The Ferrari F12tdf has been revealed as an extreme take on the F12 with less weight, more power, rear wheel steering and brakes from LaFerrari.
We knew Ferrari was planning a more extreme take on the F12, but we thought it would be the F12 Speciale. Bit it’s not – its’s the Ferrari F12 tdf – just 799 being built – an homage to the Tour de France endurance road race Ferrari competed in in the 1950s, and made its own with the 250 GT Berlinetta.
So the Ferrari F12 ‘Tour de France’ is designed to recreate the qualities of the 1950-s Ferraris that enabled them to drive for hundreds of miles a day through touch roads and on track, so Ferrari are throwing a lot at the F12tdf.
Power comes from the usual 6.3 litre V12 as the regular F12, but here it gets 769bhp (up 38bhp) and a bit more torque, enough for a 62mph sprint in 2.9 seconds and on to a top speed of 211mph. That’s performance that pretty much matches LaFerrari.
It’ll stop like a LaFerrari too, with new Extreme Design one-piece brake taken from Ferrari’s hypercar, and it’s tendency to oversteer is tamed with rear-wheel steering – Ferrari call it the Virtual Short Wheelbase – to improve steering response and stability.
The TDF is lighter too than the normal F12 – some 110kg – thanks to lots of design tweaks and liberal use of carbon fibre, with a wider stance thanks to a new front splitter, and fins on the bumper and bonnet, slats on the back wings, a bigger rear spoiler and a more steeply raked rear screen that adds downforce and an active diffuser.
There are just 799 Ferrari F12tdf units going on sale, and the chances are most, if not all, are spoken for already. Ferrari hasn’t revealed prices, but you can be sure it will be heading for £300k.
But that is just a third of a LaFerrari.
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