Gargnano, Italy – Driving a Ferrari Purosangue for a ski day in the Dolomites as the northern Italian sky clears things up: If the plan is to whisk spectators around in their ski boots, the Purosangue is immediately the fastest, most desirable gondola on Earth becomes . Now, all of it is $398,350, plus roughly $50,000 to $100,000 in options, and you’ll also have a companion and adoration to have fun on the slopes of Aspen, Chamonix, or the Campiglio Dolomiti di Brenta in Italy. Can ferry Moncler-clad kids out of nowhere. Just know that you may still need a roof rack, despite driving history’s first Ferrari SUV.
Now, if you’re still whining about Ferrari making an “SUV,” please stop: You sound like the grumbler who’s still shaking fists at Porsche Cayennes, Alpha Stelvios, and Mustang Mach-S . Maybe you are the same irritable one. Look, primitive explorers started flipping about 25 years ago, about the time the world started flipping for SUVs. The breed has changed and evolved so often that the old derogatory “SUV” barely describes most of today’s car-based crossovers, which are closer to hatchbacks and wagons than Hummers and wagoners. This is certainly the case with Purosang.
Here in Italy, stylish Ferrari executives speak only briefly at the catch-all word “crossover” before acknowledging the designer shoes. And one look at this Ferrari’s lightly raised silhouette, or the red-painted valve covers on its naturally aspirated V12, makes it clear that the Purosangue is more of a style-smearing wonder wagon than an SUV. A second glance, this time behind a pair of exotically contoured rear seats in the muddy cargo area, suggests a hatchback—at 16.7 square feet, it’s smaller than theoretically every subcompact SUV autoblog Cargo tested. This still makes it the largest trunk ever found in a full-production Ferrari, and while Ferrari has a storied history of 2+2 models, including the most recent GTC4 Lusso, that “+2” usually means But there are two custom suitcases. or in rare circumstances, the limbless son of a divorced Monaco playboy. So in another Ferrari first, the Purosangue legitimately summons humans to the (heated, reclining) rear seats, and without stretching the wheelbase and spoiling its provocative front-engine, shark-snout proportions.
The solution is a bravura pair of rear-hinged suicide doors that open or close fully with the tug of an exterior tab or the press of an interior button. A single, massive rear hinge supports each open-mole portal. Once aboard, 6-foot adults get a proper perch, although their heads are partially inside the window cavities bordered by the headliner. Yet, after 75 years of Ferraris, this is the first one that lets owners think about bringing adult friends and family over to enjoy a fantasy ride or dinner.
A cheeky ally appears on our media drive in the Lamborghini Urus Performante, but the Italian one-upping’s effort only illustrates how easy the choice would theoretically be (more on that later). The Urus is fast and brutally capable with 641 horses versus Ferrari’s 715, and it costs $133,350 Less To start. But the Lambo looks like a banged-up hippo (or a gussied-up Audi Q8) next to Ferrari’s sleek Snow Leopard. Plus, the Purosangue features a 6.5-liter, naturally aspirated, hand-built Ferrari V12, not the twin-turbo V8 sourced from Audi and Volkswagen Group. Purosangue in Italian means “whole breed” or more literally “pure blood”; It is a name that is not without merit. Throw in the first application of Multimatic’s new active suspension, Ferrari’s trick three-speed front transaxle, four-wheel steering, and an encyclopedia of F1-derived technology found on previous Ferraris, and you get the idea that this is more than the usual Ultra. Is more- Luxury SUV.
Inside, a slim console divides the two rear seats, which have no five-passenger capacity. The console integrates a cool pop-up rotary knob with an embedded screen, replicated on the dashboard, that manages climate control. Up front, that knob outlines a dual-cockpit layout that eschews any center screen. It focuses on design, materials and human-centred performance, including a stunning pair of mirror-matching binnacles for the driver and passenger. The extended cabin, surrounded by the aluminum-intensive chassis and weight-saving carbon-fibre roof (or optional electrochromic roof), makes room for the best audio system ever in any Ferrari: the Burmester audio system, in a first collaboration with German audiophiles The brand brings 1,420 watts and 21 speakers, including fancy ribbon tweeters and a subwoofer.
The Purosangue adopts all-digital gauges and HMI from the rest of the Ferrari range, including a 10.3-inch passenger-side screen with expanded functionality. The driver’s screen is dominated by a 1s and 0s version of Ferrari’s classic yellow tachometer that displays the V12 crescendo to its 8,250-rpm peak. But the single screen does pretty much everything Ferrari asks, including phone-based navigation – wireless Apple CarPlay is onboard and wireless Android Auto is coming. There is no onboard sat-nav. Worse, that screen is managed by a fiendishly awkward thumb doohickey on the dramatic carbon-fiber-rimmed steering wheel. It’s as haptic as it is haptic, stubbornly resisting commands or moving past a desired on-screen icon. A simple scroll wheel and switch pad would be an easy improvement. Even settling on a radio station or messing with navigation becomes a worrisome exercise in off-the-road distraction of the eyes. that’s it you No Want a half million dollar, 715-hp “SUV”.
