Ferrari 599XX Evo

Scope of this guide

This guide is scoped to the Ferrari 599XX Evo package, the evolution kit that Ferrari announced at the Bologna motor show on 30 November 2011 for the track-only, front-mid-engine, rear-wheel drive 599XX with its 6.0L V12 naturally aspirated engine. Ferrari offered it to clients in its XX programme for the 2012 and 2013 seasons. It is not a guide to the original 599XX of 2009, which has its own guide, and it is not a guide to the road-going 599 GTB Fiorano or 599 GTO. Ferrari's own name for the upgrade is "the 599XX with new evolution package", and many sources call it the Evoluzione. The Evo is an upgrade to an existing car, not a separate model, so an advert that says only "599XX" can describe a car with or without it.

We have not driven this model for this article. Nobody outside the programme can easily do so, because the cars are not road legal and were kept and run by Ferrari at its own track events. Everything here comes from three cited sources: a reprint of Ferrari's Bologna press release on Supercars.net, PistonHeads' report of 1 December 2011, and the government recall checker. We also read PistonHeads' video report from Suzuka (26 March 2012) and its report on a 2012 charity auction (11 September 2012), Ultimatecarpage's specification page and Wikipedia, and we say where each is used. Ferrari's own website returned an access error when we tried it, we did not work around that, and we used the reprint instead. Prices are history, not valuations.

The figures at a glance

• Engine: 6.0L V12 naturally aspirated, the 5999 cc unit of the 599XX, front-mounted. Ferrari's release says the Evo gains power through new side exits for the exhaust, not through a larger engine.
• Power: 740 bhp at 9000 rpm. Ferrari quotes 750 CV, a metric horsepower figure, and says that is 20 CV more than before at the same 9000 rpm. We converted 750 CV at about 0.986 to get roughly 740 bhp, which matches Ultimatecarpage and a PistonHeads article that both print 740. PistonHeads' report of 1 December 2011 printed 750hp, the CV figure unconverted, and Wikipedia prints 730 hp alongside 740 PS, which looks like a mixing of units. Our stored catalogue figure was 730, which is probably the earlier car's metric figure.
• Torque: 700 Nm at 6500 rpm. Ferrari's release says maximum torque "has been increased to 700 Nm". PistonHeads gives 516 lb ft, which is the same figure in imperial units.
• 0-100 km/h: 2.9 seconds. Ferrari's release gives no acceleration time. Supercars.net prints 2.9 seconds as a 0-60 mph figure, not 0-100 km/h, and we found no source that prints it as a 0-100 km/h time for the Evo. We keep 2.9 seconds as our stored 0-100 km/h figure, so a true 0-100 km/h time would be a little longer if the 0-60 mph reading is right. Treat it as an outside estimate, not a Ferrari claim.
• Top speed: 315 km/h. Supercars.net prints 196 mph, which is the same figure. Ultimatecarpage prints 303 km/h for the Evo. Ferrari did not state a top speed in the release, and the Evo has a slightly shorter final gear ratio, so the two outside figures are unresolved.
• Drive: rear-wheel drive through the six-speed paddle-operated gearbox, with the engine ahead of the cabin.
• Weight: Ferrari says the car weighs 35 kg less than before. Supercars.net gives 1,486 kg and Ultimatecarpage gives 1,310 kg. Those cannot both describe the same basis, so we give no single figure.

What the Evo package changed

Ferrari's release says the package brings improved chassis dynamics from an active aerodynamic package integrated with the car's electronic controls, plus new Pirelli tyres, more power and 35 kg less weight. The centrepiece is an active rear wing based on what Ferrari calls an "opening gap" concept. Two flaps with Formula 1 style profiles rotate electronically to shift downforce between the front and rear axles. The system logic uses steering wheel angle, longitudinal and lateral acceleration and vehicle speed, and it is tied into the stability control, ABS, SCM suspension and F1-Trac systems, which Ferrari says were recalibrated. There is also a modified front splitter and a new rear diffuser with a larger surface area. Total downforce at 200 km/h is 330 kg with the flaps open and 440 kg with them closed. PistonHeads gives the same numbers at 125 mph. Ferrari says the car laps its Fiorano test track in 1 minute 15 seconds. PistonHeads says that is a second faster than an FXX. Supercars.net says it is two seconds faster than the original 599XX, which fits the 1 minute 17 seconds Ferrari claimed for that car. These are manufacturer claims for a factory car and not a benchmark for a customer car.

