5 Reasons The Ferrari Amalfi Could Be The Best Car The Company Makes
A new car from Maranello is always a big deal, but in some ways, the new Ferrari Amalfi – replacement for the Roma – has almost slipped out unnoticed. It’s not only the last car standing with the company’s 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8 as everything else leans into fancy V6s and dramatic V12s, it’s also the least powerful car in its range, and probably the least showy too.
And yet, at first glance, it might just be the most appealing thing Ferrari makes right now. Here are five reasons why.
It hasn’t got silly power
Ferrari Amalfi – side
Don’t get us wrong – 631bhp is still a lot. It’s enough for the Amalfi to hit 62mph in 3.3 seconds and max out at the magic 200mph mark. But it’s only a 20bhp gain over the old Roma, which means the Amalfi is less powerful than a Porsche 911 Turbo S or Aston Martin Vantage.
And that’s fine. No matter how much active chassis tech you throw at a car – and the Amalfi has lots, including the latest versions of Ferrari’s ABS Evo and Slip Slide Control systems – there’s a point at which adding power starts to be met with diminishing returns, especially in a rear-wheel drive car like this. Let’s face, it nobody’s going to be taking their Amalfi on a track day, so Ferrari deserves some praise for resisting the urge to absolutely pump it full of power.
It’s very pretty
Ferrari Amalfi – rear
Ferrari, with the possible exceptions of the Purosangue and polarising F80, are generally knocking out good-looking cars at the moment, but the Amalfi might be the best of the bunch.
Then again, its many-holed front grille, complete with a radar sensor crudely plonked in the middle, wasn’t for everyone. The Amalfi tidies this up with its faintly 12Cilindri-inspired nose, and also gives the rear a treatment similar to that of the 296 GTB. It’s not overwrought or in-yer-face – it’s classy, and that’s something that a lot of modern cars are missing.
It has a much better interior
Ferrari Amalfi – interior
Ah yes, the favourite subject of modern car journo grumbling. But a sensibly laid-out interior can make a huge difference to what a car’s like to live with, and the entry-level Amalfi – a Ferrari people might actually use from time to time – clears up a lot of the sins of the Roma.
For a start, the central infotainment screen is far nicer integrated, but more importantly, there are proper buttons on the steering wheel again, not the Roma’s rubbish haptic controls. Mind you, all these years after the feature debuted on the 458, we’re still not sold on the idea of operating the indicators via buttons on the steering wheel.
It should sound better
Ferrari Amalfi – rear detail
An asterisk here, because we won’t be able to say for sure until we’ve heard an Amalfi in person. But it’s getting harder and harder to make cars sound good, thanks to noise regulations – we’ve currently got an Alfa Romeo Giulia Quadrifoglio on test, and after nine years on sale, stricter noise rules have muted its once magnificent V6 to the point where it may as well be an EV on startup.
Ferrari says it’s worked hard to make sure the Amalfi sounds as much like a Ferrari as it should, without falling foul of these rules. It has a new silencer design, and an active bypass valve that uncorks a bit of extra noise depending on how you’re driving. Again, we’ll be the judge of this once we’ve heard it.
It has a proper name
Ferrari Amalfi – front
Small thing, this, but Ferrari’s recent names have been a bit hit and miss. Okay, the 296 GTB and F80 both continue the theme laid down by their predecessors, but they’re hardly sexy names, are they? 12Cilindri will inevitably be butchered in the Italian-to-English translation, and don’t get us started on Purosangue, which means ‘Thoroughbred’ – big talk for the first SUV the company’s made.
But Amalfi? Yes. Not only does it roll nicely off the tongue, but it’s named after a desperately pretty part of Italy – surely appropriate for arguably the closest thing in spirit to its great grand tourers of yesteryear that Ferrari currently makes.
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