Ferrari 12Cilindri Spider review

Ferrari fits a folding hard top to its V12 grand tourer

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The Ferrari 12Cilindri is a more relaxed-feeling car than the 812 Superfast that preceded it because of the existence of the SF90. That’s true in Coupe form and now is our chance to try it as a convertible, or the Spider in Ferrari-speak.

The 12Cilindri Spider is the folding-topped version of Ferrari’s grandest V12 tourer, which will go on UK sale this autumn and cost from £366,500 before you specify a single option, and you can bet a Ferrari retailer will encourage you to do that.

With the SF90 as the brand’s performance leader, it meant that, when developing the 12Cilindri, Ferrari was able to lean into its grand touring capabilities more than it had in the recent past. It didn’t need to be the most powerful, most focused car in the range. But, as we’ll see, it is still incredibly potent, fast, and rewarding to drive.

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DESIGN & STYLING

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In its mechanical make-up, the Spider is broadly similar to the coupé: a front-engined V12 grand tourer in the old tradition. The significant changes are those to reinforce the body to cope with lopping the roof off it.

Ferrari claims a 15% body rigidity increase over its 812 GTS predecessor but offers no figures for overall rigidity, or a comparison with the coupé. Body mods, notably reinforcement around A- and B-pillars and thicker sills, and the folding mechanism add 60kg to the coupé’s 1560kg (dry) weight.

A fabric roof would have added less but, as head of GT exterior design Andrea Militello told me, a soft top like the Roma’s is a “more romantic” alternative. The 12Cilindri’s roof, which folds in 14sec at vehicle speeds of up to 28mph, is “a technical roof, a shell that suits speed. You wouldn’t go to space with a soft top.

”Some of the sci-fi-inspired elements of the coupé’s design (which to my mind remains the more elegant of the two 12Cilindris), have been toned down here with the loss of the almost delta-wing rear window, but I get what he means. It’s still striking, of course. The bonnet length is imposing and the Spider has more presence than a vehicle 4.7m long and 2.0m wide (across the body) normally would.

 

INTERIOR

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The interior is much like the coupé’s, save for the view behind and buttons for the roof.  There are two seats, and it’s a neatly designed cabin, elegant and showing less flamboyance than, say, a Lamborghini (this is not a criticism).

Fit and finish are very good and material quality high, although it’s less solid-feeling inside than something like a Bentley Continental GT Speed – unsurprisingly, given the weight differences between the two.You can pick from luxurious-feeling materials or something like the carbonfibre that adorns our test car. The driving position itself is good, low, straight and roomy.

The steering column has paddles that stay where they are, which relegates the indicator buttons to one each side of the steering wheel. Lights and wipers are there too – a little fiddly, but you get used to it. Driving modes are adjusted from the steering wheel too, while there are haptic buttons for other driving controls. The only driving-related function controlled off the central touchscreen is for the nose lift.

That screen, incidentally, links to a smartphone to handle infotainment - Ferrari offers no sat-nav, for example, because sensibly it figures that owners with a third of a million quid have a phone that will do the job better.

When you have nothing on the touchscreen, the blank black screen is meant to have been installed discreetly enough to meld into the rest of the design.

The roof can be dropped in 14sec at speeds up to 28mph.

ENGINES & PERFORMANCE

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Dropping the roof lets you better hear one of the world’s great engines, of course. The 6.5-litre, naturally aspirated V12 only shouts really loudly at high revs and in the racier drive modes. But even above 9000rpm, it’s smoothly noisy rather than raucous.

It’s easy to understand why, despite the rigidity (and, to my eyes, aesthetic) drawbacks, half of 12Cilindris will be Spiders.

That, as in the coupé, the engine response is calmed down in third and fourth gears, to be more linear, less hyper, and that those are the predominant driving gears on nice back roads, just enhances the experience.

