You, I don’t love you. Yes yes, you, the Purosangue, with your air of self-confidence, your aluminum alloy body and your oversized wheels. All eyes are on you, wide-eyed, and all you see is you in traffic.
You are long (4.97 meters), wide and tall. Too high, in any case, for a Ferrari.
But what does “Féfé” do? SUVs? Devil no! Internally, we don’t even assume you: we frown when we hear these three letters and we define you as a “four-door saloon”. But of course !
Me, you remind me more of a Berlingo than a berlinetta. It’s true, I’m exaggerating a bit. A lot, even.
But my bad faith is equal to the incredible change you mark in the history of Ferrari; like the first Jaguar break or the first diesel at Porsche.
We thought your coat of arms was insensitive to trends; you are finally onlya response to market requirementsdominated head and shoulders by SUVs.
And you will be, no one doubts it, a commercial success coupled with a nice financial blow. Moreover, we are talking about your price? Nearly €400,000accompanied by a penalty of €50,000.
My dear Purosangue, you carry a pretentious appellation (“pure-blood”) as well as a Ferrari logo, and you have equipment never before seen in Maranello; glass roof (optional) that darkens on demand, Burmester audio system with 21 speakers.
You also benefit from inflatable front seats for perfect support, electrically reclining and heated rear seats, Alcantara upholstery made in Europe and composed of 68% recycled polyester.
Ferrari even offered you downhill speed control and, to my knowledge, it’s the first time we’ve seen that… on a berlinetta!
At home, once on board, everything is beautiful and innovative but, like your range sisters, you allow yourself some pranks in terms of ergonomics. No, but what an idea to place the turn signal controls in this way!
And the red button used to start your engine has also disappeared. Damage. However, with you you can take friends in the back, on one of the two independent seats, where there is almost as much space as on board a Skoda Superb; it is sumptuous.
It is also possible to consider a detour to the furniture or household appliance store; once your electric tailgate opent, the luggage compartment cover and the passenger compartment partition are placed under the floor of your boot, while your rear seats fold electrically.
In terms of loading capacity, a BMW station wagon does not do much better! And, above all, my dear Purosangue, you have five doors. But you do that very well.
Your rear doors are cleverly camouflaged and, when they come to life, a theatrical touch emerges from the present moment. You make almost as much effect as a model with so-called “butterfly” doors… And access on board is very easy regardless of the place visited.
All that is all well and good, but we expect something else from a Ferrari… Because turning into an SUV is take the risk of trivializing your behavior.
Personally, I find no magic in traveling in a Porsche, Maserati, Bentley or Lamborghini SUV. It’s fast, efficient and showy but, apart from that, their price is going down dizzily on the second-hand market, and we don’t find the ingredients that forged a legend.
With you, given the myth that accompanies your coat of armsI fear that disappointment awaits us at the first crossroads…
But you blew me away, because you have a unique “trick”: an atmospheric V12, in the front central position.
The kind of mill that has become extremely rare, but tasty, jovial, captivating, melodious, singular and fantastic. Which uses the cylinder heads of the 812 Competizione, delivers 111 hp per liter of displacement and 6.5 liter cube. Do your math.
From the moment the first of the candles lights up, the magic happens. In family driving, you purr deliciously, with sonic nuances at each degree of inclination of the right foot.
But when the children have been dropped off at school, you let go, gradually or explosively, depending on the charge exerted on the detonator.
We’re not even talking about your performances, which are obviously terrifying, or the sensations that come from your accelerations. Your soundtrack combined with the scrolling speed of the images made me think of paradise.
Electric cars, so pleasant on a daily basis, will never come close to your emotions.
In addition, your flexibility, your ability to adapt to each situation and your roundness work wonders, as does your robotized 8-speed transmission, which causes magnificent explosions between gears.
And you don’t even break your ears on long journeys, at steady speed. One detail, however; it’s wrong – little Greta will be mad at me – but I disconnected your system Stop & Startwhich cut off the song at every stop, like a commercial page in the middle of the Beatles.
Then, at times, I accelerated a little. And not just in a straight line. You’ve proven to be easy to get along with, always up for and sometimes gone, at the rear axlewhen I anticipated the go-around a little.
For that, however, you have to provoke yourself, turn completely to the right the famous Manettino placed on the steering wheelto activate the most permissive driving mode and, possibly, disconnect the electronic assistance (never perfectly off, by the way).
With your winter tyres, you even turned out to be a player. Your longer wheelbase than a Smart serves progressiveness, your front/rear weight distribution of 49/51% plays in favor of balance, your steering rear wheels benefit stability and your all-wheel drive promotes traction.
