Reviews
Gallery 1
Ninety minutes with a Ferrari F12 isn’t very long, certainly not long enough.
Don’t get me wrong, it’s a hell of a lot better than no time with a Ferrari F12, but it’s really only enough to scratch the surface of Maranello’s grandest GT. Still when Ferrari offered us a quick blast at the recent Bathurst 12-Hour, we grabbed the keys faster than you could say “Ciao!”.
That said, with a 545kW/690Nm 6.3-litre V12 under the bonnet, in a fantasy land of open roads, no traffic and no speed limits – the Northern Territory, then – you could cover 525km in those 90 minutes at the F12’s 350km/h top whack. Okay, so you’d run out of fuel well before then, but you take the point.
In first and second it’s borderline uncomfortable, the scenery moving as if you’ve pressed 1.5x on the DVD remote, and by the top of second gear you’re so far beyond the national speed limit any further exploration seems imprudent.
This performance is made accessible by Ferrari’s excellent dual-clutch ’box; the shifts are super quick and it even behaves well in traffic, an environment which remains the Achilles heel of most systems.
The ride is absorbent, the engine is hushed and the driving position comfortable; having all the controls – indicators, lights, wipers etc. – on the steering wheel does take some getting used to, but isn’t too difficult to master.
Like all modern Ferraris, the steering itself is light and very fast without a whole lot of feedback which, combined with its propensity to shift about slightly, can make it feel a little nervous.
The key here is to ignore these initial sensations and trust it. After all, the F12 wears massive rubber (255/35 fronts; 315/35 rears) so you’re unlikely to be anywhere near the limit of grip. Your inputs have to be quite small and precise, but even at what feels like six or seven-tenths a glance at the speedo reveals to be anything but.
With Race mode selected on the steering wheel manettino ESP intervention is rare bar tight corner exits and should you find a well-sighted corner and commit fully the speed at which the F12 fires through is literally breathtaking.
Thus while the F12 is a staggeringly capable performance car, it feels like it would work best flowing through long, sweeping corners at a speed that would swiftly have you on every front page in the land, so the exercise can be a little frustrating.
Then again, Ferrari does hold regular track days at Phillip Island, which would no doubt be an excellent way to express some of that frustration.
5/5
Specifications
Engine: 6262cc V12, DOHC, 48v Power: 545kW @ 8250rpm Torque: 690Nm @ 6000rpm Weight: 1525kg 0-100km/h: 3.1sec (claimed) Price: $690,745
