Ferrari F80

Patents are just that, it doesn't mean they will be productionised any time soon.

 

Everything you mentioned is correct in relation to the Honda engine and can be seen in the first image below. However, the only thing that Ferrari's engine has in common with the Honda engine is the oval shape of the pistons and cylinders. In Ferrari's V12, second image below, you can see that the pistons have been rotated 90 degrees in relation to those of the Honda engine and the former are perpendicular to the crankshaft and the latter parallel. Ferrari's engine pistons have only one connecting rod per piston and Honda's engine pistons have two.
One of the potential problems with the piston layout of the patented Ferrari V12 is explained in the last image below. Ferrari's oval pistons have more movement than the ones of the Honda which can cause more cylinder wear and have repercussions on the life of the engine.

Although nowadays there are computer programs that allow any simulation to be carried out, given the unique nature of this V12 probably the only way to assess its reliability and problems is by building a prototype.



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Looks amazing in this picture:

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https://www.pistonheads.com/news/ph-germancars/epic-porsche-963-rsp-unveiled-at-le-mans/49932

speaking of wild road legal race style cars!

would be interesting to see the lap times, wondering how many they will actually produce if there's more demand (they could absolutely sell them)

 

The Taycan inspired wheel finish on the launch car did it no justice. This looks proper.

 

Unfortunately not that road legal
"There are one or two caveats regarding the legality of the RSP, however. It can indeed be driven on the road with number plates, but requires special permission from local authorities to do so (it’s already been driven in France with backing from the Automobile Club de L’Ouest, which runs the Le Mans 24 Hours). This isn’t a full-blown homologated street car, then, but it has been modified to make it more livable on those occasions where it’s allowed to venture out into the wild." (EVO magazine)

 

This picture was taken at the Sarthe circuit next to the iconic Dunlop arch and as you refered it shows an amazing angle of the F80. The picture was published yesterday on Clubalfa.it, which is an excellent online magazine, together with an article written in Italian by Rosario Scelsi about the F80. For those interested in reading the article, the translation is below.

The Ferrari F80 on the Sarthe circuit ahead of the 24 Hours of Le Mans
The Maranello-based company further reaffirms the link between the new “red” and the world of racing.

The Ferrari F80 made an unexpected and pleasant incursion onto the Sarthe circuit, just a few days before the legendary 24 Hours of Le Mans. Here, the most recent supercar from the “prancing horse” was immortalized, under the iconic Dunlop arch, together with the interpreters of the “reds” who are preparing to face the transalpine endurance challenge, with the 499P, already winner of the two previous editions of the race. The goal is to make it a hat-trick. An ambition that seems within reach for the Maranello-based company, by virtue of the vehicle’s very high potential.

The following crews will drive the Emilian Hypercar on the track: Yifei Ye, Robert Kubica and Phil Hanson; Alessandro Pier Guidi, James Calado and Antonio Giovinazzi; Antonio Fuoco, Miguel Molina and Nicklas Nielsen. The last two blocks of drivers are the same ones that led the “reds” to overall success in the 2023 and 2024 editions of the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
The group photo with the new Ferrari F80 is intended to be, in addition to a good omen, also a visual tool to underline the very connection of this supercar with the racing cars of the “prancing horse” that have been victorious protagonists of the endurance races of recent years. The leadership in the general classifications of the FIA WEC and the recent competitive past in the specialty make the 499P the favorite of this new edition of the 24 Hours of Le Mans, even if the competition will be fiercer than ever, with Porsche, Toyota, BMW, Alpine, Aston Martin, Cadillac and Peugeot ready to challenge its pace. The “red” is, however, in an advantageous position.

Another car of the same brand is connected to it, even if it is a road car, but with racing technology: the aforementioned Ferrari F80, immortalized on the Sarthe circuit. This supercar is powered by a 6-cylinder engine, connected to that of the 499P. A way to reiterate, concretely, the presence of the DNA of racing cars. The 3.0-liter V6 is equipped with a double compressor and an electric component, which gives it a hybrid nature. The overall power is a whopping 1,200 horsepower. Never before had a “prancing horse” car gone so far, among those approved for normal circulation.

Much of the energy comes from the endothermic heart, which puts 900 horsepower on the table, with a record specific power: 300 horsepower per liter. The performance picture is top notch, with acceleration from 0 to 100 km/h in 2.1 seconds and from 0 to 200 km/h in just 5.75 seconds. The top speed is in the order of 350 km/h. The lap time achieved on the Fiorano track is incredible, equal to 1’15″30: we are under the FXX, despite the road tires. The leap forward compared to its progenitors is quantum in scope.
The truly astonishing progress, in terms of chronometers, compared to LaFerrari is surprising. Not to mention those on the GTO, F40, F50 and Enzo, other descendants of the same family, known by the nickname “big six“. The dynamic energy of the Ferrari F80 is released to the ground with the support of the four-wheel drive and an 8-speed dual-clutch F1 gearbox, which do their job admirably, without compromising, even in the slightest, the pleasure of driving, truly at the top. Of course, the mechanical sounds and the magic are not those of V12 cars, but on this front the engineers of the Maranello company have preferred maximum efficiency to romanticism.

