Ferrari the automaker was born in the 1940s, with Enzo's first-ever Ferrari sporting a naturally aspirated V12. To this very day, the free-breathing V12 defines the Prancing Horse of Maranello. But due to increasingly stringent emission and fuel economy regulations, many enthusiasts wonder if the Italian automaker will turbocharge its roaring V12 by decade's end.
According to product development boss Gianmaria Fulgenzi, the answer is a big fat no. “I’ll try to be polite: V12 turbocharging is not in my mind,” he told British motoring publication Autocar. The chief product development officer says turbochargers are acceptable only when reducing the displacement of an engine, which brings us to the F154.
Launched with a displacement of 3.8 liters in the California T, said twin-turbo V8 was enlarged to 3.9 liters for the 488 series, then to 4.0 liters for the SF90 series. The F154 engine family replaces the naturally aspirated F136, which powered the F430 and California (both 4.3 liters), as well as the crazy beautiful 458 series (4.5 liters). Over at Maserati, said engine was topped by a 4.7-liter variant.
Fulgenzi did not mention a thing about hybrid assistance for the automaker's current V12 engine, yet chief commercial officer Enrico Galliera did confirm that Ferrari had spent a helluva lot of money to ensure that its 6.5-liter masterpiece is compliant with Euro 6e requirements. Compared to the outgoing Euro 6d emission standard, Euro 6e introduces a plethora of revisions to the Real Driving Emissions procedure and tightens nitrogen oxide and particle number conformity factors.
The fun part, however, is yet to come. All passenger vehicles have to comply with Euro 7 regulations after July 1, 2025, save for manufacturers that sell fewer than 10,000 cars per year, which are required to meet said emission standard by 2030. Because Ferrari delivered 13,221 cars and sport utility vehicles worldwide in 2023, both Galliera and Fulgenzi are well aware that the clock is ticking.
Photo: Ferrari
Speaking of which, Galliera said that Ferrari "will see what happens in the future." Could that mean hybrid assistance or a smaller V12 with turbos? Only time will tell. As of May 2024, the Prancing Horse is the only so-called legacy automaker that sells purely internal combustion V12 vehicles.
Volkswagen Group-owned Lamborghini also makes a free-breathing V12 for the Revuelto, yet said engine is joined by no fewer than three electric drive units. The Gordon Murray Automotive T.33 and T.50 also need to be highlighted, but remember that their unassisted V12s are produced in the UK by Cosworth in extremely limited numbers.
Had Enzo been alive today, Il Commendatore would have been very worried about his beloved V12. Looking at the bigger picture, Ferrari has prepared for the bleak future by developing a power-dense V6 for the 296 series and the 499P sports prototype. Said powerplant will be featured in the forthcoming F250 as well, with the successor of the LaFerrari being more Le Mans racer in terms of exterior styling than road-going hypercar.
Ferrari has also prepared for the inevitable zero-emission future with an electric vehicle of its own. To be revealed in the fourth quarter of 2025 for the 2026 model year, the newcomer will be assembled at a new facility referred to as the e-building.
After a 1:43 scale model of a Ferrari 250 GTO sparked Mircea's interest for cars when he was a kid, an early internship at Top Gear sealed his career path. He's most interested in muscle cars and American trucks, but he takes a passing interest in quirky kei cars as well. Full profile
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