REVEALED! So, THAT's The All-New Ferrari Enzo Successor's V12 Motor! Does This Mark The Demise Of The N/A, Non Hybrid V12?

If you were expecting for Ferrari to make a big-time debut of it's all-new Enzo successor -- dubbed the "F70" as of right now -- at the 2012 Paris Motor Show, likely you were a bit let down when it revealed only the vehicle's carbon monocoque.

But don't fret because this week Ferrari Magazine was more than happy to show the goods of the all-new, flagship Ferrari. Equipped with a large displacement V12, it's likely to be a screamer. And as reports have claimed, it's pretty clear there is some sort of hybrid technology going on here.

Looking into the engine bay it's clear that the F70's motor is placed as far forward and towards the center of the chassis as possible. From there if you look south you'll note the large, carbon fiber air boxes that flank what we're going to say is the hybrid drive unit.

While we're excited to see what Ferrari has up its sleeve we're also a bit...sad.

That's because a naturally aspirated V12 is just such a magical thing. It's clearly a sign of the times but also a showcase of how it may be possible to use hybrid technology in a performance-oriented way, not efficiency.

But the bigger question at hand is this: Does Ferrari's F70 motor mark the end of fantastic, N/A V12 powerplants?


Ferrari didn’t present the production ready F70 at the Paris Motor Show, presumably so that it didn’t clash with McLaren’s big P1 release. They gave us a glympse of the carbon fiber monocoque instead, with a promise that more will be revealed in the future. Yesterday we received a scan from the latest Ferrari Magazine, Issue 18, which appears to show the engine of the new F70 prototype!

The picture confirms little and the text is too small to read, however, it certainly shows what looks like a V12 power plant coupled to a some form of electronic power system. The engine sits near the center of the car, while the battery units sit towards the rear...

Read Article

JRobUSC - 10/8/2012 11:35:35 AM

+1 Boost

What's the problem? It's still naturally aspirated. Adding an electric motor (or an F1-style KERS system, which it might be as well) doesn't change the aspiration-type of the V12, the only way to do that is forced induction.

makkystyle - 10/10/2012 2:10:15 AM

+1 Boost

Seriously. You would think that agent 00R would actually learn something about cars before writing anything. It was better when he was just ripping of the first paragraphs of someone else's work. Hybrid technology has no link whatsoever with aspiration.