And even though it has been chilled down a little over its predecessor, it’s still incredibly fast – they called the one that came before it the Superfast and that had 30 fewer horsepower than this.Peak power is 819bhp at more than 9000rpm and peak torque, 500lb ft, arrives at 7250rpm, beyond the point where most engines have since given up. Performance is down a smidgeon on the coupe, but these things are relative: we’re still talking at car that can go from 0-62mph in 3.0sec and go on to 211mph.

The transmission is also excellent, smoothly changing gears when you’re in one of the milder drive modes and moods, but with exceptional response and control, with perfect rev-matching, if you’re in a hurry.Likewise brake pedal feel is strong and consistent: by-wire braking means the pedal always feels the same, with good weighting to lean against.

RIDE & HANDLING

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There are suspension tuning differences to take account of the Spider’s additional weight, and the fact that inevitably the centre of gravity will have shifted upwards and rearwards, but the short of it is that this roofless variant is meant to retain the natural character of the coupé.

All modern Ferraris ride pretty well and there’s no exception here. Plus the 12Cilindri has the ‘bumpy road’ damper setting that takes the edge off the ride in its angrier drive modes. Roof up, you notice a little extra body shimmy, a smidge of loss of rigidity from the coupé. As with many folding hard-topped cars, the roof clicking into place assists things, because it feels like it flexes even more with it down.

Swapping between roof open and closed is a doddle, mind you (so long as you don’t have a camera suckered to the windows, which drop completely into the doors during the process – sounds like an ‘us’ problem really). And with it down, there’s limited buffeting, not that your correspondent has a lot of hair to ruffle. The back window can be lowered or raised but defaults to a halfway point that lets in the least neck draught.

The steering is fast, at just under two turns lock to lock, and reasonably light, but it doesn’t feel nervy. In moving from 812 to 12Cilindri, the wheelbase was shortened by 20mm and the driver now sits closer to the back axle, but it doesn’t feel that way. With a later generation of active rear steer plus whatever other magic they get up to, it feels more like you sit in the middle of the 12Cilindri, and less like you’re on the back axle, holding on like racing a chariot with the horsepower and steering some way in the far distance.

MPG & RUNNING COSTS

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At the thick end of £400,000 and with a 6.5-litre V12 returning 17.8mpg and 360g/km of CO2, this is not a car for those who worry too much about economy and running costs.

But it’s worth knowing that Ferrari offers a solid warranty, even an extended one, and while the cars don’t tend to end up featuring heavily in satisfaction surveys, buyers enjoy the ownership proposition enough that they keep coming back.

VERDICT

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I mean, it’s a V12-powered Ferrari, and I don’t think I’ve met a bad one of those, but I thought this one was particularly lovely.

Overall, the 12Cilindri Spider’s character remains pretty much true to the coupe’s. Most would notice some loss of body rigidity, but depending on where you live and how you like to enjoy your car, the additional exposure to the V12’s sounds is worth that compromise.

It has an eminently agreeable interior, an engine to die for, one of the best transmissions in the world and a blend of ride and handling that gives it the right amount of agility coupled to a ride sufficiently absorbent that you could happily spend lengthy hours at the wheel.

In becoming a less extreme sports car than the 812 Superfast, the 12Cilindri is a better car all around. It’s a calmer, cosier, more intimate and chilled drive than other recent Ferrari V12s, and I think the better for it. Let’s hope they keep making an SF90.

Matt Prior

Matt Prior
Title: Editor-at-large

Matt is Autocar’s lead features writer and presenter, is the main face of Autocar’s YouTube channel, presents the My Week In Cars podcast and has written his weekly column, Tester’s Notes, since 2013.

Matt is an automotive engineer who has been writing and talking about cars since 1997. He joined Autocar in 2005 as deputy road test editor, prior to which he was road test editor and world rally editor for Channel 4’s automotive website, 4Car. 

Into all things engineering and automotive from any era, Matt is as comfortable regularly contributing to sibling titles Move Electric and Classic & Sports Car as he is writing for Autocar. He has a racing licence, and some malfunctioning classic cars and motorbikes.