Ferrari 12Cilindri Manuale 2027 review

Ferrari has finally brought back the iconic gated manual gearbox. Except it hasn’t – not quite.

The 12Cilindri Manuale is the first three-pedal Ferrari in well over a decade, and it’s the latest descendant of a front-engined, twelve-cylinder bloodline that runs through the 599 GTB and 812 Superfast.

This time, though, there’s a catch: beneath its aluminium shift gate sits precisely the same eight-speed dual-clutch transmission as a standard 12Cilindri.

Ferrari calls this solution ‘Manuale By-Wire’. The driver can optionally work a clutch pedal and move a finely hewn ball lever through six forward gears, but sensors transmit those commands to the DCT’s control unit.

Seventh and eighth gear are, meanwhile, reserved for automatic control only. There are no steering wheel paddles, and the entire apparatus was developed in Maranello over several years, at what Ferrari says was great expense.

The technology exists because Ferrari’s customers increasingly wanted to change gears for themselves, but Ferrari refused to surrender any torque, acceleration time or certified efficiency of its flagship V12 engine.

It’s a fascinating philosophical stand from a company that regularly assists customers in identifying what they ought to desire.

Manuale By-Wire comes at a great cost. In Australia, the price of $1,204,000 plus on-road costs compares to $803,500 for the automatic coupé and $886,800 for the Spider, representing a 50 percent premium for a different relationship with the same powertrain.

But it’s also a deeply exclusive vehicle. Just 1499 units will be built, all coupés, with the limited Australian allocation expected to be delivered from the second half of 2027. Ferrari has prioritised loyal V12 and historic manual owners. Getting a car now would be tough.

Beneath its aluminium body, the 12Cilindri uses a chassis of cast and extruded aluminium components, claimed to be 15 percent more torsionally rigid than the old 812 Superfast. Its wheelbase is 20mm shorter than that car, while active flaps beside the rear glass can be seen working to balance downforce and drag.

Built in Maranello, the 12Cilindri competes in rarefied front-engined GT territory with the Aston Martin Vanquish and Bentley Continental GT. Yet neither of those vehicles replicates the Ferrari’s six-speed interaction.

We approached the first test of the 12Cilindri Manuale at the Balocco Proving Ground in Italy knowing that this wasn’t a conventional, mechanical manual.

The question, instead, was whether the solution at hand is sufficiently enjoyable to overcome the gnawing knowledge that it is, at heart, a simulation of a genuine experience.

How does the 12Cilindri Manuale drive?

On track, it’s a stunning thing – but it takes some surprising mental adjustment, even for an experienced road tester.

Fire the V12 on the brake and the 12Cilindri Manuale defaults to automatic mode. Depress the clutch pedal on ignition and it will summon manual from start-up.

It’s then a more straightforward matter of sliding the lever into first gear’s crisp detent, find the rather deep bite point of the clutch pedal, and pull away.

The clutch itself requires 10-15 kilograms of force to operate, yet the V12’s silky, low-rev tractability makes the process unexpectedly simple.

A sensor reads clutch pedal travel and commands hydraulic engagement of the DCT’s actual clutch packs. Springs, cams, and rollers generate pedal resistance, while precision-machined steel mechanisms create opposing force in the lever and metal-on-metal ‘clink’.

Smooth shifts in the 12Cilindri Manuale do depend on your left foot and right hand working together. Poor technique can cause lurching, bunny-hopping or even stallling.

But where Ferrari draws the line is at damaging the vehicle. A locking solenoid blocks prohibited shifts so you can’t do something like accidentally selecting second gear at an engine-destroying speed.

This decision removes anxiety, but it also kills some of the strange allure of knowing you are fully responsible for keeping a truly unforgiving manual in check.

But the magnificent 6.5-litre naturally aspirated V12 always keeps you on your toes. Developing 610kW of power at a heady 9250rpm, and 678Nm of torque at 7250rpm, the engine has a 9500rpm rev ceiling and loves chasing the upper range.

It pulls cleanly from low revs, then delivers an intoxicating rush of sound and power near the top end.

Ferrari’s 2.9 sec 0-100km/h claim is achieved with the DCT operating in its automatic mode, and the brand acknowledges that human-operated manual shifts won’t ever equal that time.

The rest is classic big Ferrari vibes. The 12Cilindri deploys double-wishbone front and multi-link rear suspension configurations, adaptive magnetorheological dampers, and independently actuated rear-wheel steering.

The electronically assisted steering rack is wonderfully light, allowing accurate replacement without contrived heft. There is little body lean, but if you get greedy with the front end on corner entry, the nose will pull a touch wide.

Respect its limits and the slightly rear-biased balance makes the Fezza surprisingly approachable.

How is the 12Cilindri Manuale’s interior?

You sit in the same handsome, leather-and-cabon-clad cockpit as any ‘ordinary’ 12Cilindri, except that the bespoke centre tunnel contains the reason this car exists.

The gorgeous, exposed shift gate has the familiar polished metal appearance (and sound) of a traditional Ferrari manual. Designers used the 599 as the tactile reference, and the tiny, illuminated shift pattern is a clever concession to modernity: orange for manual, white when in automatic mode.

Buttons for drive, neutral and reverse sit behind the lever for automatic operation, while the centre console and pedal box have also been redesigned around the new interface.

Otherwise, this is a technically well-equipped Ferrari rather than a cabin benchmark among GT cars.

A 15.6-inch digital instrument cluster sits ahead of the driver, accompanied by a 10.25-inch central touchscreen and 8.8-inch thin passenger display. Apple CarPlay, Android Auto, and wireless charging are supported, and our test car had a 15-speaker, 1600-watt Burmester stereo.

The technology isn’t the focus for obvious reasons, and it does get the job done. But the materials and driving position impress more than the clunky software.

Buyers can opt for Comfort or Racing-spec seats, with exclusive six-groove upholstery patterns, rich leather-and-Alcantara combinations, and extensive Tailor Made colours.

There are just two seats in here, though there is some space left behind the pews for storage of smaller items, supplemented by a 270-litre boot.

The final verdict

The Ferrari 12Cilindri Manuale is an elaborate compromise from a marque that usually prides itself on being uncompromising.

Its customers asked for a conventional manual to make a return. Many of them said they’d accept reduced power and torque if that was necessary.

Ferrari said “no”. Maranello insisted that a return to three pedals could not make the V12 slower on paper. So, it engineered an incredible manual interface for its existing dual-clutch gearbox instead.

Whether that trade-off was necessary will be debated for some time.

We came away from our Balocco test with two thoughts that don’t mesh perfectly together.

Intellectually, this is an extraordinarily sophisticated imitation of a mechanical shift. It isn’t completely real, and you do know that: the lever doesn’t move selector forks and safeguards prevent destructive downshifting decisions. That never totally leaves your mind.

Yet Manuale By-Wire is easily satisfying enough to get past that gnawing truth, we think.

The clutch work is real, and consequential. The gate feels and sounds superb, and the car rewards co-ordination far beyond the engagement of pulling a paddle or pressing a button.

Add the glorious V12, light steering, and lovely balance, and you have a genuinely fantastic driver’s car for the well-heeled and fortunate.