Alert: a new Ferrari with a badge you can actually pronounce!
After mouthfuls like Purosangue and 12Cilindri, it’s a relief to meet the new Ferrari Amalfi, named after the posh holiday destination on Italy’s southern coast. And that’s far from the only piece of common sense you’ll find in the new Roma-replacing coupe.
It has also quit the power wars. While the latest Aston Martin Vantage develops north of 650hp and the next Porsche 911 Turbo is set to breach 700hp, Ferrari has only added 20hp to the Roma’s 3.9-liter twin-turbo V8. As a result, the Amalfi develops 631hp and goes from 0-100kph in a manageable 3.3sec. That’s almost sensible these days. Keep your foot down and you’ll pass 200kph in nine seconds dead, and top out at 322kph. Easy does it.
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There’s nothing revolutionary about the mechanics. Just fettling. The Amalfi keeps its eight-speed twin-clutch gearbox that drives only the rear tires. There’s no hybrid system or complicated active all-wheel drivetrain. Ferrari says it has lightened the camshafts and tweaked the exhaust so the V8 feels revvier and zippy, then beavered away on the driving modes so there’s a wider spread of moods to choose between.
This is an entry-level Ferrari, after all. A gateway to the kingdom. Wet and Comfort mode are apparently more relaxed than in the Roma, so newbies don’t get scared. Meanwhile, the aggression in Sport and Race has been amped up, so keen wannabe ‘piloti’ feel even more heroic while sixth-generation Side Slip Control keeps them shiny side up.
Speaking of, the bodywork is apparently all new, with only glass carried over from the Roma. But the Amalfi has had some tweaks that might prove controversial. Not so much at the back, which now has sterner-looking taillight surrounds and a neater rear wing with three positions on offer, generating up to 110kg of rearward downforce.
No tradition-breaking down the sides, too: Curvaceous haunches and smooth flanks make for an elegant profile. And the old hood’s slightly embarrassing power dome has been ironed out. But the front? That’s...going to take some getting used to.
Ferrari’s design boss Flavio Manzoni isn’t a fan of cars with ‘faces.’ He doesn’t want you to see headlights as eyes and a grille as a mouth. That’s why the F80 and the 12Cilindri wear that black blindfold to create a minimalist ‘visor’ effect.
The Amalfi borrows some ideas from the Purosangue’s front to hide the parking sensors more neatly than the Roma did. Slashes in the headlights help channel air where Ferrari’s wind-tunnel boffins decreed. But the result is a car with a tricky-to-read expression. It’s like looking into the cold, lifeless eyes of The Stig. Who might not even have eyes.
So it’s more smoothly styled and supposedly un-terrifying to drive (we’ll find out if that’s true next year), and the name doesn’t require a linguistics degree. But the most sensible design choice in the Amalfi? That’s to be found inside.
Yes, Ferrari has finally seen sense, listened to owners (and us), and brought back buttons. No more horrid touch-sensitive controls on the busy steering wheel...though they have been used for the mirror adjusters. Ah, well. Maybe they’ll sort that next time.
Owners dismayed at the current touch-sensitive engine start can now have a proper button just like the good old days, though the rest of the Amalfi’s interior remains fully digitized. No physical climate controls, a new 10.25-inch landscape touchscreen, and the optional show-off-to-your-passenger display all feature brightly. Apple CarPlay now lives in the middle, so you don’t have to choose between a map and a rev-counter.
In fact, Ferrari has totally rethought its 2+2-seater’s cabin, dispensing with the Roma’s steep waterfall dashboard for something wider and more spacious-looking. Don’t spec too much carbon inside: You’ll miss out on an anodized aluminum ‘bridge’ console.
If you like gorgeously machined metal, crouch down next to the carefully milled wheels. And drool. Spot the material removed from between the outer tips of each twisted spoke, to save weight. Each one is an engineering marvel. Think about that before spec’ing them in black. And curbing them.
The Amalfi will arrive with its first customers in early 2026, and they’ll each have paid somewhere north of €260,000 (P17.3 million before taxes) in return.
So, plenty of time to debate the big questions. Is the Amalfi pretty enough, or did you prefer the Roma? Should other carmakers follow Ferrari’s ‘that’s enough horses now’ example on power? And have we—at long last—finally passed the low point for annoying interiors? Welcome back, buttons. We’ve missed you…
More photos of the Ferrari Amalfi 2026:
NOTE: This article first appeared on TopGear.com. Minor edits have been made.
