And the old? In the ergonomically dismissive way of late '70s low-volume sports cars, the packaging is poor (head- and legroom are remarkably tight for a two-seater more than 14 feet long and nearly 4 feet tall); the square instrument binnacle looks like a home-built attachment (as does a box of secondary dials hanging from the fascia); the steeply raked windshield passes so close to your face that, when the pace quickens and breathing deepens, a patch of the glass constantly mists up; the pedals are so far offset to the right that, when operating the clutch, your left foot is in line with the steering column; and though the tailor-made leather suitcases squeezed on a parcel shelf between the seats and rear bulkhead possess a lovely look and aroma, bumpy roads excite the rubbing leather into an inexorable squeaking and creaking. If this were our car, we'd sling 'em out.
But so what: The moment you turn the key and set those 12 pistons pumping, all of the cabin's shortcomings seem forgivable. The rich and romantic will buy this car for the engine alone. The noise so deep and authoritative, the power delivery so smooth and sophisticated, the throttle pedal so precise and obedient, and the powerband so wide and willing, combine to create one of the greatest road-car engines ever made. The Italians have a phrase, pura e dura, which could have been coined for this car: pure and strong.
And the engine's stronger than ever in the F512 M. This Formula One-inspired design, which began life in the '71 Boxer with two valves per cylinder, 4.4 liters, and 360 horsepower, now bangs out 440 prancing horses at 6750 rpm. That's 50 horsepower more than the original Testarossa, 12 more than the 512TR. Torque has only increased by two percent over the 512TR, but as it already oozed 362 pound-feet, that doesn't much matter. Ferrari says the 0-62 mph (0-100 kph) time has been trimmed from 5.0 to 4.7 seconds, and the standing quarter mile from 13.2 to 12.7 seconds. For bar-room braggarts, top speed is now claimed to be 196 mph.
If these gains can be felt subjectively, it's not in the outright kick of the engine, but more subtly, in its responsiveness. This is helped by a shortening of the final drive ratio by 3.5 percent and a reduction in the motor's reciprocating masses, making it even more willing to spin. The crankshaft has been lightened by 16 pounds (accounting for 40 percent of the car's total weight saving); there are new titanium connecting rods and forged aluminum pistons (which raise the compression ratio from 10.0:1 to 10.4:1);reshaped combustion chambers improve thermodynamic efficiency; and variable-pitch valve springs, like those of the F355, reduce stresses at the unchanged redline of 7200 rpm.
Not that you'll often stretch the flat-12 that far. Let the tach needle sweep all the way around its clock in second gear, for instance, and you'll reach 84 mph; take it to redline in third, and you're at the far side of 110. The engine pulls so heartily from deep down in the rev range, however, that there's no obligation to make it scream, and no necessity to make frequent use of the gearstick. This last point is just as well, for despite new synchronizers, the gearshift is heavy and ponderous. True, it's involving, challenging, rewarding, and true, its clickety-click movements through the open metal gate are so clearly defined that there's never any fear of making expensive errors; but to the flat-12's gloriously fluid power delivery the transmission makes rude interruptions. Riding shotgun around the Fiorano test track, it soon became evident that even Ferrari's ace test drivers are unable to affect the shifts with anything other than slow and deliberate movements.
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