Manufacturer Ferrari F12 Berlinetta in the driving report
11.04.2013
D he number and letter codes of the ancestral line are first once nothing else than formulas that are subject to certain regularities. But you could also understand them as a sign of ardent passions. After all, they are so smooth on the lips of any Ferrari fan that the other person might think he had more than just the corresponding tickets from the Auto Quartet in his hands (well, for some lucky ones that may be true).
Ferrari F12 Berlinetta is technically 100 percent new
The metaphors from the automotive addiction kitchen in Maranello are: 125 S, 375 America, 250 GT Berlinetta, 250 GTO, 275 GTB, 365 GTB 4, 575 Maranello , 599 GTB Fiorano and 599 GTO. And now - Ferrari F12 Berlinetta . Technically 100 percent new, but exactly on line. With a typical silhouette à la Daytona, traditional front engine layout and an engine type that has always been the measure of all things for the Ferraristi - and, as Ferrari CEO Amedeo Felisa promises, will remain. A V-engine with a stately cubic capacity, visually as always beautifully prepared, with a 65 degree bank angle and DOHC heads, which - of course - is committed to the naturally aspirated engine principle.
No future without supercharging: the 6,262 cubic centimeter V12 engine sucks in sufficient quantities of the oxygen required for combustion through two huge air collector systems with connected resonance bodies into the combustion chambers. What follows then also gives reason to take a deep breath. This newly designed mechanical marvel, which is still committed to the Ferrari V12 principle, manages to produce the highest performance ever shown in a street Ferrari: 740 hp in the Ferrari F12.
Twelve-cylinder power pack delivers 740 hp
Yes, that's roughly what a current Formula 1 racer has in its stocking. The V12 delivers maximum power at 8,250 and not just at 20,000 rpm. And it has a torque that would tear any F1 engine and gearbox apart: 690 Newton meters at 6,000 rpm. 80 percent are already available at 2,500 rpm, at a speed that would almost force the F1 engine to die. The maximum speed of the twelve-fender, which weighs only around 200 kilograms: 8,750Tours.
How does that feel? Well, by and large, much less spectacular than the numbers suggest. However, this is not due to their objective explosiveness, or better: to what they produce in the result, but to a technical environment that is able to masterfully exploit the force of the V12 implanted deep behind the front axle in all its aspects. It's not just the engine in the Ferrari F12 Berlinetta that shakes the power out of its sleeve - the driver does this often and happily ...
Ferrari F12 in 8.5 seconds to 200 km /h
The sprint to 100 km /h is done in 3.1 seconds thanks to the best traction and the superbly working dual clutch transmission - with a snap of the finger, so to speak. Up to 200 km /h it is just 8.5 seconds that the rear-wheel drive car, with its strikingly drawn, yet traditional lines, estimates. The sound: not at all intrusive or vulgar. But as haunting as a love song. Going smoothly through the bone. As linearly as the tone and volume increase, your head is pulled back to the headrest evenly.
There seems to be no stopping - the red load starts like a fury. But she doesn’t worry and doesn’t bother with fuss. The Ferrari F12 doesn't hide its professional character on any occasion. The inmates arrested in this dynamic surrender speechless in their deep, leather-covered seat hollows and imagine what would happen if the 740 hp were released to 100 percent in the public environment. This notion is as charming as it is scary.
Faster than the Enzo in Fiorano
Regardless of that Hope to always have free travel as possible: The Ferrari F12 by its nature does not want to be a racing car. Nor is it a robust super sports car à la Lamborghini Aventador. The counterpart to this - the successor to the Ferrari Enzo - will not appear until next year. Despite the two seconds faster lap time in Fiorano than the previous Enzo, the merits of the F12 are in public use, so on this side of any racetrack adventure , even if they are on a bad track. And the more winding the route, the better. The steering works extremely directly and precisely. After a bit of getting used to, your feedback creates an extremely full feeling not only for the car itself, but also for the requirements.
No size and weight growth
The sociability of this super athlete, crowned by the best overview, culminates in an agility and handiness that was hardly ever experienced in this size and performance class. But whatis called big here? The Ferrari F12 Berlinetta is 50 millimeters shorter, 20 millimeters narrower and 60 millimeters flatter than its predecessor 599 GTB - and around 70 kilograms lighter. Where else can you find it today? No growth in size or weight - and that with significantly increased driving dynamics and increased demands in terms of safety, entertainment and driving culture.
As the Ferrari, which according to its builders offers 'by far the greatest driving fun', the F12 Berlinetta is also technologically strong, albeit with conventional means. The filigree lightweight structure of the spacious two-seater consists of no less than 12 different types of aluminum, differentiated according to strength. This intelligently composed chassis shows no trace of instability and yet it only weighs barely more than 200 kilograms.
Thankfully, the grandiose drive side finds a suitable counterpart on the target side: The ceramic brake system newly developed together with Brembo supports this Heard of new standards, and not only in the delay performance. Flaps are integrated on the left and right in the front of the F12, which release a ventilation duct from a certain brake temperature in order to counteract an impending heat build-up.
Almost 270,000 euros including 7 years of maintenance
After all: Six fast laps in Fiorano could not harm the brakes - not bad to know with a forecast Vmax of 340. A braking distance of 131 meters is specified from 200 km /h. Not from bad parents either: the maintenance of the Ferrari F12 Berlinetta, which costs almost 270,000 euros, is generous - for the next seven years
