The Ferrari Purosangue has finally been revealed but will only be sold late next year.
Just about every performance car manufacturer has an SUV. Porsche got the ball rolling TWENTY years ago with the Cayenne. Later, we got the Lamborghini Urus, Aston Martin DBX, the Maserati Levante and a few other very luxurious vehicles from Rolls-Royce and Bentley that have no business going that fast. Now we finally have a competitor from Ferrari – the Purosangue.
The Ferrari Purosangue is, for all intents and purposes an SUV. However, the closest Ferrari come to admitting this is by saying that it adopted a completely different layout and innovative proportions compared to “so-called crossovers and SUVs”. So it COMPETES against SUVs, but it was done differently.
To be fair, they have done things differently compared to their chief rivals. For one, this is the only performance SUV to feature a naturally-aspirated V12. What’s more, that engine is mounted behind the front axle for a supercar-like weight distribution of 49:51. The gearbox is mounted rear of the engine, but sends its output to a Power Transfer Unit (PTU) in FRONT of the engine for a unique take on the all-wheel drive driveline.
The 65-degree V12 in here displaces 6.5L and has an output of 725PS at a screaming 7,750rpm. The torque figures are impressive too at 716Nm, with 80% of this coming in at lower revs. Driving all four wheels is Ferrari’s F1 Dual-Clutch Transmission with 8 forward speeds.
This combination is enough to send the 2033kg Purosangue from 0-100km/h in just 3.3 seconds and upwards to 310km/h. Not bad at all.
As far as practicality goes, this is perhaps Ferrari’s best effort yet. It has a boot space of 473 litres and a 100 litre fuel tank for GT-inspired journeys. The Ferrari Purosangue seats 4 in a 2+2 configuration as old as the Prancing Horse’s legacy. Although this is the company’s largest ‘GT’ class car, it is built on a completely new chassis that ensures uncompromising rigidity. The lower chassis structure is made from high-strength aluminium alloy, while other parts of the bodyshell have carbon fibre and high-strength steel in their construction.
Just about every opening into the Purosangue is unique. The hood is front hinged, the rear doors are rear-hinged and the aluminium rear hatch features a unique gooseneck hinge for a unique form on the upper spoiler area.
There are plenty of other talking points, but I think Ferrari have got a winner on their hands. Some may bemoan the fact that they’ve finally succumbed to market pressures, but Ferrari is now a stand-alone public listed company and it has to make money for its investors.
I for one think they did their first ‘SUV’ or whatever they want to call this bodystyle, in the most Ferrari way possible. I mean, just look at all their competitors. They all share parts or R&D with other brands and still charge insane amounts of money for the exclusivity of their brand image. The Ferrari Purosangue is a thoroughbred in every aspect. Read more about it here.
