Don't call it an SUV: The Ferrari Purosangue review - Ars Technica

Overview

Don’t call it an SUV: The Ferrari Purosangue review

Unlike previous Ferrari four-seaters, this one is better for humans than cargo.

Details

Ferrari’s two-seat sports cars might be the brand’s identity, but the Italian automaker has always catered to customers who want to bring more than one passenger along for the ride. It started building cars with back seats in the 1960s with the 250 GT 2+2; as the name suggests, the second row was more for occasional use, something that was true all the way through to the 612 in the early 2000s. Ferrari followed with its first true four-seater, the all-wheel drive FF, which adopted “Breadvan” styling. Its first hatchback was still a three-door, though, and slightly more practical for carrying cargo rather than humans in the rear. That was true for the GTC4 that followed, too. But with the Purosangue, the rear passengers have been given something of an upgrade.

For one thing, there is an extra pair of doors, rear-hinged ones that provide direct access to the pair of rear bucket seats. There’s still a rear hatch, so this is technically a five-door. But there’s an immovable firewall between the cargo area and the passenger cabin, and the rear seats do not fold flat. So unlike the 21st century breadvans we have previously reviewed, a Costco run in the Purosangue might be possible, but you’re probably going to want a roof rack if you plan to go skiing, cycling, or anything else that requires bulky equipment. It’s also probably accurate that Ferrari says the Purosangue is not an SUV but an FUV—a Ferrari Utility Vehicle.

Underneath that long hood lives a 6.5 L naturally aspirated V12, but mounted back in the chassis such that this is technically a front-mid engined layout. That contributes to the 49:51 front-to-rear weight ratio, as does the use of a transaxle gearbox for the rear wheels (an eight-speed, dual-clutch box); a separate power transfer unit at the front of the engine drives the front wheels, for this is an all-wheel drive Ferrari. But make no mistake, it’s a substantial one, too, befitting that massive 715 hp (533 k W), 528 lb-ft (716 Nm) engine: 195.8 inches (4,973 mm) long, 79.8 inches (2,028 mm) wide, 62.6 inches (1,589 mm) tall, with a 118.1-inch (3,018 mm) wheelbase and a 4,784 lbs (2,170 kg) curb weight.

Despite that size, it doesn’t take very long for the car to shrink around the driver; earlier this summer, I spent a couple of hours driving another Purosangue around Rome on the eve of Ferrari’s Luce reveal, where it coped quite ably with millennia-old streets. It’s an easy car to drive slowly or in traffic despite its size and power output. The stop-start system works even from cold and is unobtrusive, and your speed is easy to modulate thanks to plenty of pedal travel for the throttle and an engine with sufficient torque that you’ll rarely see more than 2,000 rpm on the digital tachometer if you’re in Comfort mode and letting the eight-speed transmission shift for itself.

Which is something, considering the fact that the engine doesn’t redline until 8,250 rpm. You’ll probably want to be in Sport to experience that; it’s the most extreme of the Purosangue’s settings, for you won’t find a Race mode on the steering wheel-mounted manettino dial that toggles through drive modes, although you will find one for Ice instead. Regardless of the mode, you can choose to change gears for yourself using the large and tactile paddle shifters, either to temporarily override the auto function or in true manual mode, selectable via a switch on the center console, where you’ll also find reverse.

The steering is heavier than something like a 296 but still feels very direct, with good feedback of the road conditions as the front wheels are experiencing them. In Sport, you can feel the chassis control systems and the electronic differentials doing their thing to tighten your line if you’re steering and adding power at the same time. And because there are four seats, you can share the experience with three passengers: The squeals of delight from happy young neighbors getting their first ride in a Ferrari were a real high point of our time with the car.

At least the multifunction steering wheel uses actual physical buttons for most of its controls rather than the near-unusable capacitive touch version that we experienced in the 296. Real buttons that you can use without taking your eyes off the road make it possible to do things like control Apple Car Play while on the move—this appears in the main instrument display directly in front of the driver, and in doing so replaces the digital Ferrari dash with its central tach. Things get more complicated when you want to adjust the seats or the climate, though.

You do this via a rotating controller that pops out of the dash, swiping or tapping its touchscreen display to select the temperature, fan speed, ventilation, or massage for each individual seat. Not so difficult while stationary, but considerably more difficult if you’re on the move, given the small size of the targets your finger needs to aim for. A second dial is found between the rear seats with the same functionality.

While there isn’t a central infotainment display, there is a full screen for the front-seat passenger. Because the screen is heavily polarized (or otherwise filtered), though, I couldn’t ever see what my passengers were doing with it. They can interact with the native media apps, but they can’t project Car Play onto this screen.

Painted in lustrous Rosso Portofino paint that glittered in the August sun, the Purosangue was something of a head-turner; certainly more striking than the yellowy-green metallic example I drove briefly around Rome earlier this summer. But this is a Ferrari, and between the standard colors and various customization programs, like Atelier and Tailor Made, the sky (and your ability to pay) is the limit when it comes to exterior and interior finishes. It’s certainly a Ferrari you could daily-drive, although at 12 mpg combined (19.6 L/100 km) that is perhaps a better task for the battery-electric Luce. But it’s a good way of sharing a V12 with as many people as possible, and I reckon on the right tires it would make quite an effective winter car.

It’s a huge amount of money for a car, but the Purosangue does feel adequately special when you drive it or ride in it.

Starting at

393,350, a Purosangue is significantly less expensive than the EV Ferrari, although our test car’s

576,544 price tag gives you some idea of how quickly the options list can start to add up. It’s also a lot more than you would pay for similarly powerful SUVs from Ferrari’s traditional rivals, like the Aston Martin DBX or Lamborghini Urus, but that’s the way that Maranello likes it.

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Key Takeaways

Don’t call it an SUV: The Ferrari Purosangue review
Unlike previous Ferrari four-seaters, this one is better for humans than cargo
Ferrari’s two-seat sports cars might be the brand’s identity, but the Italian automaker has always catered to customers who want to bring more than one passenger along for the ride
For one thing, there is an extra pair of doors, rear-hinged ones that provide direct access to the pair of rear bucket seats
Underneath that long hood lives a 6