We start the year with a quite spectacular special. To make that special we could drive a 740 bhp strong car, a very extraordinary amount of power. The cars we drove for Autogespot mostly don’t have more than 500 bhp. This time we could drive a 740 bhp monster, the hardcore car fanatics will immediately know that this is the newest model from the range of Ferrari. It’s the F12berlinetta. Ferrari’s new killer weapon is about to take down all of its rivals. With that in mind we ask ourselves: Is there any rival for this car at all?
That question is very hard to answer, maybe there is no answer to this question at all. Just ask yourself, which cars are rivals for the F12berlinetta? There is no car with a similar power, comfort, sound and reputation all in one. Not the car on its own is so special, the name Ferrari makes the hearts of car freaks beat faster. This car is a benchmark for a sports car, together with the Lamborghini Aventador LP700-4. Also these cars are two opposites despite the Aventador is the most direct rival of the F12berlinetta. The F12berlinetta is a real GT-car, and the Lamborghini is a real sports car pur sang. The Ferrari is a car which you can push to the limit on a racetrack and make a long journey on the highway afterwards. This is possible thanks to the different settings of the Manettino and a magnificent gearbox with seven speeds. Elegant and flexible, that’s how this Ferrari changes gear, with a clinical precision. No big moves during the accelerations, it might be a bit too clinical for some, but let’s not forget that this is a GT. Even when you drive the car more aggressive the changes still will be almost unrecognizable. The most powerful Ferrari ever is made for cruising rather than for racing. The car is perfectly balanced, the comfort is optimalized and despite that, the atmospheric 6.3 liter V12 is always ready to be unleashed. The acceleration is so intense that your hair is blown of your head, outside of the car. The experience and pleasure of driving the car is self-evident. The soundtrack which comes from the four exhausts is undiscribeble. Driving through a tunnel with cars like this has always been a pleasure but the F12 brings this to a completely different level.
The acceleration to 100 kph can be done in 3.1, and to 200 kph in 8.5 seconds. The F12 mindblowing fast, not only the numbers prove that, also the big necks of future owners will prove that, they will be full of muscles. Despite the V12 in the nose the car steers very precise, almost like a laser. The nose will go every direction you will command it to go. A small turn of the steering wheel is enough to change lane, but when you’re of the highway and on the B-roads, the fun really begins. The carbon-ceramic brakes are working very accurately and they don’t give you the idea that you’re driving a car which weighs1525 kilograms. Of course one of the causes is the huge amount of power but there is another thing which hides the weight, we don’t exactly know what it is. The aluminium chassis must also contribute in this, next to that it is 20 percent lighter than the one of the 599. Due all kinds of modern technology the chassis is 70 kilograms lighter and the weight of the car is separated in 46% on the front and 54% on the back of the car. This is clearly noticeable when you take some small turns.
The car is directed to the driver, and so is the interior, literally. The multimediasystem can’t be found on the central console, everything is placed in the instrumentarium. On the central console we only can find the buttons for the climate control of the car. It might take a time before you get used to it, a normal car has got everything placed on the central console. Yes, we said ‘normal car’. Of course the F12 is far from a normal car, but that’s no secret. When you take a looks at all special badges in the interior, you know enough. In the centre of the clocks we still can find a normal, analogue revcounter. The displays next to that tell you about everything from and around the car. In the left display you can find information about the car’s fluids, tire pressure, setting of the Manettino and so on. The right display is a replacement for the multimediasystem in the central console. The problem is that the passenger can’t see any of these things shown on the display, so the driver is responsible for the radio and navigation. The good point of this is that only one person is responsible for taking the wrong exit. Then you can take the long way home, which isn’t that bad with this Ferrari. The steering wheel feels lovely in your hands, just like any other Ferrari from then and now. It tells you exactly what you do with the front wheels. Then there are the flappy pedals behind the steering wheel, they are big enough so you can even change gear when you turn the wheel.
We go on with the exterior of the car. 20 inch wheels fill up the wheel arches with their 255 millimeter wide tires on the front and 315 millimeter at the back. These Michelin-tires give the best grip in any conditions and add even more perfection to the car. When we take a good look at the front we see similarities with the lines of the FF, but also those of the 458 Italia. The new design will also find its way to the F150 which will be revealed soon. The nose is wide and looks very aggressive. The colour Aluminum fits good with the black grille and splitter, this makes the nose look even more aggressive. At the side, there are vaults which move over in the tail of the car. This isn’t only good-looking, but also functional. When we end with the back of the car we see something many people disliked when they saw it for the first time. We can tell you that it looks much better in real life than on the pictures. The two taillights with the Formula 1-inspired taillight are the eyecatchers of the F12. When you look down, your eyes will fall on four massive exhausts which let people hear the Italian V12.
Then there is the price, in case you’re seriously interested. A stock F12berlinetta will cost you 225.486 Euros without taxes, but that depends on the country you live in. In some countries it might also be clever to choose the HELE-package (High Emotion, Low Emissions). In the Netherlands this will save you seventeen thousand Euros, because of all environment-taxes in this country. The car will than cost 369.589 Euros instead of 386.359. The HELE-package includes a start-stop-system and some extra modifications to the engine. This price ofcourse is a starting price. What about a luggage set of 8500 Euros? Further most of the options are just under a thousands Euros. But when you take your choice you will almost definitively end up with a price of 300.000 Euros. Is this car worth its money? Of course, you drive a Ferrari with 740 bhp, one of the fastest production cars of this moment. If we could, we would take it in yellow with black wheels. That is one of the best combinations ever on a Ferrari.