Driven: 1992 Ferrari 512TR Improves the Testarossa Formula
From the March 1992 issue of Car and Driver.
The latest Testarossa is by no means all-new, but Ferrari has improved it in so many ways that it might as well be. In the process, the maestros of Maranello have also made the car more beautiful than its predecessor and have given it a new alphanumeric designator: the 512TR.
Each year, about 4000 exotic cars emerge from the Ferrari works. The factory is a marvel of microcosmic industrial excellence, from its own foundry—where street and racing engines are built—to its state-of-the-art paint system and finally to its spotless assembly lines.
"We buy only the best," Ferrari's manufacturing chief Walter Vignale told us, pointing out the vast concrete pads where three huge Japanese boring machines would soon rest. Vignale, a nephew of the famed Parisian coachbuilder, make a strong case for Ferrari quality. "We not only replace our machinery when it's worn out," he says, "we replace it if we find something better." Tweed-coated and mustached, the trim Vignale looks more like a retired Guards officer than the man dedicated to, in his words, "producing cars that perform and are reliable."
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Consider the 512TR. More development time—and expense—has gone into the updating of this car, which was first introduced at the Paris auto show in 1984, than most small manufacturers have invested in their entire organization. And the result is a car costing about $200,000 that almost seems worth it... if you believe the oft-rendered pronouncement: "With a Ferrari, you are not just buying a car, you are buying art." Only 1300 of these artworks will be built in 1992, with 250-300 slated for North America.
Ferrari had ambitious goals for the Testarossa update: it wanted to improve engine performance while reducing NOx levels, to incorporate an engine-management and self-diagnostic system that would enable the car to meet Swiss and California emissions regulations, and to improve aerodynamics, handling, safety, braking, and ergonomics—especially regarding the shifter. How did Ferrari score? Quite high except for the shifter: Ferraristi will tell you this device makes the car a Ferrari, and ordinary persons will say it makes your arm tired.
From the moment you slide into the hard leather seat—which is adjustable to fit persons of reasonable height if not breadth—you must resist the onset of giddiness that comes with Ferrari operation, a condition brought on by inhaling Connolly-leather fumes and knowing that hordes of otherwise rational people would feel more honored to be in your place than to be lunching at Harry's Bar with the Holy Father.
Turn the key and the engine snaps to life with a surprise: it sounds more like a Ferrari ought to than did the previous model. "The sound is different and is something you will like," Ferrari of North America boss Giuseppe Greco had confided to us on the road to Maranello. He was right. The effort put into the aural rewards of the exhaust note means that persons of all stations will be enriched by the mere passing of a 512TR.
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The source of the sound is the "boxer" flat twelve with the red-painted valve covers (hence the name "testa rossa," which in Italian means "red head"). The engine's 4943 cc displacement is unchanged, but it now delivers a maximum of 421 horsepower at 6750 rpm (up from 380 hp at 5750 rpm). This has been accomplished by more than two dozen engine modifications, led by a redesigned air-intake system and a new Bosch Motronic engine-management system. The compression ratio has been raised to 10:1, there are new pistons, new Nikasil cylinder liners, larger-diameter intake valves, and a redesigned exhaust system.
There's more in the way of technical minutiae, but most important to drivers is the new engine's flatter torque curve in its peak operating territory. Maximum torque of 360 pound-feet is reached at 5500 rpm, and the power levels off between 6250 and 7250 rpm (near 420 hp). Ferrari claims that's good for a 0-to-62-mph time of 4.8 seconds and a top speed of 192 mph. Given room, the 512TR will run all day at 7250, which is 50 rpm below its redline.
The gearbox retains the slotted gates and stiffness we expect from Ferrari but shifts a bit easier thanks to sliding ball bearings and a new angle to the shifter itself. A new single-plate clutch with reduced inertial force makes the other part of shifting gears easier as well.
The four-wheel ventilated disc brakes now benefit from cross-drilling all around, larger front rotors, new ducting, and a new proportioning valve. The new brakes provide stunning stopping power with excellent pedal feel.
Handling, already in the superb range, benefits from a shorter steering ratio (3.3 turns lock-to-lock, from 3.4), new eighteen-inch wheels, and even lower profile tires (which, with the removal of the black paint on the rocker panel, have the visual effect of lowering the car enormously), new shock absorbers, and a number of material changes aimed at reducing unsprung weight.
The cabin has been simplified in upholstery design and in instrumentation location. The center console is gone. Not only have the air-conditioning controls been improved, but the system itself has been given a larger capacity.
Outside, every single thing that the Pininfarina stylists did was worth doing. The front air dam is better integrated, as is the one-piece rear bumper, which now encloses the exhaust pipes in a sculpted opening that harmonizes with the rest of the exterior. The new five-spoke wheels are see-through numbers that some will like (we did), and some won't. Everyone should like the new engine-cover treatment and the removal of the black vent strips from the buttresses that flow rearward from the roof. The styling touches effect a major improvement on a look that had nothing to apologize for to begin with.
We drove the 512TR at the Ferrari test track in Maranello, at the Mugello track near Florence, and on public roads between the two venues. On road or track, the car rewards the driver generously. After we put the 512TR through a full road test, we'll provide an in-depth evaluation. But we can sum up our preliminary assessment in three letters: wow!
Specifications
Specifications
1992 Ferrari 512TR
Vehicle Type: mid-engine, rear-wheel-drive, 2-passenger, 2-door coupe
PRICE
Base/As Tested: $212,160/$212,160
ENGINE
DOHC 48-valve flat 12, aluminum block and heads, port fuel injection
Displacement: 302 in3, 4943cm3
Power: 421 hp @ 6750 rpm
Torque: 360 lb-ft @ 5500 rpm
TRANSMISSION
5-speed manual
CHASSIS
Suspension, F/R: control arms/control arms
Brakes, F/R: 12.4-in vented disc/12.2-in vented disc
Tires: Pirelli P Zero
F: 235/40ZR-18
R: 295/35ZR-18
DIMENSIONS
Wheelbase: 100.4 in
Length: 176.4 in
Width: 77.8 in
Height: 44.7 in
Passenger Volume: 47 ft3
Cargo Volume: 5 ft3
Curb Weight: 3650 lb
MANUFACTURER'S PERFORMANCE RATINGS
62 mph: 4.8 sec
1/4-Mile: 12.8 sec
Top Speed: 192 mph
William Jeanes is a former editor-in-chief and publisher of Car and Driver. He and his wife, Susan, a former art director at Car and Driver, are now living in Madison, Mississippi.