I have about 9k miles on mine and drive it at least once a day. I encountered a mild engine cover leak recently which I’m told is common in the 812 but I’ve never had an issue with burning through oil whatsoever nor have I ever needed to add oil.
The problem with the 812 is the ridiculous process for checking the oil. Who the hell has the time/patience for that? Consequently, I am sure there’s subset of owners that have more oil consumption than they are aware of. Consider that the average owner is probably around 500-1000 miles per year, and so the annual oil change will likely hide any unusual consumption.
Yeah, I don't check oil level in my cars....as long as the engine bay is clean, there are no stains on the floor, there is nothing coming out of the tail pipe, and I change the oil once a year.
I honestly think driving these cars with some regularity helps keep everything working. Letting the engines sit for long periods of inactivity may lead to sticky rings causing burning of oil which is what the master tech had seen. All of these cars had typical mileage which is no miles! 812s with less than 3,000 miles
I have a very unique drive to work. Almost entirely nonstop and very light traffic. I plan to drive the 12C every work day I’ll test if the V12 in the 12C is reliable and also durable. When the USA allocations allow my allocation.
The designer Andrea Militello (sp) mentioned how they re-positioned the oil cap to make things easier for everone meaning techs and owners But I think the process is still the same. Need operating to be at temperature and then measure on a level co surface, with engine idling …or is it engine off…need to check the service manual once again
The 430, for example, had some oil consumption when driven hard. The manual said that up to a litre every 600 miles is normal, coroborated by Valvoline's quote.
on the oil, I used my f12, 812sf and 812gts more or less as dailies and old burn on all three. the 812's were higher for sure. but I also drove them as sporty as I could when the conditions suited. I was told by a tech once that all the nonsense in the manual around procedure was just that...nonsense. he said to just make sure the engine was up to temp and then measure it at idle. pretty much what Malibu said above. not sure if this is 100% accurate but seemed to work for me moving forward. I would suggest all 812 owners do semi regularly.....first time I did and my engine was down multiple quarts.
Before I ask my question, I wish to make two points plainly clear, 1). I do not dispute the tech told you that, 2). I do not dispute that the tech is factually correct. Now for my question…why the heck would Ferrari present all that nonsense in the manual?
Topic of 812 oil consumption has already been covered, in detail: https://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/threads/812-oil-consumption.628081/ As previously noted: Looser tolerances/clearances in 812... it's one of the ways they were able to extract more hp from this gen of engine that's already very close to being maxed out.... but comes at the expense of more oil passing thru those looser clearances. In the context of 812, one owner in particular referenced his engine consumed 4 qts of oil in 1st 800 miles. Oil includes anti-wear, anti-corrosion additive package consisting mainly of various inorganic materials that will "cycle up" as oil is consumed but add pack components remain. Picture a glass of tap water that, after water evaporates away, leaves behind residue of soluble inorganics (i.e. calcium/magnesium hardness, etc). Same happens in your engine as oil is consumed but add pack residuals cycle up. Longer term this will result in deposit buildup in various locations inside the engine. NOT GOOD. When oil is consumed, especially in such large quantities, it's even more important to change oil more frequently, not less.
Totally. It probably ensures that the car is up to temp versus taking the guess work out of it. But we can see a representation of oil temp on the dash. Makes no sense to me AND the tech could be wrong. I am sticking w it though…if the 12 cylinder is similar.
At 1000 miles per year you would see oil consumption based on the reports here regarding the 812. The process to check the oil makes sense if you understand Ferrari's dry sump system. It's a pain in the ass but the sustained high revs are necessary as the system is not just a straight level in a pan or tank. You are pushing volume through a convoluted set of pipes, tanks and passages some of which are designed to remove air from the oil. You take the measurement at a specific time when the system is returning from a flow rate. That said, I encourage you to take the measurement both the way they spec and a shortened version after the oil is just up to temp after some revs and idle. I do this every year and have never seen a difference and the oil level shows no measurable consumption.
Thats reassuring to know that your V12 doesn't have high oil consumption. So is the issue that some aren't measuring their oil level accurately ? Then mistakenly believe the car is consuming oil, and by adding oil, are exceeding the correct volume? Or is there an issue with the piston oil rings sticking due to low activity/use which leads to some oil consumption during that rare drive. Or with tue 812, did the need to meet mileage standards lead the engineers to create a situation of higher oil consumption to reduce internal friction .
Chris Harris? The guy who has the same reaction to every car every time he hits the accelerator? Since every car with Chris is "epic" how do you know which cars are truly epic? Surely not by listening to Chris.
They are all epic and to various degrees a weapon. But I’ve never heard him call a car the best they’ve ever made so that probably puts it in the “truly epic “ category
I totally agree. Significant oil consumption means that the oil is also getting degraded by mixing with the gas and other exhaust byproducts inside the cylinder. So in this situation change the oil every 4,000 miles in order to slow down premature wear. The type of gas and the type of oil need to be paired for best results Shell gas and maybe Chevron with Techron is a good pairing with the Pennzoil oil package. Let’s hope the USA still allows ICE and 12s in 2035 and beyond! Let’s eliminates the insane mileage demands of the radical progressive regulators. Let the engines sing and breathe and live for 200,000 miles.
I remember the good old days of American muscle cars where balancing and blueprinting the engine resulted in more power. The goal was tightening the tolerances to improve efficiency and have less power losses. I assume Ferrari does this for all their cars but they optimize tolerances to minimize friction losses and max power. If that means more oil consumption so be it. It better than “low emotion er emission” electric motors
Every reviewer have their own “language “ when reviewing a car and it takes a while to learn it. Kinda like letters of recommendation for job interviews- “outstanding” means take em, “excellent “ means take em unless there’s someone with the “outstanding “ moniker and “very good” means take a pass. I guess Harris puts the 12C in the “outstanding “ category.
