Ferrari Says V-6s May Be Coming, Manual Transmissions Are Dead

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Ferrari debuted the 488 Spider (shown above), the folding-hardtop-equipped variant of the new 488 GTB, at the Frankfurt auto show this week. The two new 488 models are emblematic of Ferrari’s changing strategy in the face of increasingly demanding fuel-economy and emissions regulations, as they have a smaller-displacement, twin-turbo V-8 where once there was a shrieking naturally-aspirated engine. At a private media meeting which we attended in the Ferrari booth in Frankfurt, we learned about some of Ferrari’s next big plans. The short answer: Smaller engines are in and manual transmissions are out.

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Asked by another attending journalist about the possibility of a V-6 engine in a future Ferrari, CEO Amedeo Felisa answered with what amounts to a definite maybe. “What we are doing right now is following a path to reduce emissions,” Felisa said. “For sure, the downsizing of the displacement is one of the ways you can get to that result. [As for] the six-cylinder, will it be beneficial? Probably yes, but I think we have a good path before going to that specific solution.” When asked if such a hypothetical V-6 Ferrari would be a smaller vehicle, Felisa quipped, “Why would you reduce the engine and make a bigger car?” This ostensibly would be the much-rumored sub-488 car, which may resurrect the Dino nameplate.

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Later, Felisa was asked about the possibility of future manual-transmission models in the Ferrari lineup. The exotic carmaker’s response: “Never say no, but today we’ll say no. We have the fastest [automated] gearbox in the market . . . right now, we are not thinking of a manual gearbox.” CEO Felisa continued: “The last Ferrari with a manual gearbox has been the California. We sold three. Which, by the way, the ones that were bought were a fantastic investment. But the client demand was very minimal.”

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Finally, on the topic of whether today’s Ferrari buyer enjoys driving, in the purist sense, the same way that a Ferrari owner did 10 or 20 years ago, Felisa opined, “Yes, in the sense that [. . .] when they buy a Ferrari, they’re looking for emotion. If you look at the evolution of the last 15 years, if you compare the 360 with the 488, the car is totally different. And what we have tried to do is not to ask of the customer a higher level of skill in order to drive these cars. It’s incredible the way we are improving the power, [but we're] not asking the drivers to be specialists or professionals. I think this was the big challenge that the engineers had.”

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I never expected to hear this from Ferrari. But it seems like a very smart move.

 

Well, yes. With a manual transmission one feels like they are more in control of RPM etc. It's part of the idea of "sport." Ferrari did mention, though, that their last last manual transmission vehicle only sold three units. Maybe they don't think it's worth the R&D cost to take that risk again. Or maybe they are seeing a shift in what people consider sporty. Maybe we are seeing one of those "times are changing" milestones.

 

I know exactly what you mean. I used to pride myself on my ability to shift at the right times and do is smoothly. And all the other goodies that the average person didn't know. And with a manual transmission, they could continue to appeal to those buyers.

 

One thing, though, if the automatic shifter is faster than manual, it would wreck (for me) the feeling of superiority that come from manual shifting. And so this becomes like other tech advances, where the fogies are no longer doing it the better way.

I remember long ago, a lot of people's bubbles were burst when a grand prix racer pointed out that they did not brake with their engines. This was followed by a Road and Track article about how this practice started with sports cars to compensate for their weak brakes, and that grand prix drivers considered it an inferior way to drive. Some of my friends were so upset they didn't want to believe it. OTOH, if you didn't have race car quality brakes, it still made sense to use the engine.