
04:32this new Ferrari, but the key question is, how does it all work? Well, there's only one way to find out.
04:38Let's go.
04:57Well, there's a lot to unpack about the Ferrari 12 Cilindri. It's quite an extraordinary car.
05:08First of all, it's ungodly fast. I don't think I've ever driven a front-engined 12-cylinder car
05:17that is as quick between the corners as this thing. More than that, it's quick through them too.
05:26The agility, the stability, the grip and the grunt is just unbelievable.
05:41That said, I wonder whether some people might be a bit confused about what this car is all about.
05:49You see, it looks like a GT, but it drives like a sports car. And yes, it's fairly comfortable if
05:58I was to now switch back into automatic mode and get out of race mode and go back to sport mode.
06:03You can hear the engine comes down. It's nice and quiet. The ride's a little more relaxed
06:09and it feels quite comfortable.
06:11But what you're always aware of in this car is the hyper-alertness of the chassis.
06:16And at first, that's a little intimidating because the car feels a little nervous.
06:22It's only after you get to spend some miles in it to really start to explore the potential
06:28of the chassis that you really appreciate what's going on. So first and foremost,
06:33Ferrari says that it's a car that's designed to be driven by the driver.
06:38So first and foremost, Ferrari says this is for the few. And by that, they mean
06:46the real enthusiasts who love front-engine 12-cylinder cars. In the past, they've had to
06:52have cars that felt a little slower, felt a little softer than other Ferraris. But of course,
06:59the naturally aspirated V12 engine goes right back to the very beginning of Ferrari.
07:04The very first Ferrari road car had a V12 engine
07:08mounted up front. Mind you, it was only 1.5 litres. It's grown a bit since then.
07:22So I think this car is highly desirable. It's astonishingly good to drive. The steering,
07:29the brakes, the side-slip control system, and the power from that engine, it's spectacular.
07:37The agility in the chassis is remarkable. This makes the 812 feel like you're driving a bus.
07:45Really, it does. This thing is so sharp.
07:48Is it too sharp? I guess that's for customers to decide for themselves.
07:53The first of the Dodici Cilindris arrive in the United States in the first quarter of 2025,
07:59priced at just under $465,000. There's a Spider version coming with a soft top,
08:06the Dodici Cilindri Spider, and that arrives later in 2025, priced at about $510,000.
08:13Oh, and in case you're wondering, those prices include a 5-speed manual gearbox,
08:19and a 5-speed automatic transmission.
08:36No, it's not cheap, which is one reason why this Ferrari is indeed for the few.
08:49So,
09:00so,
09:18that's never going to get old.