F12 Improving the Handling

As you're in the UK I suggest taking your F12 to Ben at String Theory Garage in Stratford-upon-Avon. He knows them well and has had clients with F12s with exactly the same handling issues you're having. Last time I was there he said one client couldn't believe how much his F12 was transformed for the better.

 

And…….you may want to look into a Brooke Race Exhausts (mfg in the UK). Inconel, build quality equal if not better (as per my F dealer who installed it) than the more known aftermarket exhausts at half the price of others.


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thank you. By "geometry" do you mean alignment parameters like camber & toe? When I went back to the stock springs, I took a large micrometer & measured precisely the shock length per factory manual descriptions and set all 4 corners exactly at stock height. I haven't checked tire pressure for some time. I just rely on the tpms data. I can check those manually when I return. Feedback much appreciated! Handling seems alright but I doubt I push it hard enough to notice. If I can get high speed stability straightened out, that'd be much help.

 

Huh, I had my F12 up to 174 mph on track- stable as could be?!?!?!?!?!?

Yup. Definitely needs a lookover.

 

frank, I have lifter in mine. were you using stock springs? and have you lowered it from stock height? I'm trying not to go back to Novitec. It eliminated any vagueness at high speeds, but sucked at everything else.

 

Absolutely, "alignment", sorry for my misuse of language !

 

Stock springs. I did it mainly to diminish roll, with the added benefit of loosening up the rear for a little better rotation. But the main thing again was for the roll- that's the biggest difference between the Porsche GT cars and Ferraris vis a vis track suspension vs sports car suspension.

p.s. NO, you did not misuse suspension geometry aka alignment.......

 

cool. I'll try lowering it little bit. about quarter inch in all 4 corners? Did you realign to stock alignment numbers after lowering?

 

I can’t imagine driving a F12 fast enough to want to modify it.


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I mean when I floor it at the cruising speed, I'm usually making a funny face at the weird half-engaged sounding transmission downshifts.. I then pull downshift paddle which take another moment to engage the 3rd gear... at that point, I'm usually already at 7k rpm in 3rd gear-so I got only about a second of good v12 music left until I have to upshift. 4th gear is my ticket to the v12 concert, but the front end feels like a bed of marshmallows. I need to fix this.

 

I remember shifting from 2nd to 3rd in my Maranello by sound. I would look down and realize I was doing 110 in a residential neighborhood

I can’t imagine doing that in a F12. How fast would you be going? 140?


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yea 140 sounds about right on the top of 4th. I'm usually doing it on an empty freeway though! I got my valves closed & crawl in my neighborhood. Too many bored Karen's!

 

Well, we do have FMs and CRs pretty much everywhere outside of the big cities down here. Only problem is the damn animals.

 

while this is true the seating position, nearly on the rear axle, in the F12 makes it more like a front engine car. you will feel like it is.

 

I run PS4S tyres with 812 sizes on my stock F12 wheels and they are perfect. One of the main reasons on my opinion for the different behavior when turning quickly and transferring the weight of the car in corners between the front engined F12 and the rear-engined 458 for an example is not so much the weight distribution between the front and the rear axle, but the higher center of gravity, that the F12 has, compared to the 458.

Never driven a TDF though, but a track-oriented car like this definitely should have much stiffer springs than the road-oriented F12. The main question is if you are ready to sacrifice the perfect road comfort, that the F12 offers, by fitting stiffer springs. Especially if you don't intend to track the car regularly.

 

Will be following. The one nitpick I have about the F12 is the lightness and numbness of steering.

 

Would enjoy seeing pics

 

After lowering my F12 on Novitec springs, a lot of the "floaty" feeling went away. Definitely recommend the springs to anyone who wants some handling improvement.

 

I stayed on the original dimensions, or 255 l before , which was ultimately a mistake. Jaurai to pass in 265! the F12 has the particularity of having wider tracks at the front than at the back. I lose a little grip on the front in the sinuous. At the beginning the S4S m was confused because there is an approach in terms of riding comfort that is very different from the rigidity of the Pirelli troféo. Today I am used to it, and I find the Michelin perfect, because once hot, the power goes well on the first gear, and the motor is perfect !

 

You can also lower the stock shocks a lot and that will also make a difference.

 

How can you lower the stock shocks?

 

They are adjustable...