You would be hard-pressed to return throughout somebody who’s by no means heard of Ferrari. Few carmakers have been in a position to seize the guts and soul of so many via their near-peerless dedication to superbly engineered automobiles. You may even credit score the gurus at Ferrari for kick-starting tens of millions of gearheads’ ardour for automobiles typically. To not point out, the Italian supercar maker has been liable for creating a few of the finest performing – and sounding – engines to ever grace the world’s roadways.
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Ferrari has created a great deal of automobiles, engines, and different improvements that may very well be thought of by some as elegant. One which involves thoughts is Ferrari’s now-defunct flat-12 engine. It wasn’t essentially a foul thought, nevertheless it absolutely was a wierd one. Few have heard of the factor, and even fewer have pushed one earlier than. Bearing these info in thoughts, CarBuzz determined to pay homage to the quirky motor and the few automobiles it was put in in.
The next info pertaining to Ferrari’s flat-12 engine was taken from numerous websites equivalent to Ferrari’s official media website and AutoData.internet.
The Progressive Ferrari Flat-12
A Few Flat-12 Details
Noticed use in each racing and civilian purposes. It was produced from 1963 to 1996. Ferrari is the one carmaker to provide a flat-12 engine.
Usually, once we consider horizontally-opposed engines, we consider the Subaru flat-four or the well-known Porsche flat-six. We actually do not consider the Ferrari flat-12, as a result of, as we touched on earlier, many do not even know of its existence. As a result of Ferrari is so well-known for creating a number of completely different V12 engines, the flat-12 is ignored in the case of the Italian supercar maker’s historical past. However, due to its uniqueness and colourful historical past, it deserves to be acknowledged.
The flat-12’s story begins in 1964, when Ferrari was designing a brand new engine for his or her then-upcoming Ferrari 1512 Formulation 1 automotive. A person referred to as Mauro Forghieri headed up the venture, and was profitable in designing the world’s first flat-12 engine. It carried the denomination “Tipo 207”, and sported a 1.5-liter displacement with an influence output of 227 horsepower and a redline of 12,000 rpm. Curiously, Ferrari used two completely different engines in the course of the 1964 and 1965 seasons. The 158 (1.5-liter V8) was used on tracks the place a slower, extra nimble automotive was required. The 1512 was used on circuits the place energy could be the deciding issue, like Spa and Monza.
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The Ferrari flat-12 noticed use in each racing and street automotive purposes over its 33-year tenure. In complete, there have been 11 variations of the flat-12, 4 of which had been utilized in motorsport. Come 1973, the flat-12 noticed its first street automotive software, having been shoehorned into Ferrari’s largely forgotten-about 365 GT4 BB. This new road-going model wasn’t derived from the Tipo 207, however the Tipo 001, a flat-12 which noticed some racing success between the 1970 and 1974 racing seasons.
New and improved flat-12 iterations adopted that first model, with Ferrari fashions such because the Testarossa and 512 BB receiving the motor, too. It was heralded for its light-weight design and eagerness to rev, nevertheless it lacked the torque seen in different supercar maker’s fashions. 1996 noticed the final software of a Ferrari flat-12 within the Ferrari F512 M, after which the engine was laid to relaxation.
It is price noting that the world does not at all times know factor when it is obtainable. During the last 5 years, the Ferrari Testarossa’s worth has held regular at $150,000, however on the 2024 Monterey Automobile Week, a low-mileage unit bought for greater than $200k.
The Ins And Outs Of The Flat-12
Flat-12 Specs (1994 Ferrari F512 M)
Displacement
4.9-Liter
Horsepower
440 hp @ 6,750 RPM
Torque
369 lb-ft @ 5,500 RPM
0-60 MPH
4.6 Seconds
High Pace
196 mph
It could not come as a shock to be taught the flat-12 was not a easy piece of engineering. To start with, Ferrari was searching for a solution to revolutionize the engine, and reinvent the wheel in a approach. This was no small process, however Ferrari was decided. The primary benefit of the flat-12 engine is its flatness in comparison with the V-shape of a V8 or V12. This meant it may very well be mounted decrease down in any automotive, resulting in a decrease heart of gravity.
