Remember your dreams of LaFerrari without a hybrid system or bringing the 330 P4 back to life? They just helped you make it happen.
When Ferrari launched the 812 Competizione not long ago, some people naively thought it would be the curtain call to the Ferrari V12 series, but it didn't take long for them to be wrong. Less than a year after its debut, we see the limited-edition Daytona SP3, a tribute to Maranello's 1960s achievements in sports car racing and the first Ferrari model to feature a mid-mounted V12 after the hybrid LaFerrari. Sp3 is sold only to Ferrari's most loyal customers and is the third product in the Icona series after the Monza SP1 and SP2 – Icona means "idol" in Italian.
Confused about the name of the car? No, listen to me explain. The official name of the Daytona more than 50 years ago was 365 GTB/4, and the Daytona was only a nickname given to it by the media to celebrate Ferrari's top 3 at the 24 Hours of Daytona in 1967, and now, here, the word can be remembered far more than a car, but an era. In a sense, this Daytona, simply sp3, has two "fathers": an engineer, Mauro Forghieri, who has been working at Ferrari as an apprentice since the spring of 1960 and whose career as a racing designer lasted a quarter of a century; and the other is Flavio Manzoni, Ferrari's current chief design officer.
Forghieri once created several glamorous Ferrari prototype sports cars in the 60s, a bloodline that began at 250 P and reached its peak at 330 P4 – Forghieri considers the 330 P4 to be his proudest work, with the top 3 mentioned above having two 330 P4s (the other being a "customer-specific version" of the 330 P3 for the private team, and the scene of the 3 cars rushing in the same frame was deliberately arranged. Apparently in retaliation for Ford's big victory at Le Mans the year before).) Now, on the 3rd Icona model, the gifted Manzoni — who has loved cars like the Forghieri's P4 since childhood — has been given full freedom, placing the romance, speed and magic of that era (plus a V12 engine that is particularly emotional and much more powerful than the P4's power unit) in the carbon fiber body.
The SP3 is the most expensive of the Icona series to date, but it also produces more (599 units, compared to 499 for the previous two Monzas combined). Deliveries begin in the second half of 2022 (Maranello is producing the last Batch of Monza, sp3 will use the same production line), and production will continue until 2024.
All 599 units have been ordered, but don't give up hope – Ferrari has confirmed that the Icona series will continue to exist. Like the three existing models, all future Icona models will be design-led reproductions of the most memorable chapters in Maranello's history. As Manzoni explicitly puts it, they will "draw nourishment from the past while looking to the future.".
They also exist purely to capture the hearts and imaginations of super Ferrari fans. As for the application and pursuit of new technologies, it is the task of cars like LaFerrari and its successors. Ferrari admits that due to the high technical requirements and ambitious performance goals of their supercars, in the event of a conflict in most projects, it is not design but engineering that is decisive, while the opposite concept can be implemented on the Icona series.
Considering the models that inspired it, the SP3 unsurprisingly adopted the rear mid-mounted V12 engine as the power source. It's not an ordinary V12, it's Ferrari's most powerful V12 ever, with a maximum power of 840 hp, a maximum torque of 697 Nm and a red line speed of up to 9500 rpm.
The V12 engine is roughly the same as the 812 Competizione,
But changes to the rear center layout helped it boost the momentum.
The machine, called the F140HC, is basically a modified version of the F140HB on the 812 Competizione for the rear-center layout (the 812 is the front-center), so the displacement is still 6.5 liters, and the angle between the two exhaust cylinders is 65 degrees. The same 9500 rpm upper limit is the result of continuous internal work: low-friction diamond coating (DLC), titanium connecting rods, crankshafts 3% lighter than the 812 Superfast, and adjusted balance, and a very light finger-driven driven valve mechanism that helps achieve high speeds. The maximum power is 10 hp higher than the 812 Competizione due to the new intake and exhaust system.
The SP1 and SP2 Monza use the infrastructure of the 812 Superfast, but the core skeleton of the SP3 comes from LaFerrari Aperta, of course, the hybrid system of the car. This reduced some weight (Ferrari said that the DRY weight of the SP3 was 1485 kg, and the front and rear weight distribution was 44:56, but the Aperta weighed 1365 kg, which was much lighter than the SP3), and also freed up space for the SP3's intake system that had previously been occupied by LaFerrari's electric motor. The space where the hybrid system batteries were previously placed is now occupied by two "chimneys" – which are actually ventilation tracts that pump out and channel high-pressure air from the underside of the car to the rear. Maranello said the SP3 is the most aerodynamically efficient car they have ever adopted a passive aerodynamic design — the downforce of 230 kilograms at 200 km/h — and the "chimney" is just one reason.
