Ferrari Roma explained

The new Ferrari Roma coupe will join the prancing horse line-up in just under six months, slotting into a range that already includes a pair of front-engine V8 grand touring models in the form of the Ferrari Portofino drop-top and GTC 4 Lusso T coupe.

However, it’s not a case of GT overload, according to the brand’s chief marketing and commercial officer, Enrico Gallieri.

Speaking at the unveiling of the debutant in Rome yesterday, Gallieri says the latest model addition will target buyers who may have previously been intimidated by the overtly sporting orientation of Ferrari’s existing offerings.

Due on sale internationally by June 2020, the Ferrari Roma will be priced slightly above the Portofino, which currently opens the range at $398,888 plus on-road costs in Australia, so figure on an entry point of around $410K when it arrives here later next year.

The hooks that Ferrari is counting on to lure conquest customers are the Roma’s more comfort-oriented driving dynamics and sublime styling, which breaks free of the brand’s existing design language.

There’s also a brand-new, twin-cockpit interior concept with a 16.0-inch virtual instrument cluster and 8.4-inch portrait-style touch-screen atop the centre console.

Although it uses the Portofino’s underpinnings as a starting point, the Roma is said to incorporate 70 per cent new components that save weight while boosting torsional stiffness.

Chief technology officer Michael Leiters says the aluminium-rich Roma is about 10 per cent torsionally stiffer than the Portofino, yet its kerb weight of 1570kg undercuts the drop-top by almost 75kg, despite being a larger car.

Leiters says this newly developed modular architecture will serve as a template for the brand’s upcoming front-engine offerings, including the Purosangue crossover and eventual replacements for the Portofino, GTC4 Lusso and 812 Superfast.

The platform can also accommodate a V12 and AWD hardware, so it’s a highly flexible toolkit. According to Leiters, this architecture can accept hybrid powertrains, but he stresses electrification is not on the agenda for the Roma.

The Ferrari Roma shares its 2670mm wheelbase with the Portofino, but it’s 70mm longer at 4656mm and 36mm wider at 1974mm, giving it a substantially beefier footprint on the road.

Although the Roma looks somewhat Aston Martin-esque in images, in the metal the car is unmistakably a Ferrari, even though it ditches the traditional prancing horse shield on its flanks in the interests of visual purity.

Design boss Flavio Manzoni says he and his team strived for simple, elegant lines for the Roma and the result is a car devoid all the scoops and aero addenda worn by the likes of the F8 Tributo and 812 Superfast.

Manzoni still points to a high level of aero efficiency though, aided by an underbody vortex generator and active rear spoiler that sits flush with the body at speeds of up to 100km/h, but then deploys in one of two raised positions as speeds rise.

The Roma’s visual minimalism is underscored by surfaces devoid of superfluous detailing. As an example, a conventional grille is substituted by a monolithic surface that’s perforated only where necessary.

The adaptive matrix LED headlight treatment is also completely new for a Ferrari, with a single daytime running light strip splitting the assembly horizontally.

The rear three-quarter view is undoubtedly the Roma’s best angle and Manzoni concedes as much, saying the mould-breaking new tail-lights were meant to mimic precious stones inlaid into the rear fascia.

“Everyone thought we would make a coupe version of the Portofino, but this is a completely different car,” says Manzoni.

While the Roma’s long-snout/low-tail profile is loosely inspired by past greats such as the 250 GT Berlinetta Lusso, the newcomer’s surfacing and details are thoroughly contemporary as Manzoni says he was loath to go down the retro route.

Ferrari coyly describes the Roma as a “2+ coupe” and what this means in practice is that the rear seats are suitable only for small children.

I’m a modest 1.73m tall yet, even with the front seat pushed well forward, I had to splay my legs at an awkward angle and sit in a crouched position simply to fit in the rear compartment.

Boot capacity isn’t huge at 272 litres (extendable to 345 litres), but it’s sufficient to at least make the Roma a realistic weekend getaway car.

The cabin makes a huge step forward from Ferrari’s existing models, and the dual-cockpit layout’s piece de resistance is the 16-inch virtual instrument cluster, which has a curved surface (billed as a world first) to make for perfect visibility in all conditions.

There’s also a new three-dimensional steering wheel with a manettino switch that incorporates five positions – Wet, Comfort, Sport, Race and ESC Off (the Portofino makes do with just Comfort, Sport and ESC Off settings).

The added drive modes are believed to be in line with Ferrari’s aim to endow the Roma with a broader repertoire and make it more of an all-weather, everyday sportscar.

As previously reported, the Roma’s long snout houses a 456kW/760Nm version of Ferrari’s familiar twin-turbo V8, and in this installation it gains new catalytic converters and petrol particulate filters to make it Euro 6 emissions-compliant.

To compensate for what would otherwise have been a heavily muffled soundtrack, the exhaust system has been completely redesigned, ditching the silencers and introducing new bypass valves.

The twin-turbo V8 is hooked up to the new eight-speed dual-clutch gearbox that offers the added benefit of being 6kg lighter than the old seven-speeder, despite the addition of the extra ratio. It’s also billed as being smoother and faster-shifting.

Ferrari boasts of a best-in-class power-to-weight ratio of 2.37kg/hp (3.22kg/kW) and this yields a sharp 0-100km/h split of 3.4sec, 0-200km/h in 9.3sec and top speed of 320km/h-plus.

All that gives it a handy on-paper edge over the likes of the Aston Martin DB11, Mercedes-AMG GT R and Bentley Continental GT (the Conti GT has a higher top speed but is eclipsed in terms of acceleration).

The Roma incorporates the latest SSC 6.0 (Side-Slip Control) with the so-called Ferrari Dynamic Enhancer, which is essentially a torque-vectoring by brake system.

Leiters euphemistically describes the Roma as “a Formula 1 car in an evening dress”, suggesting it’s equally at home on a racetrack as it is carting its occupants to the opera.

Although all Ferrari models have performance at the forefront, the Roma is said to be more oriented towards the comfort end of the scale than its siblings, and this is one of the key facets that company execs hope will lure customers away from more docile products offered by other brands.

The Ferrari Roma is also said to make advances over its stablemates in terms of active safety, thanks to features such as predictive braking, surround-view camera and adaptive Matrix LED headlights, again in the interests of boosting its everyday usability.

Although this year has seen Ferrari roll out five new models, Gallieri says 2020 will be a year of consolidation to enable the latest additions to gain traction and achieve their full sales potential.