612 far too loud, exhaust valves stay open

My name is John, and I recently purchased a 2009 612 OTO (black/cuoio) with 20’000 km here in Switzerland. The discussions on this forum have been the single most powerful source of information to expand my knowledge of the car.

I am quite happy with my Scaglietti, but it is far too loud for my taste, especially when driving smoothly in cities or residential areas. Like most (all?) OTO, it is equipped with the sport (double wall tailpipes) exhaust, BUT… the exhaust valves never close!

I started by looking at it myself, and I quickly came to the conclusion that the valves, the solenoid, and the vacuum hoses are all working properly. The issue must therefore be related to the signal (or lack thereof) driving the solenoid. I had the dealer look at it, and he quickly diagnosed a software issue (the SD3 indicated that the software had been "upgraded"). The only way to reinstall the original the software is apparently to have it directly uploaded by the factory. And now comes the big surprise: the technician at the factory indicated that the software of these cars had been upgraded so that the exhaust valves would remain open under all conditions (apparently as a consequence of “issues experienced on some cars in Japan”), and they would even refuse to reinstall the "original" software!

So according to the factory, it is absolutely correct for a Ferrari 612 with HGT2 package to keep the exhaust valves opened all the time. I somehow can’t believe it!?! It just doesn’t fit the understating nature of the 612, and I am convinced that such a loud car will never pass the Swiss technical inspection… Does anyone know anything about that?!?

 

Thank you for your replies! I am very puzzled about Ferrari telling me that this is the way the car is supposed to operate as 1. I don't see why having the exhaust valves closed at low RPM / load may cause any issue, and 2. it will simply make the car illegal in many countries! I found the answers from Ferrari very evasive and not really convincing...

Installing a remote valve controller seems to be the way to go. I was looking at the one Taz proposed, but I don't understand how it is powered. The only "input" I see to the controller is the original cable plugged into the solenoid, which, in my case, remains in the "off" mode. So where is the power coming from? Is there a 12v input? Or a battery within the controller?

 

Jim, you don't have to remove the bumper to access the solenoid and hoses, only the diffuser (it is attached by ~10 screws).

I am curious to hear whether in your case it is the soft- or the hardware (disconnected hoses or solenoid connector) keeping the valves opened all the time. In my case it is clearly a software issue, which basically means that there is no signal/power driving the solenoid. In this case, I doubt that the external valve controller would work, as the solenoid must be driven by 12V so that the valves open.

 

Just a quick update: the Scaglietti went to technical inspection yesterday and... she passed!

Noise was apparently measured at idle and at 5400 rpm, where it reached 101dB, which, while substantial, was still significantly lower than the 105dB (!) limit (yet another big surprise).

That said, I'm still puzzled about, the exhaust valves always staying opened...