Just as the SP3 is designed to reference the past but not to replicate the past, so is its performance. The sitting position is as low as when a professional driver drives a race car, with his arms outstretched and his expression firm, but the Daytona SP3's figures are not retro: 0 to 100 km/h takes just 2.85 seconds, 0 to 200 km/h takes just 7.4 seconds, and the top speed exceeds 340 km/h. This figure is thanks in part to the unchanging 7-speed dual-clutch transmission – the SP3's pursuit of purity and mechanics is not enough to allow it to use a manual transmission.
CTO Michael Leiters explains: "One very important thing I have to say is that it's done because it's a pure car, but not a nostalgic car. It still has some modern technology. It's nostalgic to have a manual transmission. ”
Leiters and Flavio Manzoni, who is not stereotypical but "abandoned," agree with Flavio Manzoni, who is on an equal footing with him but in charge of design.
"The project started with a clear idea: a modern interpretation of the concept of a prototype sports car." Manzoni says: "It inspires a very memorable design scheme, but without the slightest hint of nostalgia – it's future-proof. There are many elements of Ferrari history on this car, but we didn't transform them in an obvious way. A lot of industries are vintage these days, but as a designer, I feel like I have to fight it. It's good to take inspiration from the past, but we can't lose our usual approach to looking to the future. We can't make a vintage modified car. That's a low-level approach. Ferrari will never make anything too obvious or too vulgar. Icona is a bridge between the past, present and future. ”
The heat dissipation system is not large,
So there are countless vents and vents.
See the SP3 in the shadows of several classic Ferrari models from the 60s, including the glamorous 330 P4 mentioned above (the muscular curves and smooth lines above each wheel, located in the cockpit in the middle of the body) and the animalistic 512 S (vertical and flat front arch sides). But Daytona has a distinct personality, a personality produced by the interaction of indescribable curves and simple geometric shapes. The body is short and wide, the waist is visibly tightened, and the front cab creates a unique proportion of each part – at least one owner who is waiting for delivery is said to have been moved to tears of joy by it.
The more you look closely, the more you can appreciate its beauty: both the front and rear of the car have highly dramatic slat elements (the rear is completely open to drain the heat of the engine, but those slats make it look sturdy and almost have a sculptural feel – this is Manzoni's favorite detail); the low-drag rearview mirrors are located on the front wheel arch, much like a prototype sports car of the 60s; the air ducts that provide airflow for the tail and several mid-radiators go directly through the butterfly-wing doors; the electric "eyelids" can be lifted, Expose the high beams in the headlights. The huge mussel-shell rear hatch that bulges high in the middle is a work of art – even Maranello's talented engineering team had to rack their brains to match it.
The in and out posture is a bit awkward,
But the cab is worth the effort.
Inside the car, the seats are integrated with the carbon fiber chassis structure, a method that Ferrari has used on laFerrari, which reduces the center of gravity, reduces weight and results in a driving position that is suitably tilted backwards in line with the positioning of the product (the adjustable pedalbox meets the needs of drivers of different heights). Like the prototype race cars that inspired it, fabrics and padding blur the lines between the seats and the structural parts that house them, and the continuous thematic lines surround the space, giving the impression that this is a real cockpit.
The layered instrument cluster appears to be suspended on a single central carbon fiber pillar. The SP3 is equipped with Ferrari's next-generation infotainment system as well as the latest driver assistance electronics, including the side-slip control system 6.1 (debuted on a V12 engined mid-mounted model) and Ferrari's dynamic reinforcement system, and of course, the manettino, the driving mode selection knob we are already familiar with.
On the origins of Daytona SP3, Manzoni said: "The beauty of Ferrari is that we share our intuition. It's like a jazz band, Michael (Leiters), Enrico (Chief Marketing and Commercial Officer) and I play together, and we share our ideas while respecting each other's boundaries. The atmosphere is wonderful and it's real teamwork. "May this piece of music be played forever.
Basic information
> model identity the latest addition to the Ferrari Icona collection, inspired by the modern engineering techniques that underneath the shape of the past
What are the high-tech ingredients of the >? The redesigned LaFerrari Aperta, which removed the hybrid system, was equipped with an 840 hp V12...
> elite customers who have bought Monza in the target group When can I buy one? It's all sold out. The 599 lucky ones will get their cars starting in the second half of 2022
They will also come
Lamborghini Aventador
The V12 flagship model, which has been born for more than 10 years, should be replaced. It will feature a light hybrid system, so it will have a pure electric range of several kilometers, and finally a dual-clutch transmission.
Aston Martin God of War
Yes, that's it, the cab is only for small marsupials, with a powerful V12 engine, designed by Adrian Newey, a top-of-the-line sports car that is aerodynamically extreme. It's finally coming in 2022.
Text/Ben Miller/Shang Hongxin