Ferrari officially unveiled its Le Mans Hypercar at the end of October and in so doing provided some initial information on its powertrain. The car combines a 200 kW electric front wheel drive system with an internal combustion rear wheel drive for an overall output capped by regulation at 500 kW.
Initial studies considered V12 and V8 engines before the selection of a V6 turbo was made. In fact, according to the project’s technical director Ferdinando Cannizzo V6 was “the natural choice” partly due to feedback to road car development. It is known as the 499P representing its individual cylinder capacity plus P for Prototype.
The engine in question is based on that of the 296 GTB twin turbo. That was the first ever Ferrari road going V6. It is a compact all-aluminium twin overhead camshaft, 24 valve unit with direct injection. Bore of 88 mm and stroke of 82 mm provide an individual cylinder displacement of 498.7 cc [‘499’] and a total displacement of 2992.4 cc.
The bank angle is 120 degrees, providing smooth running even fire plus the scope to house its twin turbochargers within the valley (‘hot side inside’). It was designed to run to 8500 rpm developing over 650 bhp. Where the 296 GTB road car is a plug in hybrid the GT3 race version for 2023 drops the electrical drive by regulation.
According to Ferrari sports car racing director Antonello Coletta the GTB/ GT3 engine is the base for the Hypercar 499P engine but “we developed each part because [the Hypercar V6] is completely different from the road car engine”. Ferrari gives the example of the installation; the Hypercar engine is fully stressed unlike the road car engine hence the block cannot remain stock.
The Hypercar engine will drive the rear wheels through a seven-speed Xtrac sequential transmission while the front wheels will be used for regenerative braking. By the time of the official unveiling a pair of 499Ps had amassed over 12,000 km in testing. Subject to homologation the car will make its debut in the Sebring 1000 mile WEC opener next March. Ferrari is running the car in cooperation with AF Corse.
