I imagine the past couple decades of Porsche and Maserati and Bentley and Lamborghini and even Lotus SUVs have adequately prepared us for this day: A Ferrari SUV. Maybe the idea of it still sounds kind of a like a joke, but it’s definitely no joke. It’s the Ferrari Purosangue and it’s got a front-mid-mounted 6.5-liter dry-sump V12 making 715 horsepower/528 lb-ft of torque, along with some really cool rear suicide doors. For an SUV, this thing sure does look Ferrari-ish, at least.
But before you think that Ferrari is absolutely comfortable and secure with their decision to sell SUVs in exchange for money, they do offer a bit of only very faintly defensive justification for why they’re building such a car, referencing some of their history:
Since the marque’s earliest years, 2+2 cars (i.e. with two front and two smaller back seats) have played a significant role in its strategy. Many Ferraris have made combining benchmark performance with first class comfort one of the pillars of their success. Now, in the culmination of 75 years of leading- edge research, Ferrari has created a car that is unique on the world stage: not only do performance, driving pleasure and comfort coexist in perfect harmony, but it is also a peerless encapsulation of the Prancing Horse’s iconic DNA. This is the reason why the name Purosangue, Italian for ‘thoroughbred’, was chosen.
See? It’s just another 2+2, really! And who said Ferraris can’t be comfortable? And so what if Purosangue literally translates to a creepy-sounding “pureblood?” It looks fantastic!
I think the drivetrain layout is especially interesting. As Ferrari describes it:
The Purosangue, on the other hand, has a mid-front-mounted engine with the gearbox at the rear to create a sporty transaxle layout. The Power Transfer Unit (PTU) is coupled in front of the engine to provide a unique 4×4 transmission. This delivers exactly the 49:51% weight distribution that Maranello’s engineers deem optimal for a mid-front-engined sports car.
So, it sounds like the engine is driving axles from both ends: the front ones via the PTO, and the rears through the transmission and driveshaft. Those driven axles can take the Purosangue from 0 to 62 mph in 3.3 seconds, and double that to 124 mph in 10.6 seconds.
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Ferrari’s press release gives all kinds of exciting details about this V12:
Intake, timing and exhaust systems have been completely redesigned, while the cylinder heads are derived from the 812 Competizione. Huge attention was lavished on improving mechanical and combustion efficiency, employing Formula 1-inspired calibration concepts. The result is that the most powerful engine ever developed by Ferrari for a four-seater car is also the most powerful in its segment, as well as the only one capable of delivering that instantly recognisable Ferrari V12 soundtrack.
To guarantee maximum mechanical efficiency, the rotating masses have been redesigned. The nitrided steel crankshaft was modified to lengthen the stroke and the internal oil passageways have been redesigned to improve oil flow to the big-end bearings. Lower bearing clearance tolerances improve consumption. The coolant and oil pump assembly was also redesigned focussing on the scavenge section to reduce friction and mass thanks to the adoption of smaller diameter rotors and optimising the inlets and outlets as well as the rotor seals.
The valve train timing is all new, while the new finishing process for the camshafts has considerably reduced the surface roughness and the friction coefficient between the lobes, the shafts themselves and the hydraulic tappets.
To optimise the torque curve and ensure a continual increase across the rev range, the geometry of the intake ducts and plenums was revised. The geometry of the exhaust system was also optimised to increase permeability reduce back pressure. There are specific pistons with a redesigned crown to increase combustion efficiency.
The engine’s direct injection system comprises two high-pressure fuel pumps (350 bar) that deliver petrol to the injectors in the combustion chambers. The ignition system, comprising 12 coils and spark plugs, is constantly monitored by the ECU which has an ion-sensing system that measures ionising currents to control ignition timing. It has a single- and a multi-spark function to make the combustion as efficient as possible at all revs. The ECU also controls combustion in the chamber to ensure that the engine is always working at peak thermodynamic efficiency, thanks to a sophisticated strategy that recognises the octane rating (RON) of the fuel in the tank and adjusting the advance to suit. The engine strategy includes a new patented function derived from Ferrari’s Formula expertise that optimises the torque during transient acceleration manoeuvres in the low and mid-range.
Got all that?
Bodywise, Ferrari is using a carbon fiber roof panel to keep the weight low, and it has the largest trunk ever on a Ferrari. There’s also an exciting and mildly silly new term for what we all call “suicide doors” that Ferrari would rather use (emphasis mine):
Redesigning the bodyshell from scratch also meant the designers could incorporate rear- hinged back doors (welcome doors) to make ingress and egress easier while keeping the car as compact as possible.
