First Drive: Ferrari Purosangue – We drive the Italian brand’s first SUV

At some point a memo must have been issued. According to this all super SUVs should follow the same standard: a twin-turbo V8 engine, torque converter automatic transmission and permanent four-wheel drive, all packed into a stylish but conventional four-door body. This is the formula used by Mercedes-AMG, Porsche, Maserati, BMW, Aston Martin, Lamborghini and Audi. Ferrari, however, did not receive this memo. Therefore, its first SUV, Purosangue, (purosangue, pure blood in Italian) uses a naturally aspirated 6.5 L V12 petrol engine, producing 725 PS and a dual-clutch rear gearbox. Power to the front axle is provided by a two-speed differential gear that only works in conjunction with the first four gears of the rear axle. The rear doors are powerful and rear-opening, providing easy access to a pair of heated, ventilated rear seats that also recline.

And there are TrueActive shock absorbers Spool Valve (TASV) of Multimatic, four-wheel drive and a body that has more aerodynamic tricks than a Formula 1 car. Ferrari knew its first SUV had to be something special and the result would be very useful for garages and other foreign motorcycles with four wheels. , valet or undercover parking.

Bright Star

One could argue that Purosangue is using a lot of borrowed machinery, but that’s a welcome concession when the components come from the 812 Superfast, with which Purosangue shares the F140 V12 dry sump direct injection engine. Here, this shining ‘star’ engine is designed for more low-end torque (80 per cent of its 716Nm peak torque is available at 2,100rpm), but it’s still good up to 8,000rpm, when the tachometer needle goes into the red .

The front transmission is based on the one that debuted on the FF and is located away from the front of the engine, with two shafts that allow torque to be applied to the front axle (and allow the two-speed front transmission to synchronize with the first four gears of the gearbox. back). Purosangue’s tall hood, then, isn’t just there for styling effect, given the challenges of fitting a gearbox in front of a V12. Ferrari claims a 0-100km/h time of 3.3sec, which seems reasonable, if not conservative.

For most cars, the screaming V12 is the most defining… feature, but the Purosangue engine is partnered with the suspension, which uses 48-volt electric motors at each end to balance the body perfectly at every turn. Instead of simply reacting to uneven road surfaces, Purosangue’s four suspension blocks compare data every 50 seconds to smooth out any bumps, either raising or lowering each wheel independently. But the system is not really the basis of the car. Electric motors work with conventional springs and fluids, so they don’t do all the work – they just provide timing support to improve overall performance.

One piece

It’s almost impossible to explain how well the system works because we have to visit a neighborhood known as a reference frame. As it is, however, a stone that looks like it might cause a sad experience doesn’t. Everything is calm and disciplined, so the Sport’s damper setting is smooth and full of life, and even with the suspension on its softest setting, body control is precise.

The large 22″ front and 23″ rear tires look like they have ATV sides, but at the same time provide instant response. And there are no lateral oscillations caused by anti-roll bars because, quite simply, there are no anti-roll bars. In fact, electric motors would allow the Purosangue to lean into corners if Ferrari planned it that way. When we asked a Ferrari engineer if the Purosangue could theoretically…jump over an obstacle on the road, he thought about it and said “yes”. He left before we could ask about three-wheel drive or Carolina squat (a popular American style with suspension that makes the car do controlled spins).

Since the Purosangue is expected to ride on off-road terrain (and by that we mean some roads), the suspension has ride height adjustments. But a body lift requires the suspension motors to sit, so you can’t ride that way all day. In fact, these electric motors work hard in daily driving that requires their combination of heating and cooling cycles. And although the hardware comes from Multimatic and could theoretically end up in other cars, the software was done in-house by Ferrari engineers, and we’re guessing they don’t share their notes with others. So right now, if you want a suspension, you’ll need $402,050 to order Purosangue. (That’s a base price of $393,350, plus a $5,000 surcharge and a $3,700 fuel tax that lowers the US Federal Reserve’s fuel economy rating to 19.6 L/100 km and 14.7 highway.)

