2021 Ferrari Portofino M first drive review: M stands for magnificent

When you are a brand like Ferrari, every improve has a selected significance to it. In the case of the 2021 Ferrari Portofino M, even the addition of a solitary letter. The M stands for “modificata,” which in Italian just indicates “modified.” But truly it indicates some thing else: extra overall performance.

For this year, the Portofino wholesale adopts the drivetrain from its wonderful coupe cousin, the Ferrari Roma. The twin-turbo, three.9-liter V8 is a exceptional motor, offering about twenty extra ponies than the outgoing lump. It’s now paired with a new, 8-pace, dual-clutch transmission, all over again just like the Roma — and also like the SF90 Stradale. Which is good enterprise to be in.

In a vehicle like this, the excess electric power just isn’t truly these kinds of a large deal, but the amplified responsiveness of the motor, aided by the modified gear ratios, makes it an amazingly pleasant thing to push. The Portofino M is intended to be on the extra calm facet of Ferrari’s offerings, but after I eventually come across my way out of the Miami doldrums for my take a look at push, eventually on to some open roadways, it’s rather crystal clear this is not completely a calm tourer.

Even with the wheel-mounted push selector established to Wet method, some thing I use rather a bit for the duration of the recurrent Floridian showers, the vehicle barks and spins its tires easily, kicking out its tail like a thoroughbred that desires to perform. Dial things up to Activity or, new for this year, Race, and things predictably get wilder.

The addition of Race may possibly appear like an odd thing for a really street-oriented convertible, but it’s a welcome improve. I generally come across Ferrari’s Activity modes to be also sedate and Race to be a minimal also wild for casually spirited driving. The Portofino M augments those people with Ease and comfort method, also, supplying more than enough of a spread to match my every mood.

I’m delighted to report that’s the only significant improve with the Portofino’s steering wheel. It has not gained the contact-sensitive mess that I hated in the Roma. Each input listed here is delightfully tactile and, when obtaining the correct convert signal when the wheel is turned in excess of is as bewildering as ever, that’s compact price to pay out for staying in a position to toggle lights, wipers and just about anything else you need to have with just a twitch of a finger.

The vehicle gets some critical tech updates, while, like adaptive cruise that’s a godsend for Florida’s continuously miserable targeted traffic and a encompass-see digicam technique makes slotting this extensive-nosed machine into parking places a breeze. The most astonishing update for me is some thing I thought may possibly by no means transpire: Android Automobile. Indeed, Ferrari has eventually opened the door to Google, and thank goodness, due to the fact the developed-in navigation working experience listed here is… basic.

But you probably do not treatment significantly about that. How does it push? Fantastically. As I stated over, the motor is a eager husband or wife and, when the transmission in car is at times a bit extremely clean and sluggish, a rapid reach for the pronounced change paddles solves that concern really very well. Blasting by the gears produces a superb sounds, all the simpler to recognize with the top down.

The electric power-operated hardtop rises or drops in about fifteen seconds at up to about thirty mph, but I suggest warning right before using it at pace. When the top is running the trunk is extensive open, this means something loose in there can and will blow away. (Request me how I know.) Pack carefully.

The top tucks beneath a sculpted tonneau that flows nicely into the trunk and, if you squint, you can just make out the two rear seats Ferrari has offered listed here. They are perfect for any legless companions you truly feel like taking for a journey.

When I love the overall performance of the Portofino M, I’m truly amazed at how good a cruiser it is. The vehicle just isn’t punishing in excess of separation joints on Florida’s highways, the seats are lots relaxed and, when the motor has a bit of a drone to it, that’s effortlessly forgiven when you will find 612 horses value of payoff. Buffeting is of minimal concern with the top down and, with the top up, you’d nearly by no means know you are in a convertible.

And now for the part the place I notify you how significantly you can expect to pay out for this satisfaction. The commencing price of the 2021 Ferrari Portofino M is $226,000 like $three,950 location, an increase of a minimal extra than $twenty,000 in excess of the preceding design. The Rosso Portofino-coloured vehicle you see listed here functions a whopping $141,356 in alternatives, ranging from the decorative ($one,266 for the embroidered prancing horses on the headrests) to the connective ($4,219 for Android Automobile and Apple CarPlay).

Expensive, of training course, but then it truly is a exceptional all-rounder, now with sharpened seems and freshened tech. It’s a legitimate driver’s vehicle that will not punish you for essentially driving it extensive and much.

Editors’ note: Vacation expenditures associated to this story were lined by the manufacturer, which is popular in the car industry. The judgments and opinions of Roadshow’s employees are our own and we do not settle for paid out editorial written content.