'Official' F12M Rumours and Launch

Dealer officially asked me for my deposit today. Apparently the order books are officially open now. Initial paperwork indicates my delivery by July 2018 (UK RHD).

 

Already set up you specs ?

 

Haha...not yet. Plenty of time for that.......

 

Wow! Really excellent drawing. We are fortunate to have you and a few others here like Millano (hope I am remembering the spelling correctly) here! I agree, a lot of the fun is trying to figure out what they will do. In my case at least, its all part of the process: being inspired by the possibilities, then seeing the new Prancing Horse (hopefully in person!) and, then driving it.

You know you are doing the right things when the F12M is your softest car- bravo!

I understand where you are coming from, and I think you are right in your assessment. But, I think you have to take a wider view. I take your comments as coming from a more purist viewpoint. The world is always changing. And modern Ferrari is about technical innovation. To that end we have seen the F1 gear box, really advanced stability and traction control and so on. How else could they build cars like the F12? All that power would be unimaginable but for all the helper systems. Yet, the F12 is a delight to drive. To me, that's the magic of Ferrari: to go forward but do so in a way that is rewarding and inspiring to drive. I think if we take a purist viewpoint to the extreme, we would have something along the lines of the 288, F40, F50. But Ferrari has been there, done that.

So, while I think it's admirable to have a purist streak- you know what you like- I feel much the same way, I also think we have to embrace change. I think a purist viewpoint without this embrace leads you to at least echo, if not outright repeat, the past. But Ferrari has always been about looking forward- even back in the days of Mr. Enzo Ferrari who did not necessarily want to embrace every new technological innovation immediately, he famously said the best one is the next one. He was focused on the future.

I don't want to debate climate change here, just to point out the automakers are facing more stringent regulations. That's the reality. The last time the automakers had this kind of change forced on them, we got roughly 2 decades of uninspiring cars. Now there are so many interesting cars coming from so many different places- including our favorite: Ferrari.

In my opinion, KERS or some kind of hybrid is the smartest route for Ferrari. We all know power is a very important selling point for these cars. And given the backdrop of tighter regulation, making more power means some form of assistance, either electric or forced induction. No one truly needs a Ferrari, it is an emotional thing. Sound is a large part of the emotion for many of us. As Traveler put it so well a long while ago: sound = energy. I think thats why when you ask someone to describe a Ferrari driving by they will make a high pitched sound as move their hand in the air very briskly. The turbos simply get in the way of the sound. And Ferrari has done a great job with the turbos. But physics is physics. And KERS or some kind of hybrid will give us the sound and throttle response we all love, along with better emissions and consumption. I see it as a "win-win". Unless you just want to say- this engine has no assistance at all... But, lets face it, these modern engines have so many processors etc, they are already assisted.

Anyway, I am looking forward to learning more about the F12M. From what I can gather, we are looking at

* ~6.5l V12 NA (yay! I still love it of course!)

* just under 800HP (uh, yes please!)

* 4ws (but will it be like the GTC4 and turn both ways or like the TDF and only in phase?)

* probably improved aero

* a little more aggressive design vs F12 which might be called a little bit more elegant in comparison?

* no more PF badge

* Improved passenger display from GTC4? Center display from GTC4? Both or none? For whatever its worth, I am hoping its the improved passenger display but not the giant central one. Solid State and others convinced me this large display is maybe appropriate for the GTC4, but not for the 2 seater model....

 

Herein lies the problem. Regulators/Government/Fun Police etc always want to penalize rather than look at technology to solve a problem. EV's are already having an impact and stand to MASSIVELY impact global fossil fuel usage forever.

So any tiny changes made by the auto industry are at best insignificant and at worst cost a huge amount more to implement compared to the technology solution ie EV's.

Add to this ride sharing, autonomous vehicles, Uber, taxi drones etc etc and soon regulators will wonder how they are going to pay for the roads that only have bicycles on them

OK - rant over and back to F12M ..

 

Excellent Idea Tim. The first guy to order a front engined V12 ferrari in GL gets my Kiss.

And yeah, I'm swimming in happiness with all those "Greytalks"

 

Just passed through Lugano the other day on my way to Lake Como and saw the same car. On a side note, you are a lucky man to live in such a beautiful place!
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Seems to be that way - mine will be RHD and is a November 17 build.

 

There is also hope that the current craze about bogus fuel consumption tests and specs makes turbos a bit less attractive. They had an advantage on paper in the old tests that IMHO did not convert into practice. And there will be new tests.

 

Perhaps the slit may be more like below but a little narrower and higher atop the wheel arch where the tdf 3-set is located. This would function like the F12b one located nearby but look more tdf.
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I would venture somewhere around 800 HP. New Ferraris always get more power than the hard core version of the previous generation.

 

See the headlights. Looks very different from the standard F12

 

Sorry the picture didn't post. You see the shape?
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I am quite sure this new F12 will be KERS/ hybrid

 

Will be pure N/A engine with 800HP

 

I did consider GT3, but from descriptions given, seems it would be different.

Also, M. Massini said it was an exit and a inlet, that's why I sited it continuing to the front of the rear spoiler where it would work as an inlet in the relatively higher pressure area.

 

True about the mouth which was visible behind the meshing on other spy pics and which I incorporated in the sketch.

What was less noticeable before, but shows better here is what appears to be a vertical strake along the outer edge of the grille. This will either be a stand-alone strake (doubtful) or join up with bodywork, effectively creating a scoop along the outer edge of the nose.

Lights are quite different and though more horizontal than before, less horizontal than I first imagined. Seems the nose will be tapering in at the front, maybe in more extreme fashion than noticeable on the Lusso.

 

I've cropped and adjusted a few pictures to highlight some key areas.

Here you can see a small horizontal vein connecting the outer strake to the main grill. I am wondering if the bottom of the grill will be rounded, disconnected and suspended above the front splitter similar to yet not as exaggerated as SP 30.

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we will see 🙂

 

Small advance but pretty reliably hinted to me that it has GTC rear lights, on or around Tdf power and GTC interior in terms of GPS, screens etc.

4WS

Not a great surprise I guess.

Folks above saying they have Nov 17 and whatever 2018 builds are being misled by dealers who have NO idea on F12M allocations and builds - my dealer does not even know 2017 GTC final builds.

 

I'm inclined to agree with you there.

The official line from my dealer is that orders cannot be officially accepted (and therefore dates for builds given) until the car is formally announced at Geneva



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