Trying out the Ferrari Purosangue: It Runs in the Family

The Ferrari Purosangue, the brand’s long-awaited and much-anticipated contender in the luxury SUV (whisper it) sector has arrived in Asia at last. And Prestige is among the first to drive it.

At long last it’s here. Rumoured – and at first stridently denied – in the mid-teens, its possibility was hinted at in 2017 by Sergio Marchionne, Ferrari’s then-CEO, before eventual confirmation of its being in the design stage in 2018. And then a long wait, punctuated now and then by spy shots of pre-production mules and drip-fed micro reveals by the company – among which was the fact it would carry the equestrian name Purosangue, translated literally as “pure blood” but more accurately rendered in English as “thoroughbred”.

I’m talking, of course, about the car that’s ubiquitously referred to as Maranello’s first-ever four-door and, perhaps even more controversially, its first SUV, which was officially unveiled in the autumn of 2022 and went into full production last year (with right-hand-drive models trickling in to Asian markets by the beginning of this year). Not that Ferrari calls the Purosangue an “SUV”. In fact, nowhere in its promotional materials will you see any use of the three initials; instead, you’ll find this description: “a unique car … where performance, driving pleasure and comfort coexist in perfect harmony”, though it’s undeniably sporting, somewhat utilitarian and certainly more versatile than any other machine whose nose and flanks are emblazoned with the Prancing Horse symbol.

And to be fair, it is unlike any other SUV on the road. Yes, it has four doors and four seats, there’s 473 litres of storage space – and even more with rear seats folded – and the roofline is almost 1.6 metres from the ground, meaning you needn’t resort to acrobatics while geting in or out. But otherwise, how many urban tractors can you think of with a silhouette more resembling that of a grand tourer-cum-shooting brake than a small truck? There aren’t any.

As further evidence of Ferrari doing things very much its own way, consider too that long bonnet, which when raised reveals not the usual V6 or, at a pinch, V8 power unit, but instead a mighty 6.5-litre V12, which is set so far back in the chassis for the rear banks of cylinders to be roughly parallel to the front-seat passengers’ knees. No turbochargers, by the way, and nor is there the merest hint of electrification; just 715bhp and 716 Newton-metres of sheer naturally aspirated brute force, with 80 percent of torque available at only 2,100rpm and, at the opposite end of the rev band, a red line drawn above an exhilarating 8,000.

As for the eight-speed dual-clutch gearbox, that’s mounted in classic GT fashion as a rear transaxle, which not so incidentally helps provide the ideal 49:51 front-to-rear weight distribution the engineers were aiming for. And though, like most SUVs, the Purosangue boasts all-wheel drive, its off-road capabilities are, to say the least, limited: in other words, if you’re planning a cross-country yomp over rocks, mud and streams, you’ll be reaching for the Land Rover keys and leaving this one in the garage.

So, we’ll forget the mudlarking and rock-hopping, which only a tiny percentage of SUV owners indulge in anyway, and concentrate on the Purosangue’s other attributes, which are frankly astounding. Let’s start with the styling, which lacks any of the dumpiness that characterises most other automobiles in its class. Although almost 5 metres long and more than 2 metres wide, the car’s heft and height are beautifully masked by a long elegant bonnet, steeply raked windscreen, pinched waist and muscular hips. Think of it as the old GTC4 Lusso (with which it shares some technology), but upsized as if on steroids and with a pair of rear-hinged doors offering unhindered access for back-seat passengers.

And unlike the competition from Bentley, Lamborghini and Porsche, which all share the same basic architecture and a lot more besides – or, indeed, Aston Martin’s DBX, under whose bonnet sits an engine sourced from Mercedes-AMG – the Purosangue plunders no other brand’s parts bins. With exclusivity a key factor at this elevated end
of the market, it’s thus more akin to Rolls-Royce’s Cullinan, even though the two machines are utterly distinct in both character and execution.