“Welcome doors.” Come on. That said, they are fantastic:
A really interesting detail of the aero and design is the suspended wing on the hood, called an “aerobridge” by Ferrari.
The purpose of this aero element is to reduce drag and “to generate suction near the evacuation point of the central radiators on the front underbody. This maximises cooling of the central radiating masses as efficiently as possible and also allowed the design of a much smaller radiator intake.” Also, as an SUV, the wheels and higher ride height create more drag, so this and other aero elements are employed to help mitigate those effects.
Other interesting details found in Ferrari’s press information is that there’s a function they call “Sailing” that “allows the engine and gearbox to be automatically decoupled to guarantee greater smoothness in driving situations where traction isn’t required” which reminds me a lot of the “freewheel” functionality you’d find on old DKWs and Saabs and other two-stroke cars so you could coast without burning up your engine, which otherwise would be starved of lubricant. I think the purpose is pretty different here, though.
There’s a full palette of driver-assist systems and other expected modern toys, of course:
The Purosangue offers an impressive array of driver assistance (ADAS) features as standard, many of which were developed in collaboration with Bosch®, including Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC), Automatic Emergency Brake System (AEB), Auto High Beam (HBA/HBAM), Lane Departure Warning
(LDW), Lane Keeping Assist (LKA), Blind Spot Detection (BSD), Rear Cross Traffic Alert (RCTA), Traffic Sign Recognition (TSR), Driver Drowsiness and Attention (DDA), and rear-view parking camera (NSW).
…so if you’ve somehow bought a Ferrari so you don’t have to really drive your Ferrari, I guess you’re in luck, despite your ridiculous decision-making process.
The Purosangue will start at $390,195 and it seems 2,000 people have already pre-ordered one. Oh, and Ferrari has a request to all of us about this thing, from Chief Executive Officer Benedetto Vigna:
“Please don’t call it an SUV, because it isn’t. It’s a Ferrari.”
I don’t know about that, Benny. If you don’t want it to be called an SUV, then maybe you shouldn’t have made an SUV [ED Note: I’d say this is more of a crossover, TBH – MH]. It’s still a Ferrari, though, I’m with you there, and it’s quite lovely and seems very fast and fun. So maybe just relax and let people call it an SUV.
You lost me at “…it sounds like the engine is driving axles from both ends: the front ones via the PTO, and the rears through the transmission and driveshaft.” That’s what I thought, too, but it flat doesn’t make sense, unless I’m dimmer than usual today, which is entirely possible. Front and rear wheels need to rotate at the same speed — less differential effect and traction control intervention — and, with the system as described, that seems to leave a very tiny speed window for possible AWD use.
Not that it matters, as I can neither afford nor would buy this thing. I’ve had years and years to figure out what “Ferrari” means to me, and this ain’t it. I have no doubt the Nuova Ferraristi will adore it and generate the kind of enthusiasm that dealers and current management hope for, but there will be some Geezers who think it is a dumb, unattractive idea, and I’m one of them.
Past AWD Ferraris have had a front transmission that I assume is clutched and has the same gear ratios as the main trans, but only the first few gears. Not really sure how this one is set up.
I suspect it has the weirdo 2 speed auto driving the front axle. The one from the Ferrari FF – or some variation of it.
As the owner of a two-stroke ’67 SAAB 96 that I race in Lemons under the team name Freewheelin’ Pikers, I appreciate the link to a 22-year-old saabnet.com BB post as the go-to description of freewheeling. Thanks!
Great team name there
>> Random Reader’s Seal of Approval — while noting that anyone naming their team that neither seeks nor needs anyone’s approval
Thanks! The name made a bit more sense during that brief period when the automotive part of Saab was owned by Spyker:
https://www.murileemartin.com/UG/LWA12/LWA12-UG-085.jpg
Of all the ‘Uber SUVs’ this is probably the one I dislike least, perhaps mainly because it appears to be a hatchback in all but name. Is there a clear definition of when a hatchback becomes a crossover becomes a SUV?
This is effectively a GTC4Lusso with a taller body – that AWD system is identical. I would take a Lusso 100% of the time over this, but I’m hardly the target demo.
It’s still a truck. Ferrari made a truck. ????
Wouldn’t be the first time. Go ask Alain Prost about it…
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I’m going to be honest…I thought that I’d hate this, and as a concept I DO hate it, as high performance luxury SUVs are the pinnacle of wasteful, conspicuous consumption. But now that I’ve actually seen it? I think they did alright.