That those 715 horses come from a naturally aspirated V12 is surprising, as many believe the 812 Superfast will be the last Ferrari 12 cylinder, at least without a hybrid. Now it’s Purosangue whose clock is ticking. Remember that Ferrari made nothing but V12 models, from its seminal, 1.5-liter 125S in 1947 to its Dino-badged 308 GT4, which brought the brand’s first V8 in 1974.
Like the 812 and various predecessors, the Purosangue’s glorious V12 sits entirely behind the front axle, and sends power through a rear transaxle. A new eight-speed DCT gearbox trims 12 pounds from the 812’s seven-speed, despite the extra cogs. It matches the gear ratios of the 296 GTB, with short first in sixth and long seventh and eighth for easier cruising and lower fuel consumption. Still, with about 1,000 more pounds than the 812 Superfast and the extra AWD, the Purosangue will be a serious glutton for premium unleaded—it netted me 10-12 mpg in spirited driving. Ferrari puts the curb weight at 4,774 pounds, which is almost 100 less than the Urus.
The Purosangue really drives like an 812 with more lift in its loafers and more poundage around the waist. It reveals that same double-agent persona when you toggle via steering-wheel manetino The Settings: One part GT smoothie, one part ruthless killer who could get by, and its wingman, caught in a jiffy by the police. Ferrari quotes a 3.3-second burst from 0-62 mph (100 kph), 10.6 seconds to 124 mph (200 kph) and a top speed of over 193 mph. Some neck-snapping samples of automatic launch control confirm our galloping progress.
Ferrari has summoned all its predictable chassis magic to make the Purosangue more agile and fun than it has any right to be. Up front, a compact three-speed transmission, less than 7 inches tall, shunts torque between the front wheels to boost traction and reduce understeer and inertia. We head down a snow-covered dirt lane just below the express gondola to the Madonna di Campiglio ski area, which Ferrari has expected to show off Purosangio’s winter prowess. After a shotgun-seat reconciliation with an Italian pro rally driver – yes, the Purosang can certainly drift among the trees – I take the wheel and find immediate grip and a boost of confidence.
The only scary part is wondering who in the real world is going to shovel snow and ice with 22-inch forged alloys at the front and 23-inch forged wheels at the front. A sympathetic look at our dirty Ferrari reveals its myriad air-management strategies. What looks like decorative SUV body cladding is actually composite, floating wheel arches that help smooth air turbulence. A subtle roof spoiler directs air through dual channels, and wipers help clear the rear glass.
Ferrari’s active suspension technology deserves mention, as it has never been tried on a car before. In collaboration with the Canadian gurus at Multimatic – perhaps best known as the makers of the Ford GT – its TASV (TrueActive Spoolvalve) dampers incorporate worm gears and screws inside the dampers. Networked across a vast array of F1-derived systems, the dampers’ 48-volt electric motor adjusts body roll, yaw, pitch and dive in 50-millisecond intervals. This eliminates any need for air springs or weighty, relatively one-note anti-roll bars. For the first time, the body of a car operates on a completely independent, multi-directional control circuit rather than the suspension and wheels. The worm gears and screws respond to handling forces and apply active forces to the body or wheels to counter them, even when the wheels are falling into holes or the suspension screeching on a washboard surface.
Storm into a curve, and the Purosangue automatically lowers itself and smooths out every road imperfection, even as the body stays supernaturally flat. A practical result is that drivers can leave the Ferrari in its softest suspension setting – even on track – with zero loss of performance. It still gets a separate push-button suspension control manetinoAlthough the only reason to choose a firmer setting is because you want to feel more bumps and jolts from your hands.
I try it myself, hoisting the Purosang on the devilish winter switchbacks of Monte Bondone, whose auto-hillclimb legends date back to the 1920s. Skiers on the nearby hills again blindfolded at the approach of their homegrown hero, as the big Ferrari hooks up four winter tires – required by Italy’s seasonal regulations – and takes off like a madman. As always, the V12 has to take a breath before it can sprint, because its lungs aren’t filled with turbocharged air and fuel. The solution is to put the engine in its good place, and then that’s all la dolce vita,
The backside descent proves too desolate, and it’s time to rock: Purosang blasts along its salt-crusted downhills at 130 mph, 12 cylinders zigzagging to its intoxicating redline. On these steep, tricky slopes, I mentally thank the brilliant brake-by-wire system inherited from the 296 GTB for its ability to rein in this weighty beast. On the latter section of the Autostrada, I let it fly, LED shift lights flashing like a Christmas tree on the rim of the steering wheel.
Rest assured, then, that this is a real Ferrari; One that offers everyday space and versatility the FF two-door Shooting Brake and its GTC4Lusso successor couldn’t quite deliver. It also has decidedly more power and performance. And where Lamborghini, Bentley and Aston Martin quickly built enough SUVs to make them brand best-sellers, Ferrari pledged that Purosang would be limited to no more than 20% of total production. This means about 2,000 copies per year for the world, almost all of which are intended for carrying cards. tifosi With a history of owning a previous new Ferrari. is understandable. Must be rare.
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