With torque vectoring, active suspension and four-wheel steering, the Purosangue will be able to feel calm and engaged on straightaways, while maintaining turnability as you turn the steering wheel. The rear axle steering system, taken from the 812 Competizione, can drive each wheel independently up to two degrees – so, for example, the outside wheel can help the rear end follow the front in a turn, and Ferrari adjusts the connection or differential of the wheels on the ground of acceleration or deceleration mode to provide stability. At low speeds, such as in a garage, the dash cam screen shows green symbols that predict steering travel, including one on the inside rear wheel to remind the driver there’s a steering wheel there too. This multitude of hardware and software work so harmoniously together that you rarely remember the complexities behind the scenes, the bytes and bits that pass through all those cables, poles and gears that are crammed somewhere under the floor at the right time. . . It all comes together in a big, fast car that looks good on everything.

And … hard

The only time you’re reminded of how extensive Purosangue’s list of detailed systems is when you have to interact with some of them via the steering wheel, where Ferrari saw fit to put, oh, all the controls. Ferrari crammed so many buttons and switches and touch surfaces into the front of the steering wheel that it ran out of room and had to start throwing controls at the back.

Changing the audio source requires you to find a small button behind the right steering wheel speaker, and this is next to the toggle switch that controls track selection, which is also a throw away from the right shifter and right toggle button. a tactile track pad that controls the instrument panel, and a button to activate the wiper and washer, and a manettino that controls the drive modes and suspension settings. “What if I touch this track pad by mistake while diving into Turn 3 at Imola?” you wonder Good question. Ferrari expected this, which is why these buttons don’t respond until you tap them twice to let the car understand your intentions. If we have time later, we will tell you about the left side of the steering wheel!

The only physical control on the dashboard is a circular climate control switch. It is smooth with the dashboard and turns off when you touch it. You then access the settings by flipping a switch and touching its small touch screen to activate the heated seats or massage function. (There’s a matching switch between the rear bucket seats.) To the left and right of the button are a few more crystal-clear touch controls that control specific functions, such as heating the rear window or raising the suspension. The only large touchscreen is in front of the passenger seat, deliberately out of the driver’s reach, the kind of screen you’d expect to find in the middle of the dashboard – here’s a place to type “shiatsu” in “massage options” or a playlist cover display Def Leppard’s greatest hits. The rear seats – instantly heralded as “the best back seats ever to enter a Ferrari” – are accessed via power-retracting doors that operate independently of the front ones. To open the door, you pull and hold a small lever on the side of the door. under a window that looks familiar to anyone who’s driven a Ford Mustang Mach-E, a group of drivers that obviously doesn’t include anyone at Ferrari (after all, the Italian company used the F150 codename. [βλέπε το heavy duty της Ford] for LaFerrari). A button on the B pillar locks the doors. This is a good trick to include when you’re not too concerned about weight – Ferrari quotes a dry weight of 2,033kg in the lightest configuration, but the reality is closer to 2,180kg. Which still gives a better power-to-weight ratio, but only because there is more power.

But on the other hand, this is not a sports car. Yes, the V12 makes a good sound, but it does so with a bit of a thump, which will probably please the tuning houses that will surely make Purosangue owners better. There is a launch control function, but there is no track setting on the manettino. Various aerodynamic techniques – an underbody diffuser, air curtains to allow airflow to the sides of the car, hidden channels and channels on the body – have been optimized for cooling and reducing drag, rather than adding negative lift. Ferrari resisted the temptation to build the F8 Tributo on steroids, and this was the right choice. Two decades after Porsche introduced the Cayenne, we’re finally done with whether sports car companies should build SUVs, but there will undoubtedly be Ferrari fans who will take issue with the company daring to offer a car that many will want. We’re sure Ferrari doesn’t care at all, as the Purosangue is already… printing money and undoubtedly becoming the brand’s best-selling model. And, anyway, people who can spend $400,000 on an SUV probably don’t face the “Purosangue or sports car” dilemma. They will get both. But if, hit … fate, must get only one Ferrari? Then Purosangue is the one to get.