Ferrari’s has unleashed its newest Prancing Horse – the F12 tdf – short for Tour de France.
However, this car has nothing to do with the annual bicycle race – instead it pays homage to the legendary endurance road race that ran between 1899 and 1986, and was dominated by Ferrari in the 1950s and 1960s.
“It was a race that rewarded cars that combined maximum performance with drive-ability and ease of use that enabled the competitors to race for hundreds of kilometres a day over fast, tortuous roads and on circuits,” reads a statement from Ferrari. “The F12 tdf is the ultimate expression of the concept of an extreme road car that is equally at home on the track.”
The engineering is all about looking forward – power is up and weight is down.
The tdf comes with a naturally-aspirated 6.3-litre V-12 engine derived from the F12 Berlinetta. Ferrari increased the horsepower from 730 to 769 and increased torque from 509 pound-feet to 520. The seven-speed dual-clutch means the car will upshift 30 per cent faster and downshift 40 per cent faster. The tdf has 87 per cent more downforce than the stock Berlinetta and weighs about 110 kilograms less. All of this means the tdf will trot from 0-100 km/h in 2.9 seconds and from 0-200 in 7.9 seconds with a top speed of 340 km/h.
According to Autoblog, the tdf went around Ferrari’s private test track two seconds faster than the Berlinetta or the 488 GTB and one second slower than the LaFerrari.
Ferrari will officially debut the beast at the Ferrari World Finals early next month. But don’t get too excited, only 799 will be made.
Here are some clips of what the car sounds like, just to wet your appetite:
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