It looks like a Ferrari, inside and out. It isn’t a weird mutant thing like the Urus (which you might not know is a Lamborghini if you debadged it), it’s not some unwieldy, boxy mess with classic design cues slapped on top like the Cullinan or Bentayga…honestly if you lowered it and made it 10% smaller it would probably look like one of their shooting brake designs, which I’m personally fond of.
For what it is, which is an inherently compromised, ridiculous vehicle, it looks fine to me. If I saw one without knowing anything I’d certainly know it’s a Ferrari, so job well done, I guess? I’m sure the sort of 1%er mutants who buy this type of stuff to be seen in it will love it.
I have to disagree about the Bentayga, it really is just a raised Bentley Continental. Although being a Bentley and looking like a Continental, it’s still another SUV that’s all the same
Totally with you — It’s an FF on stilts and I’m surprised that I like it!
Nice hot hatch
I really appreciate that Ferrari actually tried to make the Purosangue stand apart from it’s competition and seem like less of a lazy cash grab ala Aston Martin DBX. Super happy that the V12 will live to see another day and the styling isn’t as bad as I had feared, but the suicide rear doors make up for it. Even though these will pretty much be only driven by Kardashian-types to drop the kids off at private school or Rappers, of which I am neither, I’d probably pick the Purosangue if I had to buy one of the ultra-lux SUV’s.
If I had a few hundred grand to spend on a car, I’d buy one of those Toyota 2000GT replicas Mr Lucky makes in Japan. Fuck buying a 400k road hippo from Ferrari.
Yeah, but not as cool as this
https://www.barrett-jackson.com/Events/Event/Details/1969-jeep-wagoneer-custom-jerrari-23710
Random person looking at my car as my passengers exit: “Is that a Ferrari?”
Me: “No, that’s my 2010 RX-8.”
Fancy Charger Hellcat. wonder if the Hellcat cars will get the track hawk awd in the last hurrah. I would definitely like a challenger GT with a V8, any V8, but preferably a 6.2 with 808 HP
Proud owner of both an RX-8 AND a 2yo. The rear suicide doors make a ton of sense for cramming two full rows into an otherwise small 2+2 car. It’s easier to get 2yo in her car seat in the RX-8 than it is in our Wrangler. Back seat passengers have more room too, surprisingly. The B-pillar seems like it would completely remove that utility though…
I actually sort of like it, though part of the reason is that I’m pretty sure that nobody involved actually wanted to make an SUV, so they went kind of weird.
Oof, all the dark lighting they can muster to hide how it looks, and it’s still pretty bad, unless you can somehow manage to drive around with the suicide doors open at all times.
That said, I don’t think all the assistive driving tech is quite so ridiculous on a 2+2 Ferrari – if you’re using it as intended, there might well be long enough stretches of highway that you’re not getting much out of being part of the experience (to say nothing of escaping the gridlocked city you probably work in to afford a $400k car) where it sort of makes sense to let the computer take the wheel until you get to the places you’d actually want to take over.
“allows the engine and gearbox to be automatically decoupled to guarantee greater smoothness in driving situations where traction isn’t required”
… a clutch.
Ferrari claims they have invented… a clutch.
(insert Picard triple facepalm here)
Yes, but Christopher Cross begins playing on the entertainment system when sailing mode is enabled.
Mazda MX30 with a V12.
I came here to say something similar! I was thinking RX-8 mixed with the previous generation Mazda3 but that works just as well.
I don’t think it’s chunky enough to be an suv. It’s maybe a crossover. Or a slightly pregnant coupe. Anyway. I like it. But my wife has always said I have questionable taste. Other than marrying her of course.
Is it just me or are the left hand wheels on the right hand side?
Ready to be on my own with this one, but I like the design, both in and out. It’s way better looking than the Urus or Cullinan. I like that this gives the NA V12 a new lease on life vs. taking the easy way out with a turbo V8. I would buy one if I had a $400K budget for a family vehicle.
Are those windows behind the doors, or just blackout panels? Because if they’re windows, then to me it looks like a wagon…
Check the “welcome door” picture. That’s a window. This is a wagon.
Depends on where the roofline and rear seat end, right? 50% coverage of cargo area?
So suv looks but absolutely no functional advantage over their past 2+2s. It doesn’t even look like the seating position is higher than a car.
All that marketing speak, half of which would not be false if you applied it to a Toyota Camry…
I predict the Urus gets more boost soon.
Proof that not all Italian designs are pure sex.
There’s a good reason why most of those press shots are hiding the lower front clip in shadow.
I’m a luddite but I’m seeing a taycan up front (understandable) and a Mach E in the rear. Love the interior, though.
Actually, “Purosangue” means “clean sandwich”
That would be “Purosangwich”.