Ferrari Purosangue: real supercar with 4 comfortable seats | Road test and video

Ferrari Purosangue tackles its first dynamic road test by choosing Trentino as a playground to answer the question that has been nagging everyone since the announcement: how are you doing? Does it drive like a real Ferrari? Is it a true purebred sports car? .

The answer is yes: hurry to book it, if you can. Why this is the everyday Ferraribecause this is probably one of the last naturally aspirated V12sbecause there is a perfect collaborative work between mechanics and technology and why it is also comfortable and spacious.

There isn’t a sign of electrification for the Thoroughbred powertrain. The V12 is the naturally aspirated classic, it delivers 725 hp, takes up the concept of the 65° angles between the cylinder banks and it sings exactly like a V12.

Beyond the technical specifications, however, the most interesting thing is how this twelve-cylinder fits into the project. Ferrari didn’t take something existing in the range and rebody it to create a new model, but gave the engineers carte blanche to create a real sports car.

It means designing the frame from scratch, it means maintaining thetransaxle architecture with the engine in the mid-front position and the transmission at the rear. It means maintaining the 49:51 weight distribution. All of this translates into a guide that is something never seen on a high wheel carand which makes those SUVs that were dynamically more interesting (Stelvio and Macan) beginners in comparison.

We are not only talking about blistering accelerations (0-100 km/h in 3.3 seconds and 0-200 km/h in 10.6 s), but also an enthralling sound enhanced by an orchestra conductor who tunes all the manifolds exhaust to reproduce the perfect sound.

On the delivery side, there is work behind it which has made this F14OIA a V12 with 80% of its maximum torque available immediately (at 2,100 rpm) and there are 725 HP available to make it sing loudly, all on a displacement of 6.5 litres.

The eight-speed dual-clutch then returns with a more compact clutch that allowed the technicians to install it lower down to the advantage of the center of gravity. On the road it behaves with a similar logic to the 296 GTB: short gears for maximum heart-pounding fun and then the last longer one for relaxed driving on the motorway.

Because this is the Ferrari that certainly doesn’t disdain the motorway, and indeed makes you travel comfortably in four and with luggage.

I want to mention the group suspensions immediately after the engine because they are engineering masterpieces and main architects of the Purosangue driving experience. After working on the chassis, weight distribution and weight reduction with the body and chassis materials, Ferrari had to face one last challenge before making its debut on the road and on the track; the fate of being a high wheel.

The answer came in their usual style, creating something new together with the best partners. This is how independent suspensions were born, each equipped with an extremely miniaturized electric motor.

On the four doors and four seats, the first in the history of Ferrari, there are very powerful muscles that take care of actively managing the way in which the passenger compartment reacts while driving and, at the same time, the way in which the chassis copes with the street. The result is twofold and these suspensions should not be confused with electronically controlled shock absorbers which are “passive” and which do nothing but vary the response to a given situation.

The presence of an electric motor causes a force to be actively generated in the direction of the shock absorber stroke (a recirculating ball screw connected to the rod transmits it). The concept therefore passes from the classic traditional shock absorbers (or from the electronically controlled hydraulic ones) of the passive type, which react to something that happens, to active shock absorbers managed by the Ferrari control logic that anticipate road conditions and driver maneuversand in doing so they change the very behavior of the car.

Driving, the result is impressive for the absence of body roll, for the balance of the car and for how fast the car allows you to go without making the rear passengers feel (too) badly.

When it comes to Ferrari it is difficult to find something wrong, just as it is difficult to put into words the experience of driving such vehicles. With Purosangue, the main concept that I would like to convey is that the technicians and engineers have managed to create a sports car that some might associate with the SUV category, but which has nothing to do with SUVs, not even with the more dynamically engaging that the mass market offers.

Here we are on another planet, and even the costs make us understand that the galaxy we are talking about is different. The magic of Ferrari lies in harmony with which all mechanical and electronic parts work together. There is electronics because there are so many sensors, from the six-axis inertial platform to those that manage the suspension, wheels and car at all times. All this electronics is invisible and perfectly integrated with the mechanical part.

It is not a matter of patching up the performance of a car whose chassis is not balanced because it has to deal with mechanics limited by physics, rather there are sophisticated algorithms created in the service of driving pleasure which seem to read the driver’s mind based on his inputs (steering, steering wheel) and which seem to be able to anticipate the road we are on. They don’t mortify the pilot, but they exalt his intentions.

The result is a high-wheeled car that is sporty and comfortable: it enters corners with steering precision close to that of a berlinetta, while on the road it continues to work to keep us going fast thanks to torque vectoring and active suspension. The four-wheel drive discharges all the power that the conditions allow us to use to the ground, even the most trying ones such as a low-grip surface. And then it comes out with a powerful push, a torque spread very well by the work of this V12 associated with a gearbox with perfect, aggressive and track-level calibration.

