The new four-seater is also a real sports car with 725 hp and a V12 engine. And yet he is completely out of character.
The new Ferrari Purosangue breaks with tradition as a four-door car.
For a long time, the Ferraristi waited for the new model, which many feared would be an SUV. In fact, the Purosangue has slightly increased ground clearance and all-wheel drive. But Ferrari steadfastly refuses to call the car an SUV or even a crossover.
So be it. Even the model designation Purosangue, in German thoroughbred, does not hide the fact that the car does not quite fit the genes of the Italian sports car brand. The construction as a four-door is most noticeable.
An absurdity. So far, Ferrari has vowed to only ever build two-door models. In 2016, when asked by Sergio Marchionne, the brand’s longtime boss, whether Ferrari would ever build a model with four doors, he is said to have said that he had to be shot before that could happen. Well, Marchionne is no longer with us – free rein for the four-door.
The rear doors are hinged at the back – like a Rolls-Royce.
Ferrari almost had a four-door car in 1981. Designed by Pininfarina, the Pinin was a sleek four-door sedan, but the Commendatore himself, Enzo Ferrari, vetoed it. It was too heavy, with a wheelbase that was too long, to be a real car with a Cavallino Rampante on the hood.
So now the Purosangue breaks the legacy, because of the good money. Because a four-door with a high seating position catches even more mice than the nimble two-seater sports car. But what is behind the new Ferrari, which is offered in Italy for 390,000 euros?
First there is the successful design of a car with four doors, a sloping rear and sporty lines. The overhangs are short at the front and at the back. The wheelbase is more than three meters long, which ensures comfort even in the back seats.
The cockpit looks as classy as the GTC4Lusso.
The front corresponds to the current Ferrari design. the rear with a striking edge and rear window spoiler is somewhat reminiscent of the Aston Martin DBX707. The trunk holds a good 473 liters for a sports car – there has never been more at Ferrari.
The design of the side doors, which open like a portal to facilitate boarding from all four seats, is striking. However, the B-pillar between the front and rear seats remains to improve chassis rigidity. As in the front, the rear seats are designed as individual shells to enable high lateral support. A fifth seat in the rear is not available. The roof of the Purosangue is made of carbon.
When it comes to infotainment, Ferrari counts on smartphone connectivity. This applies in particular to the navigation system, which the Purosangue does without: “When designing the navigation system, we quickly realized that we couldn’t keep up with the up-to-dateness of a smartphone with the maps,” says Marketing and Sales Manager Enrico Galliera.
The roof is made of carbon for weight reasons.
It is powered by a new 6.5-liter V12 petrol engine that delivers 725 hp. Those are real sports car figures if you stay with the petrol engine. Electric cars should soon be able to easily achieve these values. The naturally aspirated engine is coupled to an 8-speed dual-clutch transmission, which enables the gears to be changed particularly quickly – automatically or manually using the steering column paddle.
The power is directed to all four wheels as in the GTC4Lusso model, but the engineers have redesigned the torque distribution to the front and rear axles. The positioning of the engine behind the front axle and the transmission behind the rear axle also ensures perfect balance. In technical jargon, this design is called a “transaxle”.
Another simple two-speed gearbox in front of the engine provides additional power to the front axle, it works at speeds of up to 200 km/h. The maximum speed of the Purosangue is only reached at around 315 km/h.
There has never been more space on the back seats of a Ferrari.
The chassis has all-wheel steering and electronically controlled, i.e. active, suspension and damping. In this way, cornering stability, maneuverability and optimal coordination of the car are guaranteed at all times. The Ferrair Pursangue thus meets the modern standard of high-performance vehicles.
But so much technology has its price: Almost 400,000 francs for a Ferrari is the second highest price after the SF90 model series. A lot of money for a “family carriage”. The demand is still high – all the more so since the Italian manufacturer limits the production of this dairy cow to 3000 copies per year in order not to dilute the exclusivity of the brand.
The first lucky ones who have already been able to get their hands on a Purosangue will receive their thoroughbred car in Europe before mid-2023. And if it is not to be called an SUV or crossover, perhaps one could call it a station wagon.