2022 Ferrari 812 Competizione First Drive Review: Competing with Yourself

ferrari 812-superfast general overview

The level of automotive high-performance art has gone backwards in the forward thrust: the latest and greatest exotic cars are placing their engines behind the driver. Even the Chevrolet Corvette eventually gave up its classic front-engine format for a mid-engine layout and achieved significant increases in performance. All-wheel drive, forced induction, and electrification are also at the cutting edge of performance – and none of that is included in the Ferrari 812 Competizione.

However, after a spin on Ferrari’s Fiorano test track in Maranello, we can clearly say that it is far from declining. The 812 Competizione rises the 812 Superfast, a fairly large, two-door GT car with a front-mounted V-12 engine, from a theatrical and super-fast sculpture to a maximum expression of what a front-engined, rear-wheel drive Ferrari is capable of using aerodynamics, software, and more Power. It’s a triumphant farewell for Ferrari’s V-12, at least in this form; it could be the last naturally aspirated non-hybrid V-12 the Italian automaker will ever sell.

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The motor

And what a V-12 it is. Ferrari uncorked another 500 rpm from the engine’s top speed and increased the redline to a goosebump-inducing 9,500 rpm and horsepower from 789 to 819 while giving up 20 lb-ft of maximum torque for 510 lb-ft. This V-12 is the most powerful street engine Ferrari has ever sold, with 126 hp per liter and far wilder than the twelve-cylinder in similar-sized coupés as the Aston Martin DBS and Bentley Continental GT Speed.

Lightened fixtures help. The connecting rods are now made of titanium, the pistons are two percent lighter and the crankshaft three percent lighter than on the 812. The piston pins have a diamond-like coating – DLC – for reduced friction and improved wear; The camshafts are given the same coating. The chic coating is borrowed from Ferrari’s F1 racing know-how and is even applied to the slide rocker arms that act on the valve stems.

Ferrari runs the Competizione engine on lower viscosity oil delivered through a variable displacement oil pump and a new dedicated central air intake better distributes air over the engine’s radiators to keep temperatures under control.

A completely new intake manifold with shorter and geometrically variable tracts ensures that the more revving motor can take a deep breath during full chatter, while resonators conduct the hooting crescendo like an orchestra. Despite the inclusion of a gasoline particulate filter on the exhaust side – which keeps the Competizione’s emissions below those of the 812 – the gases are routed behind the rear bumper via a winding path before being spat into the atmosphere via square, unadorned metal pipes. This “restores the mid-high frequency tone [typically] dampened by the use of [a gasoline particulate filter]. ”

The repeated pulling out of the V-12 until it was flashed by the upshift warning lights on the steering wheel made our ears ring – even through a racing helmet. The engine is turning so fast it was hard to pay attention to anything but these shift lights when accelerating rapidly from a standstill. Ferrari claims that the Competizione can reach 100 km / h in 2.8 seconds; Think of this as conservative, given the 84-pound heavier and less sturdy Regular 812 nailed that time in our tests. The manually shiftable seven-speed dual clutch automatic transmission of the 812 benefits (useful) from five percent faster shift times.

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Why look back?

You may have noticed that the 812’s rear window has been replaced with a solid aluminum plate studded with Nike Swoosh-shaped carbon fiber vortex generators. You literally can’t look behind you, at least not directly. The small winglets direct the airflow that comes over the roof of the Competizone over the full width of the widened rear spoiler. A rear-facing camera mounted on a shark fin provides video feeds to a digital rearview mirror.

A deeper, full-width diffuser provides more downforce at the rear and makes it necessary to dispense with the regular quadrant of the 812’s underbody brake cooling. Instead, brake calipers with built-in air scoops from the SF90 ensure good cooling, as do the pair of carbon fiber snorkels that protrude from the front bumper and direct air directly onto the front rotors.

Improved evacuation of the front-end airflow over the radiators from the hood and fenders along with the chevron-shaped carbon fiber wing just in front of the windshield compensate for downforce at the front. There is a trio of vents behind each rear wheel to allow air pressure to escape from the rear wheels. These should be known: They are an allusion to the similar slats on the rear fenders of the direct predecessor of the Competizione. the F12 tdF.

Fast – but not for racing

As classy as it all may seem, the Competizione is not for current, um, competition. It is not a racing car and it will not compete in any series sanctioned by Ferrari. But the name sure sounds cool (even more so than the regular model’s “Superfast” title), and the car is unabashedly geared towards racing, even though its cab and ride quality remain completely roadworthy. Even convenient.

Around Fiorano, Ferrari says that the Competizione is 1.5 seconds faster than the Superfast per lap. This tiny gap hardly tarnishes the spiritual distance between the Competizione and the Superfast, because Fiorano is not a long route. The latter is quick but elegant, every movement is muted and fluid. For the Competizione there is immediacy. Inhale one of the main controls and the Ferrari will try to put your movement into action. the V-12 revs up at lightning speed, the brakes react vigorously and the steering twitches with every degree.

Partly because of its available Michelin Cup 2 R tires – the only setup we tested – and 15 percent stiffer front springs and 10 percent stiffer rear wheels, the Competizione steers with such ferocity. (Identical, less aggressive Pirelli P Zero Corsas are standard, and surprisingly, the anti-roll bars are the same as on the 812.) But most of the time the Competizione changes direction like a scared cat thanks to its rear-wheel steering, which is quite literally unhinged by the setup of the smaller model.

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Back-end moves

Here Ferrari lets the rear wheel actuators work independently of each other and not in phase like the front wheels, a spooky-sounding trick that opens up numerous advantages. Since each rear wheel can aim at will (maximum toe change in both directions remains 1.5 degrees, as with the Superfast), each side can change the toe angle to improve stability during hard braking. Ferrari can also turn the outer rear tire very slightly to preload the footprint, essentially forcing the tire to take a set earlier and prepare the rear axle to respond more directly to steering inputs from the front.

By bringing the outer rear tire into the load position (deflection) it would normally reach after the front axle responded to a steering input, Ferrari shortens the waiting time for the rear wheels to “follow” the front wheels when turning a corner. On lower-speed corners, the inside rear wheel can also spin against the front wheels, leading to supernatural turn-in – especially given the size of the 812. You would expect to turn the steering wheel, feel the grip of the front tires, then wait until the stern swings around and hope you don’t overcook things. Instead, all four tires of the Competizione jump together into the corners, while the rear remains unusually stable. The computers calculate further changes in direction of each rear wheel as the curve spreads and depending on which driving mode or which stability control you are in.

The system is so transparent that you won’t even notice that it’s working. You won’t even work that hard. Ferrari surprisingly claims that the Competizione has been tuned to be “easy to drive” fast, an unexpected boast for such a hardcore vehicle. After a few dozen laps of Fiorano, we agree. Despite its wild madness, its dizzying capabilities, the 819 hp, six-digit rear-wheel drive Competizione is really accessible.

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In order to drive the Competizione the way it deserves, you still have to concentrate, of course. Exploring your curve limits is one thing. Do you do this as you try to keep up with the V-12’s endless prongs heading towards Redline with the carbon fiber shift paddles attached to the steering column as you process the epic sound and the landscape around you suddenly fast-forward? There are a few other things.

And here’s something else: you might be wondering why we went to the trouble of reviewing a Ferrari whose 812-unit production run is sold out, based on a fast-paced drive on a foreign circuit that you may never visit. Because the 812 Competizione is too exhilarating not to share, and because it’s a rolling preview of clever advances made in Maranello that in all likelihood will find their way into other Ferraris one day – including the electrified, mid-engined, and all-wheel drive ride. And it won’t those to be something?

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