Should the 612 be grouped with us ?

No, shares all-aluminum chassis, suspension, etc with the 599. The 599 is essentially a shortened wheelbase version of the 612 with a toned down version of the F140 Enzo engine. The 612 drivetrain is similar to the 575M with F133F and F133H versions of the 575M engine, but the architecture of the electronics is more similar to the 599.

 

You never cease to amaze me Terry have a great weekend

 

How interesting, I was thinking about posting the same question only recently. I did mention it a few years back and Terry made a similar observation.

I am going to stick my neck out and disagree with Terry here and say yes, the 612 should be on this sub forum.

Reasons:

1) The engine. As Terry points out above the 612 has a Maranello/456 engine (basically). Engines are the most important part of Ferraris. 612 is part of the family that started with the 456 and continued with the 550 and 575. That grouping ended with the 599 and its (toned down) Enzo engine.

2) Character. The 612 is much more like a Maranello to drive, than a 599, FF etc. the last of the non-hyper V12 Ferraris, after which came the superlight steering and general manicity - which added even more speed at the expense of a certain gentility. This is somewhat subjective, it's true.

it's also true that this logic might see the two GTC Lussos on different sub forums but that's a separate discussion!

Certainly think the 612 feels far more like the cars on this forum, than a 599.

 

I will second that.

 

Also note that with the Sessanta and OTO, the 612 uses the 599 twin-disc clutch, Superfast I F1 software and gearbox case, making the 599 and 612 even more closely related.

 

Noted Twice [emoji4]


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The engine is very rarely what defines a generation change: the 348 has a very similar engine to the 328, but the 348 is in the same line as the 355; the 355 starts the 5 valve engine that will be on the 360, but the generation change is the 360; and the F430 has a completely different engine (4 valve, timing chain) but it's in the same line as the 360... so no, it's not the engine that defines in which "group" a Ferrari is.

 

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I like how the barchetta is the cats A$$.

 

All true, but still, I'd say a 612 has more in common with a 575, 550 and 456 than it does with a 599, having driven all of those cars and owned a couple. 599 has more in common with a F12 than it does a 612, in my view. But like my views on politics, it's not going to influence the outcome

 

Note also, that like the 599 (2750 mm wheelbase), in the 612 (2950 mm wheelbase) the engine was pushed way back in the chassis for better weight distribution. Big differentiator, though, is the aluminum chassis to go with the aluminum bodywork and the suspension that uses shims for adjustment vs the eccentrics on the Maranellos. The 599 and 612 also both have 5 x 114.3 mm bolt pattern wheels vs the 5 x 108 mm wheels on the Maranellos. The wheels on the 599 fit the 612 and are often used for the wider 11" rear wheels (10" on 612s).

 

In a world where opinion is everything, I have to raise my hat to the relentless factual logic of Taz.

I concede..at least until I drive a 599 and 612 again and compare to the (not logical but subjective) experience of my 575. I last drove a 612 in 2008 and a 599 in 2009 and that's a while back.