Advanced solutions abound, in particular the incredibly complex active suspension system that utilises technology developed by Canada’s Multimatic and even requires its own power supply. Dispensing with traditional anti-roll bars, it employs tiny electric motors that control each damper and are in a constant dialogue with the car’s central nerve system, as the latter calibrates and re-calibrates real-time chassis responses to every dynamic situation. Ferrari claims the set-up lessens roll and pitch by 50 percent and irons out road-surface imperfections to a similar degree – and though I have no way of proving these, I can say that, in tandem with an all-wheel-steering system taken from the 812 Competizione, the Purosangue’s sheer agility and almost total absence of body roll are quite unbelievable (and even more so when you remember it’s almost 1.6 metres tall and, when fully tanked up and with passengers aboard, weighs a good deal more than 2 tonnes). In gears one to four it’s all-wheel-driven, but even then power is mostly delivered to the car’s rear axle, which in a classic GT is exactly how it should be, while the steering can be fairly described as quick, direct and even darty.

With 12 cylinders and 6.5 litres up front, that it’s massively fast is a given; Ferrari’s claimed 0-100km/h time of 3.3 seconds and a maximum of 310 seem both perfectly reasonable and, for a car of these proportions, completely mad – indeed, the sheer accelerative force with throttle pinned to the carpet would be almost terrifying were it not so ridiculously grin-inducing. The gearbox, too, is an absolute joy: it’s almost eerily predictive, while the whipcrack up- and downshifts – and resulting engine barks – are so compelling it’s hard to resist flipping the paddles, even when a change of ratio is quite unnecessary. And all this accompanied by a soundtrack from the engine bay and exhaust system whose heroic crescendos would put Tannhäuser to shame. Yet drive the Ferrari Purosangue gently through town and it’s as quiet (though never unobtrusive) as a church mouse. What a remarkable automobile this is.

I haven’t mentioned the interior, which sets new standards of subtle style and comfort, the latter achieved through four individual seats, each with its own set of controls and each superbly supportive. Finished in black throughout, the test vehicle’s cabin mixes leather with man-made Alcantara and, thanks to the high beltline, imparts a wonderful sense of being cocooned deep in the car. The front passenger gets to play with an information display that almost rivals that on the driver’s side, though sadly – and as I’ve often discovered with Ferraris – finding my way around even the simplest procedure, such as connecting my phone’s Apple Play and Music app, proves a baffling maze. That’s a shame, and for two reasons, the first being that connectivity is de rigueur, as Ferrari has sensibly ditched the inbuilt satnav, and the second that the car is equipped with a superb Burmester sound system – one so good (it turns out, once I’ve eventually got my head around the business of hooking up my phone) that it’s even worth drowning out the operatic engine noises to appreciate. As if to add further proof that nothing’s ever 100-percent perfect, the widespread adoption of soft haptic buttons and switchgear, which even includes the wheel-mounted starter, has me yearning for the simple logic of old-school analogue.

In the grand scheme of things, however, such matters fade into insignificance. Indeed, it goes without saying you’ll be wanting one of these amazing machines, which is genuinely sporting in a way that’s uniquely Ferrari, and wears its utilitarianism lightly. However, as production has been capped at around 3,000 units a year and dealers around the world have already been allocated their slice of the pie, your chances of getting hold of a new car are slim – and who knows what conditions are in place to prevent those who do manage to do snag one from flipping their purchase straight to the pre-owned market, where it’s likely to sell at a hefty premium?

So as you gaze at it while dreaming about ownership, why not get friendly with the Ferrari folks near you? You never know: when the Purosangue’s successor starts rolling out from the factory, say around four or five years from now, maybe one of the next generation of thoroughbreds will be headed to your driveway. Because if this one’s anything to go by, it’ll be well worth the wait. 

Ferrari Purosange

ENGINE 6.5-litre V12

TRANSMISSION  Eight-speed dual-clutch, all-wheel drive

MAX POWER 715bhp

MAX TORQUE  716Nm @ 6,250rpm

MAX SPEED  310km/h

ACCELERATION  0-100km/h in 3.3 seconds 

UNLADEN WEIGHT  2.033kg

PRICE HK$6.758 million

Read more: Kiss of the Ferrari Roma Spider.