Giallo Modena

An 812 Superfast with more power and less weight? There's a little more to the Competizione than that

- Ben Barry

Price: TBC

Engine: 6,5-litre V12

Transmission: 7-speed dual-clutch

Power: 602 kW@ 9 250 r/min

Torque: 691 N.m@ 7 000 r/min

0-100 km/h: 2,85 seconds*

Top speed: 342 km/h*

Fuel consumption: 14,08 L/100 km*

CO2: 385 g/km

Rivals: Aston Martin DBS Superleggera, Lamborghini Aventador, McLaren 765 LT

+ the last of the V12s; collector’s item; stratospheric redline north of 9 500 r/min

- a handful to drive without the driver aids engaged; just 999 built+

Five hundred r/min ... At 3 000 r/min that’s a mere toe flex away. Although, stretching a naturally aspirated Ferrari V12’s redline by a mere 500 r/min is like climbing a quivering step ladder on Everest’s peak. Metaphorically speaking, this is what Ferrari’s engineers have achieved with the 812 Competizione, and what I’m experiencing on a hot lap of Ferrari’s Fiorano test track; the same 6,5-litre engine in the 812 Superfast spins to a white-hot 9 000 r/min, but the Competizione stretches to 9 500 r/min and serves its 602 kW just 250 r/min earlier. No road-going Ferrari engine has ever revved higher … and Ferraris are all about the revs (we won’t mention there’s slightly less torque) and, besides, even at 2 500 r/min you’ve still got 80% of the 691 N.m at 7 000 r/min. The thing is, you feel this engine’s added aggression even leaving the Fiorano pits, where the throttle is more like a cattle-prod in Race mode than other 812s. It’s an 812 Superfast made to go even faster.