The primary model of the flat-12, the Tipo 207, featured seven principal bearings, three greater than the same old 4 seen on most racing engines of the time, to assist strengthen its backside finish. It additionally boasted 4 camshafts, and an aluminum crankcase to assist hold engine weight down. Forged iron cylinder sleeves had been additionally pressed into the motor to help in warmth mitigation. To assist with race day upkeep, the alternator, gas pump, and injection pumps had been positioned proper on high of the engine. On the time of its introduction, the flat-12 was probably the most highly effective F1 engine, however its torque band wasn’t broad sufficient to really present any kind of significant acquire over the competitors.
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As time went on and the flat-12 advanced, it turned a lot bigger, however to maintain weight down, Ferrari used metals like titanium and magnesium. For instance, as we talked about beforehand, the primary model was solely a 1.5-liter. The second and third racing variations, the Tipo 232 and Tipo 001, had been sized at 2.0 liters and three.0 liters, respectively. The final racing model, the Tipo 015, was a 3.0-liter, used in the course of the 1979 racing season, after which it was changed by the Tipo 021 turbocharged V6. The turbocharged period of Formulation 1 had begun and naturally aspirated engines had been not reducing it.
As for the road-going variations, they acquired a lot of the F1-inspired engineering seen within the racing variations, with some added refinement to extend their driveability. The blocks had been comprised of Silumin alloy, a patented aluminum-silicon alloy, which helped hold the motors light-weight whereas additionally growing their capability to deal with excessive temps. A solid metal crankshaft and Borgo mild alloy pistons additional aided within the flat-12’s endeavor to extend its power with out compromising on its weight and talent to deal with excessive warmth.
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When requested in regards to the flat-12’s similarities to the Porsche flat-six boxer engine, chief designer Mauro Forghieri acknowledged that folks mustn’t name it a boxer. “Technically, it’s appropriate to say that this engine is a flat-12, or has 12 cylinders with the heads at a vee angle of 180°. The distinction between this engine and a real ‘boxer’ is that on the Ferrari engine the corresponding connecting rods of every financial institution are coupled on the identical crankpin, so the 2 pistons transfer in the identical course, whereas in a real boxer engine (for instance, the flat-six Porsche engine) the pistons transfer in reverse instructions,” Forghieri stated. He had a degree. You may watch the video under and listen to a Ferrari Testarossa at full chat. It sounds much more like a V12 than a typical boxer engine.
By its ultimate yr, the Ferrari flat-12 was now a 4.9-liter, 440-horsepower supercar engine put in throughout the Ferrari F512 M. At this cut-off date, the engine was largely electronically-controlled, and the carburetors and distributors of previous had been long-replaced by direct injection and coil packs.
Why Ferrari Axed The Flat-12
Sadly, the automotive world appears to be unkind to unconventional concepts. Nonetheless, the flat-12 had a 33-year run, which is greater than most engines get. Solely probably the most dependable engines have a tendency to remain round for that lengthy.
One of many principal causes for the flat-12’s unlucky demise was the difficulty of packaging. Ferraris geared up with the motor needed to be exceedingly vast to accommodate the flat-12’s wide-reaching footprint. This made automobiles just like the Testarossa and F512 M notoriously tough to pilot via slender European streets, and because the flat-12 grew in displacement to stay aggressive with different supercars, this drawback simply bought worse and worse.
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One more reason for its demise was the difficulty of federal laws. In 1995, new government-sanctioned emission restrictions had been put in place that rendered the flat-12 largely unlawful to make use of in a street automotive. So, as an alternative of fully revamping the flat-12, Ferrari determined to let it die out. A tragic choice, little doubt, however as many people know, it might probably typically be extraordinarily laborious on automakers to need to sustain with fast-changing bureaucratic laws imposed on carmakers nowadays, and the flat-12 was simply one other casualty on this lengthy listing.
