Ferrari SF90 Stradale

SHOCK & AWE?

Jas Hayre takes the new Ferrari SF90 for an electrifying drive

Idrove the SF90 Stradale for an hour recently and was impressed with it. The car does feel a little remote and digital, but not so much as to detract from the supercar experience of driving it. It is very easy to drive and extremely quick and sure footed.

The SF90 is very easy to drive very fast. It also has great traction thanks to its AWD system (all wheel drive).

Using Qualifying Mode, the SF90 delivers 1,000hp. In sport and hybrid modes it has 875hp. It can only use the full 1,000bhp for a couple of laps on track before the battery will deplete, reducing power and making the car RWD (rear wheel drive), but carrying the weight penalty of the hybrid system.

On the road, this is not an issue at all as the SF90 regenerated sufficient power to keep the battery sufficiently charged at all times. In this respect, it is identical to the i8 on track versus road use.

I drove it in Qualifying mode + Race mode, with traction control off the entire time. My Ferrari passenger was perfectly happy for me to push the SF90 hard, which made the experience a lot of fun. Deploying 1,000 horses at the press of my right foot, on a road car – that was the stuff of dreams just a few years ago.

Initially I started with e-drive for about 15 seconds though. This makes an unpleasant electronic exterior sound, which was extremely loud. But this was a pre-production car, and I am certain this will be fixed in production cars.

This car was equipped with super grippy Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2 tyres, with wide 315/30 on the rear.

Launch control resulted in the car losing some grip and not staying quite straight, but it wasn’t disconcerting and the car remained easy to control. I tried it a second time with traction control enabled, and it was very quick with excellent traction and also perfectly stable. It feels like instantly going to Warp Speed, yet is very smooth in its power delivery and doesn’t feel brutal. The SF90 is the quickest road car I have driven, from a standing start in a straight line, yet feels perfectly docile at all times.

It’s noticeably quicker off the line than a McLaren 765LT thanks to its instant electric torque combined with AWD. It is so fast that I suspect only a future hybrid or BEV (battery electric vehicle) with AWD will beat the SF90 from a standing start on road.

The SF90’s incredible speed certainly engenders a sense of “awe” at its sheer acceleration and astonishing traction, and the ease with which it deploys 1,000hp on normal roads. But did it shock? It’s certainly electric, but it didn’t really “shock”. Simply because it is so well composed and the traction is so capable.

Like a top of the range Tesla or Taycan, the SF90 awes you with its acceleration off the line. But it’s a lot better than either of those cars, because the SF90 simply keeps accelerating without the usual electric car loss of thrust at high speeds. It’s also very significantly more nimble and responsive of course, being much lighter than those super-heavyweights, as the SF90 is just 1,815kg with fuel.

In photos the rear just looks wrong, but it is unfortunately no better in the metal. The front and front quarter views look fine though, but the SF90 is rather incongruous in its design. It doesn’t have the flowing lines of older Ferraris, or even the new and beautiful Roma. But what it does have is improved and more advanced aero, which might somewhat explain how it looks. The rear view of the SF90 Spider appears better resolved than the coupe.

The SF90 sounds much better than the F8 Tributo, which was a relief. It sounds not too dissimilar to a 488 in fact.

The steering is highly geared but is just right, albeit it lacks sufficient feel and feedback. It is very precise, and the SF90 is easy to place precisely where you want it. It’s better than all other EPAS (electric power assisted steering) systems I have

driven, but nowhere close to hydraulically assisted steering for feel.

Its brakes are capable and not over servoed but completely lack feel. They certainly stop the car effectively.

The SF90 hides its 1,825kg mass very well, and Ferrari have done a great job with the suspension and chassis balance. It isn’t, and doesn’t feel, light however. Perhaps it’s now time for Ferrari to switch to building their cars from carbon fibre, as the carbon fibre i8 is so much lighter despite also being a mid-engine AWD hybrid. Even allowing for the significant difference in engine size, the i8 feels noticeably lighter when driving quickly on twisty B roads.

Its suspension was a little unsettled at speed on bumpy roads, albeit to be fair I was in race mode, and this car did not have the Assetto Fiorano handling pack (which would also make the car 30kg lighter).

The hybrid drivetrain is extremely well integrated, and was effectively functionally identical to the system in the i8, albeit FAR more powerful. But the SF90 disengages the front axle e-motors above 135mph (if I recall the speed correctly), as unlike the i8 it has no gearbox on the front axle. This also means it has “only” 837hp at high speed, and is RWD. It’s more than enough power for any road use of course. The complex drivetrain worked seamlessly, and felt no more “digital” or artificial than it does in the i8. I liked driving it and found it easy and relaxing even when going very quickly.

Forward vision is good but vision out to the rear and over the shoulder is absolutely appalling, with zero rear quarter vision thanks to the blocked off view behind the B pillars. It was impossible to pull out safely and turn left in this LHD (left hand drive) car, without my passenger acting as lookout. A RHD car would have the same problem turning right. The rear mirror view is also very poor, with a very narrow slit to see through.

The seating position has good ergonomics, with all the controls falling easily to hand. I disliked the touch controls though, and far prefer physical buttons, especially on a supercar where you should be able to change settings quickly and without taking your eyes off the road. The manettino remains physical however, and the newly integrated bumpy road setting is an improvement. Cruise control on the wheel, with a physical rocker is an improvement on previous Ferraris (e.g. Lusso, F8). The interior is excellent apart from the overused touch controls.

Ferrari’s high resolution configurable dash display is excellent. The screens did often crash but this was a pre-production car and I am sure the fact that navigation maps weren’t installed played a role in the crashes. The HUD is poor, being small and displaying only speed it adds nothing useful. The 7 year old i8 HUD is significantly better, and Ferrari shouldn’t even have bothered adding this.

I liked the low engine, and also that it is visible. This looked great, as it usually does in Ferraris. Ferrari certainly know how to dress an engine bay.

Luggage capacity is the SF90’s biggest achilles heel. The boot was perhaps 30% the size of the small i8 boot, and the SF90 has no usable storage behind the seats or on a rear shelf. Lack of storage makes the SF90 unusable as a car for two people to go away for even a weekend, or for that matter a picnic. Oddly this makes the stripped out track focussed 765LT a more usable GT car than the comfortable SF90. That’s simply perverse! It would be forgivable in a hypercar or limited track focused special version, but not for a series production road focused car.

Whilst the SF90 does indeed inspire awe with its performance, the only shock it delivers is how unusable it is in practice, solely thanks to its woefully inadequate luggage space.

Overall, if you don’t mind the lack of storage, it’s an excellent car although I felt it failed to deliver value for its £500k price tag. The question now is how it compares to a £200k Artura, both being next generation hybrid supercars.

Jardine Ferrari Colchester

Jardine Sevenoaks arranged my visit to Jardine Colchester to drive the SF90. It was extremely well organised, as is usual for Ferrari events. But what really impressed me was the astonishing line of cars at the dealership.

It is astonishing to walk into a showroom and be faced with a line-up of 288GTO, F40, F50, Enzo and LaFerrari. I must have walked up and down that line of cars ten times. My only regret was only having my phone with me to take pictures. Some of the most iconic cars in supercar history right there in front of me. It was breath-taking.

The dealership also had a number of SF90 cars on show, and a range of classic and modern Ferraris. They even kindly started up the 812GTS in their showroom, which had the usual beautiful Ferrari V12 sound.

I was also pleasantly surprised by how down to earth and friendly the dealership were. They were even happy for me to sit in the beautiful red Monza SP2, which is of course unusual in having no windscreen.

I certainly know where I will be buying my next Ferrari from now.