Ferrari Says the 296 GTB's V-6 Sound Is One of Its "Biggest Achievements"

Photo credit: Ferrari
Photo credit: Ferrari

Ferrari's switch to V-6 power is big news. The Italian supercar maker has always been associated with fantastic engine noises, and the V-6 isn't exactly the most popular engine configuration for sound aficionados. Most of us here at Road & Track were worried the switch, introduced in its newest 296 GTB supercar, would come along with a disappointing exhaust note that wouldn't live up to the prancing horse badge. According to chief technical officer Michael Leiters, though, there's nothing to stress about.

"During development [we found] it sounds like a little 12-cylinder," Leiters told Road & Track in an interview leading up to the 296 GTB's reveal in Maranello on Thursday. "So it’s quite brilliant sound. This is one of the biggest achievements we had during development, because with six-cylinders you have less combustion, so it can’t be compared with an eight- or a 12-cylinder. It’s really impressive."

How did Ferrari manage to generate a sound good enough to convince its executives? It's not just one aspect of the engine, but many smaller changes that added up to something satisfactory. "There are many elements you have to consider to design sound," Leiters says. "The ignition order, the combustion itself, the architecture, the lengths of the tubes, the positions of the turbos, etc. We decided through simulations and tests, to have a single exit exhaust for more level and more volume, but also [to improve] the quality of the sound."

The 120-degree angle of the engine is a major driving force for the noise, but it's not the main reason Ferrari went with the design. This V-6 is all about packaging. Leiters wanted the lowest center of gravity possible, and it was this angle that beat out everything else. Yes, even a fully flat-six design. Why? Well, because you can tuck the intake manifolds onto each the side of the engine without having to go underneath, the entire package ends up having a lower center of gravity than a fully flat 180-degree six-cylinder engine. If you're thinking about just the basic block and heads, yes, the flat-six wins out. But once you start adding turbos, exhaust manifolds, intake manifolds, and everything else, it's the 120-degree V-6 that takes the cake for lowest central weight.

Photo credit: Ferrari
Photo credit: Ferrari

Of course, getting a V-6 with a 120-degree angle to work correctly at the power levels Ferrari wanted wasn't an easy job. "[Getting the engine to run right] was a big challenge," Leiters told us. "The NVH (noise, vibration, and harshness) and behavior of an engine with 120 degrees was very difficult. We don’t have a counter-balance compensate for the vibrations. We have only the crankshaft, and that is leading to vibrations that are really really difficult to manage. We worked a lot on how to robust the structure. This is important not only because of the mechanical structure but also the thermal stress on the material."

That second part is due to the power output. Ferrari claims this V-6 has the highest specific output of any production car engine ever, at 218 hp per liter. "[The power] puts a huge huge stress on the cylinder heads," Leiters says. "We developed new alloys to resist this thermal stress. We’re very happy to still have our foundry here at Ferrari to help develop these technologies during the production process."

As of this writing, no one outside of Ferrari has heard the sound of its revolutionary V-6 engine. Leiters understands the importance of getting it right. "[The customers] care a lot," he tells us. "Sound is one of the most important reasons to buy a car and to enjoy the car. We are always surprised how appreciative and how demanding our customers are regarding the sound. It’s a focus in development."

All that's left now is to judge for ourselves.

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