Sergio Marchionne, Chairman and CEO of Ferrari, has set the record straight with a recent statement that denies any plans within the iconic Italian marque to phase out their naturally aspirated V12s.
Increasingly strict emissions regulations have forced the hand of many sports car makers to widely adopt turbocharging and engine downsizing over atmospheric combustion engines. Not so at Ferrari, according to an Autocar report, or at least this means alternative measures will be taken to meet modern emissions and fuel economy standards while still fulfilling ever climbing expectations for performance.
Notable examples of previous sports cars that were known for their naturally aspirated engines include: the Aston Martin DB9 (replaced by the twin-turbocharged V12-powered DB11), Porsche 911 Carrera (its atmospheric flat-six replaced with a smaller twin-turbo unit), and the Pagani Huayra (its predecessor, the Zonda, used a naturally aspirated Mercedes-AMG V12).
Marchionne, who is also CEO of the Fiat Chrysler Group, told the UK publication: ‘‘We will always offer a V12. Our head of engine programmes told me it would be absolutely nuts to [install a] turbocharger on the V12, so the answer is no. It [will be] naturally aspirated, with a hybrid.”
Ferrari has always loved their naturally aspirated V12s, though lately they have conceded to the benefits - and literal pressures - of turbocharging (488 GTB, California T, GTC4 Lusso T), a less than celebrated tradition of forced induction that can be traced to great automobiles like the 288 GTO and F40.
But they’ve always remained true to their signature 12-cylinder V, usually reserving it for their most high-end model of the period, as evidenced most recently by cars like the 812 Superfast and LaFerrari hybrid.
Their stance is similar to the current narrative at Lamborghini, who thus far have yet to offer anything but naturally aspirated engines for their own production supercars, saying no to turbocharging, supercharging, and hybrid augmentation despite being owned by Audi, which by contrast has already phased out all naturally aspirated engines aside from that of their R8 supercar, using a V10 engine that is shared with the Lamborghini Huracan.
Only time will tell how long the prancing horse will be able to sustain their atmospheric V12s before begrudgingly augmenting it with some form of forced induction. We wish them luck.
Right now, they are shielded by the small manufacturers agreement, which classifies Ferrari as such and exempts them from the more sweeping emissions regulations that higher volume makes have to abide by.
Michael Leiters, Ferrari’s technical chief, explains: “The EU6C legislation will be a challenge, but we have a solution. After that comes the 2021 Ultra-Low-Emission Vehicle legislation (ULEV), which will be met with the hybrid V12 powertrain.”
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