More power and less weight. These are the qualities we expected the Ferrari F12tdf to bring. However, we can’t say we saw the rear-axle steering coming, and the Prancing Horse wants to make sure we get the picture, so it has now released a video that explains the system.
This is Ferrari, not Porsche. So don’t expect to find out the exact angles achieved by the rear wheels. The same goes for the speed at which the rear wheels stop turning in the opposite direction to the front ones, with all four following the same direction.
Instead, Maranello explains the handling difference between the F12berlinetta and the F12 Tour de France (automobile competition, not bicycle race, remember?).
The story starts with a front axle grip increase, as the rim width has grown from 9.5 inches to 10 inches. As for the front tire width, this has jumped from 255 to 275 mm.
Racing drivers would approve of such a move thanks to the lateral acceleration increase it brings. However, as many carmakers, Ferrari included, found out a long time ago, road car customers are not all handling experts. To counterbalance the oversteer effect of the wider front setup, the Italian engineers gifted the rear axle with pivoting abilities.
The company calls this the Virtual Short Wheelbase (Passo Corto Virtuale for the Italian speakers), as this is the effect achieved at slow speeds, when the rear wheels turn in the opposite direction of the rear ones.
At higher velocities, though, the F12tdf becomes more stable, as the rear wheels turning in the same direction as the front ones generates a virtual wheelbase elongation effect.
The clip provided by Ferrari offers us the all-important figure comparison between the F12berlinetta and the F12tdf. Nevertheless, we’re curious to see what happens outside the numbers, such as, for example, in a drifting situation.
In theory, when the car enters a sideways state, the rear wheels should return to a neutral position, but we’ll have to wait and see what actually happens when an F12tdf starts pulling slip angles.
Ferrari only says that the model-based control logic for the rear-axle steering was developed in-house and doesn't mention the supplier for the hardware - we could be talking about ZF here.
After the F12tdf made its online debut on Tuesday, we noticed that some of you are not big fans of the visual changes brought by the Italians. Fret not, with only 799 units being built, your garage has slim chances of being ruined by this Ferrari.
In his quest to bring you the most impressive automotive creations, Andrei relies on learning as a superpower. There's quite a bit of room in the garage that is this aficionado's heart, so factory-condition classics and widebody contraptions with turbos poking through the hood can peacefully coexist. Full profile
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