But it should still be specified that your front axle, capable of receiving up to 100% of the engine torque depending on the grip conditions, can only be driven in the first four gears, and not beyond 190 km/ h.
In short, all that, I really appreciated. Loved it, even. What I liked less, my dear Purosangue, are your brakes.
If they offer a lot of bite and have fortunately never let me down, the stroke of the pedal, which operates electronically and without mechanical linkage – as on the 296 GTB – a carbon-ceramic deviceseemed to lengthen during the descent of the mountain pass, in which you guided me at high speed.
This type of driving and this road profile do not go well together, it is true, but with more than two tons of Ferraris to brake, it’s a bit confusing. Maybe your designers aren’t used to such heavy berlinettas…
On the other hand, for engineers who started from a blank slate and little used to cars of this kind, they have concocted a well-calibrated suspension which, moreover, uses a solution hitherto unknown in the world of production cars.
Supplied by the Multimatic company and developed with Ferrari, your system uses active dampers, oil-freewhich even make it possible to dispense with anti-roll bars here.
The principle ? A worm, mobile, rotates at the heart of an element mounted on ball bearings to cushion the fund. This screw is controlled by a motor to adapt the amplitude and the stiffness of the suspension to the driving conditions as well as to the driving program chosen.
A world first which makes it possible to annihilate any unwelcome body roll, but which requires its own 48 V electrical network and a dedicated cooling system.
Nevertheless, you turned out to be much more comfortable than expected, with the only imperfection a few trepidations.
My dear Purosangue, your technology and your services honor you. You might be an SUV, or something like that, and some can always judge you on your physique. I won’t blame them for that.
But you are a delight, you behave like a real sports car and distill emotions that only a few exceptional cars can offer. I could talk about you for hours.
But my chief editor suggested that I “keep it short” so as not to tire our internet users. Maybe he doesn’t like you. Me, yes. With your self-assured air and your oversized wheels, I love you very much…
Ferrari Purosangue test – our opinion:
It’s a bit of an SUV, but it’s also a kind of extraordinary sedan and an accomplished sports car.
If it marks a turning point in the history of Ferrari, the Purosangue, an unidentified but desirable rolling object, remains a perfectly accomplished model and full of magic. Not a “real” Ferrari in form, but, in substance, if.
All the images of our Ferrari Purosangue test, to be found here
WE love
- V12 “atmos-magical”
- Behavior and Pleasure
- Luxury, roominess and presentation
We love less
- Pricing and ergonomics details
- This is not a “berlinetta”
- Brake pedal feel in extreme driving
Fiche technique (Ferrari Thoroughbred)
- From €384,229
- Cons. during l’essai (l/100 km) : 23.8
- Cons. mixed WLTP (l/100 km) : 17.3
- CO2(g/km)/malus : 393/50 000 €
- Country of manufacture: Italy
- Engine: mid-front, longitudinal, 65° V12, direct injection, 6,496 cc3double FAP
- Transmission: all-wheel, robotic dual-clutch 8-speed
- Power (hp @ rpm): 725 @ 7,750
- Torque (Nm at rpm): 716 at 6,250
- Curb weight (kg): 2,033 (with weight reduction options)
- Long.xlarg.xhaut. (m) : 4,97×2,03×1,59
- Wheelbase (m): 3.02
- Turning circle (m): nc
- Vitesse maxi (km/h) : 310
- 0 to 100 km/h (s): 3.3
- 0 to 200 km/h (s): 10.6
- AV-AR series tires: 255/35 R 22 – 315/30 R 23
- Test tires: Michelin Pilot Alpin 5
- Chest 4 (l): 473
- Front/rear elbow width (cm): 155/149
- Rear legroom (cm): 75
- Tank (l): 100
Ferrari Purosangue: the main competitors
Aston Martin DBX 707, V8 biturbo 707 hp, from €240,504
Lamborghini Urus Performante, V8 biturbo 666 hp, from €262,184
Bentley Bentayga Speed, W12 biturbo 635 hp, price not communicated
Porsche Cayenne Turbo S E-Hybrid Coupe, V8 hybrid 640 hp, from €211,757
Ferrari Purosangue: some more info
The Purosangue project was called F175. The first four-door, four-seater Ferrari, the model stretches almost 5 meters and does not include the rear windscreen wiper: the window is supposed to clean itself thanks to the aerodynamic flow.
Unlike Porsche and Lamborghini, Ferrari does not want not that its SUV does not represent more than 20% of its annual production. Orders have even been stopped to ensure suitable delivery times.
Supplied as standard, a system makes it possible to raise ground clearance by 2 cm at low speed.
From the rear seats, just press a button for the motorized door with antagonistic opening to close on its own.
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