Ferrari Considering Return to Turbo Power

A few years ago only the brave would have bet in favour of BMW using turbo technology for its M cars. Yet today two of Munich's biggest models are force-fed. Similar bets against a turbo Ferrari may not inspire many Tifosi despite this Autocar report all but confirming Maranello's return to turbo charging as well as this previous report - also "discovered" by Autocar - with published schematics of a supposed Ferrari turbo unit.


An engine developer quoted in the report apparently says the main issue with the technology is turbo lag. He says Ferrari will use it at some point but only after this problem has been cleared. Any delay in power delivery is not acceptable to the company. BMW and Porsche have been eliminating lag through the use of twin turbos while others like Mercedes-Benz and Cadillac employed superchargers.

A possible option has been Fiat's new Multiair system but it seems that does not work too well in the upper rev ranges. The good news is that Ferrari's new double-clutch transmission can work up to 10,000rpm making it ideal for its V12 engines.

The iconic F40 was one of a few Ferraris to use a turbo.