The aesthetics, much discussed after the first photos were released, are now much more widely accepted. Although not beautiful, in the strict sense of the word, like other cars of the brand, the F80 is very seductive. Its scenic impact is incredible. The videos published online in the last few hours, to immortalize the triple-layer yellow model exhibited in Modena, on the occasion of the Motor Valley Fest 2025, do more justice to the creative efforts of Flavio Manzoni, head of the Emilian house's style center. Seeing it under the Dunlop arch, on the asphalt of the legendary 24 Hours of Le Mans, has a certain effect. A bit like what happened last January, when the Ferrari 250 LM winner of the 1965 French endurance challenge returned to Maranello, to meet the 499Ps that dominated the last two editions of the Sarthe challenge, resuming a tradition of successes that had been missing for too long. Will there be a hat trick in 2025? We'll find out soon.

 

Ferrari's patent exist only to mask the obvious "fact" that successor of 12Cilindri will have downsized turbo charged V12 (with conventional piston design).

 

The V12 on the 12 cilindri complies with EU6E regulation and that was achieved through the ceramic catalyst converter coupled with a particulate filter as well as software calibrations. The EU 7 tighter emissions new regulation will start in the end of 2026 and the replacement for the 12 cylindri will probably happen around 2029 – 2030.
Ferrari has already stated that it will keep the NA V12 for as long as the regulations allow, so the question that will arise in the future is whether the current V12 can still be improved in order to comply with EU 7 or any other subsequent regulation . If that will not be possible and if Ferrari wants to keep the V12 alive, it will have to design a new engine that meets those emissions targets . Whether this engine will be NA only alternatively turbo or possibly also hybrid, is something that is not known at the moment. What we do know is that the engine with oval pistons and cylinders that appears in the patent, due to its shorter length than the current V12 and being lighter, could be used in a future front-engine model as well a on a mid-engine.

 

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Renderings

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Crazy paint color. Is the color based on anything or just a fantasy; looks very promising!

 

Have F80 in waiting listed.


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In my opinion, sometimes you have to know how to go back to simple things...

 

Still on the subject of Ferrari's future V12 while we continuo waiting for the F80's independent test drives..

When Ferrari recently filed a patent for a V12 with oval pistons and cylinders, several experts were quick to calculate the differences in terms of length between that new engine and the 12 cilindri V12. The conclusion reached by at least one of them was that, for the same displacement, the engine with oval pistons is about 60% shorter. If this information is true, this is something revolutionary that will make the length of this new V12 completely versatile, allowing it to be used in any hybrid model mid-engine or front-mid-engine.
The images below speak for themselves and clearly show the differences.



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There is a Cavalcade color that is really close to this, I do not know the name.

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Pretty sure that color is Rosso Taormina.

 

Looks good with painted wheels...

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In which geometrical system is that a 60% reduction in length? LOL!
I wouldn't put my money on such an engine ever being productionised.

 

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The pictures in my previous post are not mine, as they were taken from a video comparing a V12 with cylindrical pistons with one with oval pistons (image below). In this comparison, where the sizes are purely illustrative, a cylindrical piston with a diameter of 50 mm and an oval piston with a width of 30 mm are shown. The oval piston has a width that corresponds to 60% of the diameter of the cylindrical piston, but after your warning, I found that it is in fact not 60% shorter as written in the images of that video, but 40% shorter. This potential difference in length between a V12 with cylindrical pistons and one with oval pistons is still very relevant and therefore does not change what I wrote about the advantages that the latter could have.
Whether or not this engine will ever be produced, I think, will depend only on its reliability.







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More likely on whether there is a business case or not. It is not a engineering breakthrough, just another way of doing a V12.

 

3 times winning in a row in LMH.
Now I am in the more comfort zone for buying F80 than last year somehow.
Wish they made the car smaller.

 

They needed the footprint and real estate for geometry (mechanical grip) and aero (downforce). For example, the diffuser is extended from just behind the seats, all the way back to the tail. That is also the reason that racing cars are so large these days.

 

Nowdays on a 1000+hp hypercar I want to see 0-300 even more than 0-100/200...Mclaren have its claim about it, Ferrari stay silent, and I know why...actually I think we all know why...