Dating the package

Our stored start year was 2012. The package was announced on 30 November 2011, with PistonHeads reporting it the next day. Ferrari says it was available for the 2012 and 2013 seasons, and the first official shakedown was at Ferrari Racing Days at Suzuka, reported by PistonHeads on 26 March 2012. Ultimatecarpage says introduced in 2011 and produced in 2012. We have used 2011 as the start year and found no end date, so the end year is empty. A car described as a 2011 car is not necessarily an Evo, because the upgrade could be applied to an existing chassis.

How many were built

The count is the weak number. Supercars.net says only 29 of the 599XX were made and adds that it is not known how many owners took the Evo package, guessing fewer than 29. We found no Ferrari statement. We therefore treat 29 as a reported tally for the 599XX as a whole and leave the Evo count empty. A seller's claim of "one of N Evos" is a claim to verify with Ferrari.

What owning one meant

The 599XX Evo is not a car you take home. PistonHeads reported in September 2012 that, because the car is not road legal, Ferrari looks after it and transports it to circuits for the owner under its Corse Clienti scheme. Supercars.net says the XX programme gave each owner six Ferrari-run track test days with engineers collecting data, and that the Evo extended that arrangement. It also says owners could use the cars at events Ferrari did not run, but only with a Ferrari team present. We could not confirm either point from Ferrari, and we found no public source on service intervals, parts prices or running costs. We do not invent any, and anyone quoting a figure is estimating.

Prices and sales

All of these are history. Supercars.net gives about 1.75 million dollars for the original car and 250,000 dollars for the Evo package, then a further 230,000 dollars for the active rear wing in one place, while elsewhere it says the upgrade and the wing together cost 500,000 dollars. Those figures do not reconcile, and none comes from Ferrari. PistonHeads reported that an Evo sold at a Ferrari charity auction for earthquake relief in the Emilia-Romagna region in June 2012. The winning bid was 1.7 million dollars, about 1.1 million pounds at the time, and the buyer was enrolled in Corse Clienti. Ultimatecarpage lists later sales on its page, including 2,536,250 euros in 2026 and 3,305,000 dollars in 2025, but we did not check that each was an Evo, so do not use them as a valuation.

What to check before buying

• Confirm the package. Ask Ferrari to confirm in writing that the Evo upgrade was fitted to the chassis, when, and by whom, rather than relying on an advert or a livery.
• Ask for the full programme history: Corse Clienti records, track days attended, and any factory work, including the active rear wing and its electronics.
• Ask whether Ferrari accepts a change of owner and on what terms, since the car is tied to a programme and not a normal sale.
• Check the legal position in writing. Nothing we read describes a road registration route for these cars.
• Get a specialist inspection of the V12, gearbox, carbon-ceramic brakes, active aero actuators and bodywork, since much of the car was developed for the programme.
• Ask which tyres are fitted and how old they are, since the package was introduced with new Pirelli tyres.

Recalls and the DVSA check

We ran no check, because we are not looking at a specific car. The government page says you can check a car for safety recalls with its registration number or, without one, with the manufacturer, model and year of manufacture, and that you will be told by the manufacturer of any recall for non-safety reasons. A track-only 599XX Evo has no road registration, so the registration route will not apply, and we cannot say whether the make, model and year route lists it. The checker is a tool for vehicles used on the road, and a clean result would not say anything about a Ferrari service campaign. We found no recall notice for the 599XX in any source, and absence from our sources is not a clean bill of health. For a car like this, ask Ferrari directly whether any technical bulletin applies to the chassis.

About the photograph

The picture at the top of this page is a Wikimedia Commons photograph by Alexandre Prevot, used under its CC BY-SA 2.0 licence, showing a red car numbered 18 in a garage, taken in September 2015. Its Commons description gives a chassis number and the number 18 for a 599XX Evo, and we could not confirm that independently. We cropped it to our format and removed the photographer's watermark by cropping, and no other edit was made. It shows the shape only and does not tell you the specification of an individual car.

Verdict

The Ferrari 599XX Evo package is a 6.0L V12 naturally aspirated track car with 740 bhp, 700 Nm, a quoted 2.9 seconds to 100 km/h and 315 km/h, rear-wheel drive and front-mid-engine, with active aerodynamics and 35 kg less weight than the car it upgrades. The power and torque come from Ferrari's own release, while the acceleration, top speed and weight come from outside sources that disagree. If you are shopping for one, confirm the fitted package, secure the factory history in writing, and treat every number above as a claim with the caveats we have given. We have not driven it, so use the sources and a proper inspection to decide.