What is the Amalfi?
This is Ferrari’s newest ‘entry-level’ model. Named after a famous town on the southern coast of Italy, this 2+2 GT car replaces the Roma as the most affordable way into the Ferrari brand—a key to the Kingdom of Maranello, if you will. More than a refresh, it is an all-new model in the lineup, and all the bodywork is new to the Amalfi.
It’s a GT Car?
Yes, the Ferrari Amalfi is a genuine grand tourer. It has 2+2 seating, is quite comfortable on long drives, and has a genuinely usable boot. In fact, the comfort aspect of this car is quite shocking. While driving the car on some very rough roads with humps and potholes, it smoothly drove over some really bad bumps that would have had any other performance car crashing on its suspension.
As for usability, the trunk is quite large. With the seats folded down, Ferrari claims that you can fit two slim golf bags in the boot. While we weren’t able to try it personally, based on eyeballing it, it definitely seems like they would fit.
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So it’s a cushy Ferrari?
Yes and no. While it can be cushy, it is still a Ferrari at heart. It still has a 3.9-liter twin-turbo V8 putting out 631hp and 760Nm of torque. This is a slight bump in power over the Roma, and together with the F1 eight-speed dual-clutch transmission, can blast the Amalfi from 0-100kph in just 3.3sec, 0-200kph in just 9sec, and on to a top speed of 320kph.
What makes it cushy or not is the power delivery and how aggressive it can be. This is changed almost instantly through the iconic manettino switch that allows you to choose between comfort, rain, sport, and race.
It’s cushy in the sense that when you look around, you have a great sound system, and comfortable, infinitely adjustable seating that allows you to fine-tune the side bolsters, mid-back lumbar support, thigh support, and everything in between. The suspension can also cope with some really bad roads at speed, all while feeling extremely planted. It is quite un-terrifying to drive when you want it to be.
What is the tech that makes the Amalfi special?
Surprisingly (and thankfully), Ferrari has opted to keep to the basics here. A powerful and torquey turbocharged V8 putting power only to the rear wheels. No hybrids here—just pure Italian horsepower, and we love it. There is something so pure about that direct engine-to-tire connection that makes the Amalfi, and the Roma before it, special and rare in this day and age of electrification.
That being said, it does have a trick—a new brake-by-wire system, which means there is no physical connection between the brakes and the pedal. If you hadn’t told us beforehand, we wouldn’t have been able to tell; it felt so natural. This gave us even more confidence going into corners and over rough roads, as it was so easy to modulate the pedal even with no physical connection to the actual brakes. It was stable, predictable, and had the right amount of ‘feel’ to it; we would not mind if this tech trickled down to more mainstream cars.
Ferrari also dialed back on the touch buttons on the steering wheel. This means that for the first time in a while, we have physical buttons again. The physical start/stop button really is more visceral than the touch-to-start system of the Roma.
So how does it drive?
Stay tuned for our full review.
How much is it?
That would really depend on the specifications you end up choosing. But Ferrari’s local distributor, Velocita Motors, says that prices should start at around P33 million.
