Above 650PS

You’d be forgiven for experiencing a sense of déjà vu when it comes to this year’s Above 650PS category. The 2019 Performance Engine category saw Ferrari’s twin-turbo V8 record a healthy victory over its V12 stablemate, with judges placing a Porsche boxer engine in third place. Well, Maranello has managed to pull off the same feat again. The 3.9-litre engine dominated, with the jury’s scores giving the GTB, Spider and Pista derivative a 167-point lead over the 6.5-litre V12 found in the 812 Superfast. The Porsche engine in third position is the turbocharged 3.8-litre boxer from the 911 Turbo, 911 Turbo S and GT2 RS, but as in previous years, Ferrari’s dominance in the high-power output categories is remarkable.

Judge Jens Meiners describes the thumping V8 as “the most powerful iteration of a brutal yet sophisticated engine,” while panellist Chung Hee Ryu applauds “the sum of the latest performance engine technology – the result is great.”

Nor did the long list of superlatives from this year’s judges end there. Sweden’s Hans Hedberg calls the engine “a lovely piece of art”, while the Czech Republic’s Tomas Hyan comments that the highly impressive 3.9-litre V8 is “simply the best, most powerful production eight-cylinder Ferrari ever – now turbocharged with no turbo lag!”

As Hyan points out, the 3.9-litre
is the most powerful V8 that Ferrari has developed, capable of producing as much as 720PS at 8,000rpm and 770Nm of torque at 3,000rpm. With figures like these, it’s hard to believe that some in the automotive industry were sceptical when Ferrari first announced a move to turbocharged powertrains. Indeed, as Hungarian journalist Gabor Szecsenyi notes, “This V8 proves that there’s nothing to be afraid of [when it comes to] turbocharged Ferraris.”

“A piece of engineering like this, with its sound, power and its old-school way of giving us the pleasure we need at the right time, deserves nothing less than a standing ovation,” comments Mexico’s Sergio Oliveira de Melo.