Ferrari is hard at work developing its LaFerrari XX experimental car for launch in early 2015, and word on the street is the car has ditched the regular model’s V-12 engine for a new V-6 whose design is based on the engine powering the Prancing Horse’s latest Formula One car.

The information was first reported by Top Gear, which reports that the LaFerrari XX’s new V-6 shares a design with the turbocharged 1.6-liter V-6 fitted to Ferrari’s F14 T F1 car. A hybrid system is also thought to be present, though it’s not clear if this is based on the unit fitted to the regular LaFerrari or a more extreme one like the Energy Recovery System used in F1. 

A mysterious LaFerrari-like car was spotted testing at Ferrari’s Fiorano test track earlier this year and was said to sound like it was running a V-6. At the time the car was thought to either be testing Ferrari’s new F1 engine or perhaps an engine for a potential Le Mans prototype, but Top Gear is reporting that the engine being tested is the one now fitted to the LaFerrari XX.

If the claims are accurate, it could be that Ferrari is using the LaFerrari XX to develop the engine destined for the 458 replacement, which is expected to be the automaker’s next turbocharged road car and at one point was rumored to be downsizing to a V-6. After all, the purpose of the XX cars is to test new technologies destined for both Ferrari’s future race cars as well as its road cars.

Stay tuned for an update.

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