Key Takeaways
- Ferrari’s patent aims to improve the sound & performance of its V8s without violating emissions regulations.
- The new exhaust can adjust sound based on driving mode, swapping aural quality for higher aerodynamic efficiency at high speeds.
- Specifically designed for front-engine RWD twin-turbo V8 sports cars.
Ferrari isn’t quite ready to replace the Roma, but when it does, it may be able to give that F154 3.9-liter twin-turbo V8 a more evocative sound than ever before – with improved aerodynamics to boot. CarBuzz has discovered another awesome patent to give us all hope for the future of the combustion engine, with Ferrari filing for a clever new exhaust system at the United States Patent and Trademark Office.
2024 Ferrari Roma Spider
- Base MSRP
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$277,970
- Engine
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3.9L Twin-Turbo V8 Gas
- Horsepower
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612 hp
- Torque
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561 lb-ft
- 0-60 MPH
-
- Transmission
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8-Speed Dual-Clutch Automatic
- Drivetrain
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Rear-Wheel Drive
The basic premise is that the invention magnifies the principles of an adaptive exhaust using a clever aperture that the exhaust doesn’t always flow directly to; when it does, there’s a lot more volume but also a lot more potential performance. You may want to prepare a beverage before embarking on this journey with me.
A significant component in the judgment of a high-performance sports car is the “quality” of the sound emitted by the exhaust system, which is an extremely important sensory feedback during the use of the car at its limit.
Why The Idea Is Necessary
Along with providing the highest performance, Ferraris must have emotive soundtracks, and although Maranello’s engineers have done a fine job so far, they note that emissions regulations requiring the fitment of gasoline particulate filters (GPFs) have severely impacted the aural quality of vehicles whose intakes and exhausts have both already been muffled by earlier emissions regulations that made turbocharging inevitable. The patent goes on to say that noise regulations have further hampered Ferrari’s efforts to provide “an exhaust noise that is natural and suited for the sports use of the car.”
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You get the sense reading this that the Italians aren’t happy to be deprived of their screaming V8s and V12s. But rather than whinge about it over pasta e vino, those engineers have been hard at work finding a way to give turbocharged V8s much more volume without evading legislative requirements.
Specifically, the idea is intended for use in a front-engine RWD sports car, and that’s because an aero-focused element needs space that wouldn’t quite be possible with a mid-engine/AWD configuration, as you’ll soon see. Ferrari has other ideas for improving aero on mid-engine cars. Why not a front-engine V12? Probably because the 812 replacement is expected to continue breathing freely.
How It Works
We should make it clear that nowhere does the patent indicate bypassing, excluding, or cheating catalytic converters, GPFs, or any other emissions devices – that’s a German specialty. The patent indicates that in normal use, such as on start-up or in a city, the exhaust would be diverted through a relatively small but sufficiently sized channel into a chamber with a labyrinth – patent lingo for a silencer. This silencer exits into a larger chamber shaped like a trumpet. The patent-heavy and indomitable Koenigsegg Regera is a great example of using unconventional exhaust shapes to generate a unique sound, but any adaptive exhaust uses similar principles to modify its sound.
But in the Ferrari patent, this trumpet-shaped aperture has incrementally adjustable flaps on the top and bottom, facing each other. These flaps are right at the exits of the exhaust pipes, themselves towards the bottom of the vehicle near the floor. The silencers would sit behind each of the rear wheels, but the trumpet-like exhaust exits would be channeled to the middle of the car.
Whether the exhaust gasses pass through the silencers or not, the flaps would be capable of – at least partially – affecting the volume and quality of the sound, but at higher speeds, one could bypass the silencer altogether, tuning the sound in small increments across the rev range. This is similar to how the Koenigsegg Agera’s so-called “rocket” catalytic converter could divert air past the pre-catalytic converter needed to clean the gasses on startup. This reduces backpressure, increases performance, enhances sound, and keeps lawmakers happy.
Last year, this author learned that the placement of an exhaust exit can affect the aerodynamic principles of a car, and having seen a Porsche patent for an aerodynamic muffler, it initially seemed Ferrari’s invention might be similar. Stuttgart’s idea was focused on space-saving, and to a degree, so is this. As mentioned earlier, Ferrari doesn’t need to make space for an engine or AWD components, and that’s because the patent wants to leave enough space to house a massive diffuser between the rear wheels.
Where it gets interesting is that the lower of those two flaps at the exit of each exhaust could be used as an aerodynamic element. While the regular exhaust flaps before the silencer and these incremental flaps would all adjust sound based on drive mode in regular use, Ferrari says that above 93-111 mph, the car could decide to adjust the angle of the lower exhaust exit flaps to reduce the trumpet effect and create a shape that enables faster evacuation of low-pressure air under the car, thereby sacrificing some aural drama for higher increased aerodynamic efficiency.
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Will The Ferrari Active Aerodynamic Exhaust Reach Production?
Presumably, Ferrari can come up with a suitably catchy name for this tech – Ferrari Straight-Pipe Aerodynamics, perhaps? That might be confused for Maranello’s existing Ferrari S.p.A. legal name, but regardless, with the death of the combustion engine receding further and further into the distant horizon as more customers choose hybrids over EVs, Ferrari is making the most of existing breathing room in emissions legislation. It’s worth noting that such a system would only truly be effective at the speeds you’d want to achieve on a circuit, and we doubt Ferrari will ever stop making track-only vehicles, but yes, this could well enter production someday.
Patent filings do not guarantee the use of such technology in future vehicles, and are used as a means of protecting intellectual property. Such a filing cannot be construed as production-intent.
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News Summary:
- Ferrari Develops New Exhaust System With Active Aerodynamic Functionality
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