As for the transmission, it feels like driving a racing kart due to the changes: short, rapid ratios in sequence that enter one after the other in automatic mode or with paddles on the steering wheel. In no time we are at speeds beyond imaginable with a continuous progression interrupted only by the kicks in the back of the shifting. The addition of the four steering wheels, then, also makes it very manageable in the city.

The goal was to create a real Ferrari that it was usable every day and they succeeded because with Purosangue those constraints in terms of comfort that a super sports car inevitably carries with it disappear when used outside its natural environment, the runway. It’s not rigid, it’s not difficult, but it can be if and when you want, just use the handle. She is not the enemy of passengers, she is not without ADAS and active safety: here the acoustic comfort allows her to transform into a motorway traveller, cradling us with the necessary softness in absorption and giving each of the four adult occupants a lounge experience.

Of course, some compromises remain, or perhaps choices. The first is that of seats: only four and there is no discussion. The second is that of the instrumentation logic which is customizable, but does not have a navigator: Android Auto and Apple CarPlay maps are used to navigate.

The climate control system has a ‘wow’ effect that is in keeping with the times, but takes some getting used to and the selection of independent climate zones (one per passenger) maybe a little distracting. However, Ferrari has offered a way to ignore the problem by delegating this task to the passenger because everything can also be done from the touchscreen dedicated to those sitting in the front right seat (and those behind have their own controls).

All this is then topped off with an impeccable job in making it luxurious and pleasant to look at and touch: every covering is of a high standard, the assembly does not disappoint, the materials are refined (and with the optionals you can fly in hyperuranium) and it is clear that this is a car that does not think with German logic where you have to choose the “x” package to get something extra.

All standard: only the aesthetic customizations are optional and for 7 years Ferrari will cover the ordinary maintenance of the car every 20,000 kilometres, once a year and with no total mileage limits. For a price list that starts at €390,000, one certainly could not have expected otherwise…

The world is constantly changing, and cars are at the center of this storm that rages on all fronts: technology, engines, bodies, design. Ferrari has a legacy that it wants to maintain as much as possible, but this does not mean stubborn against the news. Talking to the men and women of Maranello, it is immediately clear that for them the future is a challenge to be accepted with a smile and without prejudice. So it will be for electrification, so it is for the world of “SUVs”.

Did you need a more comfortable Ferrari with a higher drive? Here it is, but done in Ferrari times and in the Ferrari way, different from all the others and the result of the usual obsessive engineering and mechanical work. Let the purists get over it, also because this is one of those cars that cannot be commented on without having driven it.

The engine is all there, and it’s a naturally aspirated V12 that drives with a roundness that would be the envy of some electrics. The line dares and manages to reinterpret even the classic SUV-style “fascia” in the Ferrari way, which here has the purpose of making the bodywork “float”. There is comfort, even when going fast… in short, a project to which “92 minutes of applause” cannot be avoided, whether we like cars with high wheels or not (here there are 18.5 cm of ground clearance out of a total of 2,033 kilograms dry).

The steering won’t be as direct as a berlinetta, but it’s still a whole other world than what we’re used to driving on beasts, but these are negligible details if we look at an overall project that is balanced and achieves its goal. And on the other hand, the market has proved the Cavallino right: bookings have exploded and it is clear that the Purosangue, for better or for worse, will be a car that will go down in history…

TECHNIQUE

• THERMAL ENGINE: V12 naturally aspirated
• DISPLACEMENT 6.496 cc
• MAXIMUM POWER: 725 hp @ 7,750 rpm
• SPECIFIC POWER: 111 HP/litre
• MAXIMUM TORQUE: 716 Nm @ 6,250 rpm
• Four-wheel drive
• GEARBOX: 8-speed DCT
• EXTRAS: SSC 8.0, ABS EVO, active suspension, F1 Trac, 4RM-S evo, ECS

DIMENSIONS

• LENGTH 4.973mm
• WIDTH: 2,028mm
• HEIGHT: 1,589mm
• WHEELBASE 3.018 mm
• TRUNK COMPARTMENT: 473 litres
• RIMS AND TIRES: 22″ and 23″, 255/35 R22 (front), 315/30 R23 (rear)
• BRAKES: 398 mm discs (front), 380 mm discs (rear)
• WEIGHT: 2.033 Kg (dry)

PERFORMANCE

• MAXIMUM SPEED: more than 330 km/h
• ACCELERATION 0-100 km/h: 3.3 seconds
• ACCELERATION 0-200 km/h: 10.6 seconds
• BRAKING 200-0 km/h: 129 metres
• BRAKING 100-0 km/h: 32.8 metres
• CONSUMPTION: 17.3 l/100 km,
• CO2 EMISSIONS: 393 grams per km (WLTP combined)