The Ferrari 12Cilindri has been revealed as the brand’s new GT flagship, featuring an evolution of the 6.5-litre V12 engine from its 812 Superfast predecessor.
Ferrari engineers faced the challenge of meeting stricter Euro6e emissions regulations while maintaining the naturally aspirated character of the V12.
“It is possible to keep selling the car all over the world for the time being and then we will see what happens in the future,” said chief commercial officer Enrico Galliera.
“The work that has been done on this engine to remain performant and compliant with the regulation is absolutely stunning, which is probably one of the reasons why there are not many manufacturers that keep investing in the V12 engine.”
When asked by Autocar if a turbocharged V12 would be preferable to no V12 at all, product development boss Gianmaria Fulgenzi was clear. “I’ll try to be polite: V12 turbocharging is not in my mind,” he said.
“The V12 is a naturally aspirated engine for many reasons. We use turbochargers when we reduce the displacement of the engine. Of course, we need the same power.
“The V12 is natural. It is something that creates emotion, sound and acceleration from a low RPM to maximum RPM. That’s the product we wanted to deliver.”
Ferrari now stands alone as the only automaker with a naturally aspirated, non-hybrid V12 in series production. Aston Martin’s equivalent V12 utilizes turbochargers, while Lamborghini’s V12 is only available in a hybrid drivetrain.
Gordon Murray’s T50 hypercar uses a naturally aspirated V12, but production is limited to just 100 units.