Ferrari has revealed a new variant of the 12Cilindri supercar, fitted with a six-speed manual transmission. The new special-edition Ferrari 12Cilindri Manuale will be built through the 'Tailor Made' program and limited to 1,499 units. The transmission is a new interpretation of a manual gearbox designed from scratch by Ferrari, essentially using the same eight-speed dual-clutch transmission as the standard car but with a new set of tactile components that use by-wire technology to recreate the action of a six-speed manual.
Between the seats, a gearstick is mounted into a steel module with an open six-speed gate. There's also a clutch pedal, but neither of these elements is physically connected to the gearbox or clutch. Instead, their actions recreate the sensations of a traditional manual transmission. On start-up, the transmission defaults to its usual automatic mode, operated by reverse, neutral, and drive buttons on the center console.
View Price on AmazonWhen the clutch pedal is depressed, however, the car switches into manual mode, as signified by the amber glow of the gate on top of the aluminum gearknob. The Manuale system works on the first six gears of the DCT's eight, plus reverse, so it's best to default back to automatic on highways to access the two highest gears. Ferrari also says that despite being computer-controlled, the car will still let you stall the engine or fluff a gear change.
Ferrari has even gone to the effort of mimicking a bite point for the clutch travel. There's no auto-blip function, plus Ferrari has removed the paddle shifters behind the steering wheel. While the system will let you be clumsy, there's a lock-out mechanism to avoid any risk of selecting a gear that's too low; and at any point, the driver can switch back to auto mode by pressing the 'D' button.
No changes have been made to the gear ratios, and the engine mapping is also identical to that of the base car, where it produces 818 horsepower and revs out to 9,500 rpm. Performance is rated at three seconds from 0-62 mph, and the top speed is pegged at 210 mph.
Source: autoexpress.co.uk
