Ferrari SF90 Stradale review

The SF90 Stradale is Ferrari’s new top model … and its first-ever plug-in hybrid. But does electrification add spark to this high-voltage supercar? Or does it instead turn down the desirability dimmer to a low-wattage glow?

These are important questions. The SF90 Stradale provides a glimpse of the building blocks that will provide the foundations for future mid-engine Ferraris.

“This is the light-off project for the new architecture,” said the company’s chief technology officer, Michael Leiters, at the car’s Maranello unveiling a little over a year ago.

With Italy emerging from its long coronavirus lockdown, Ferrari has at last been able to stage the media launch of the SF90 Stradale originally planned for April this year. 

Read all the secrets of the Ferrari SF90 Stradale.

Ferrari’s program included both time on public roads around Maranello and hot laps of the company’s Fiorano test track. There’s now no doubt the SF90 Stradale is a great Ferrari. But it’s also a car that adds a weird yet welcome new dimension to the supercar experience. 

The SF90 Stradale sets new highs for a road-legal Ferrari. Quickest-ever around Fiorano (Ferrari’s private test track), beating the record held by the limited-edition La Ferrari. First-ever with 1000 metric horsepower (though 736kW doesn’t have quite the same ring to it). Fastest-ever 0-100km/h and 0-200km/h. The car is also the first V8 to top the Ferrari line-up, over the V12s that have traditionally taken that role.

Ferrari also set out to create a car for socially conscious customers. Moving to plug-in hybrid technology meant being able to add an electric-only drive mode. Leaving for an early Sunday morning drive in the SF90 Stradale doesn’t have to wake the neighbours as the engine bursts raucously to life. And this is a Ferrari that can whisper down city centre streets without emitting a wisp of pollution.

But adding to performance at the same time as subtracting from environmental impacts required complex engineering solutions. It’s time to get a little technical…

PHEV, Ferrari style

The SF90 Stradale’s engine is a 4.0-litre V8 twin turbo. Based on Ferrari’s existing 3.9-litre V8, it has bigger pistons, redesigned cylinder heads and a revised layout for its pair of turbochargers. These changes lift maximum power to 574kW, making it the most powerful V8 ever installed in a Ferrari road car.

Three electric motors add to the power total. Two are mounted in the front axle, with each motor driving a wheel. The other motor is installed between the engine and the car’s new eight-speed double-clutch transmission, where it can add an electric boost to engine power delivered to the rear wheels.

All the motors draw power from a small 72kg battery pack that’s installed crossways just behind the seats. It stores only 6.5kWh, restricting the electric-only driving range to around 25km, but it’s relatively quick to recharge. There’s a 3.5kW on-board charger that when connected to an AC wallbox will fully charge the battery pack in around two hours.

Ferrari’s layout might be complicated, but this design is both flexible and ingenious.

Fronting up

For electric-only driving, the SF90 Stradale uses only its front motors. They can deliver a maximum of 162kW (about the same as a hot hatch), so performance is reduced. Top speed is limited to 135km/h.

But the front motors do more than this. The car doesn’t have a mechanical reverse gear; instead the front-axle motors push the car backwards. If the battery pack is flat, the engine will fire up and the rear motor will switch to generator mode to provide reversing power.

When the SF90 Stradale is using engine power to the rear wheels, the front motors can kick in to make the car all-wheel-drive car anytime it’s needed.

Finally, because the motors are able to drive each of the front wheels independently, they can be made to pull the car’s nose round a corner. This technology is known as torque vectoring.

Above 210km/h the front motors disconnect, but the 150kW rear motor helps propel the Ferrari all the way to its 340km/h top speed. This slim motor – only 72mm thick – also has multiple roles. It can operate as a generator if the driver decides to force charge the battery pack, for example.

Inside the Ferrari SF90 Stradale

The SF90 Stradale features an all-new screen-based interface and steering wheel design. The overall design is a great blend of luxury materials, including leather, carbon fibre and cast aluminium, and high technology.

The wide and slightly curved instrument panel screen offers a selection of well-designed layouts to match the chassis and powertrain modes selected.

The new steering wheel features Ferrari’s trademark manettino in the usual place. Twisting it scrolls through the various chassis control modes, but pressing it now gives instant access to the softer bumpy-road suspension setting.

There’s also a second touchpad manettino to separately select the car’s four drivetrain modes. Another touchpad in the right-hand spoke of the steering wheel is used to navigate the car’s on-screen menus; it’s small, oversensitive and not very user friendly    

On the road in the SF90 Stradale

In electric-only E-mode the SF90 Stradale scores another first; Ferrari has never made a front-drive road car before.

Acceleration isn’t neck-snapping, but brisk enough to easily keep up with traffic. What is strange at first is the silence in E-mode. But it soon becomes soothing. Because the car rides very smoothly for something so sporty, driving the SF90 Stradale sedately is a strangely calm experience. Very un-Ferrari.

Hybrid, the car’s default mode on start-up, is almost as odd. Driving at normal speeds, the Ferrari’s engine stops and starts just like a Prius. If you’re not driving quickly, the transitions between engine power and electric propulsion are quite subtle. But ask for a burst of acceleration when the car is running electrically, and the V8 can sometimes burst back to life with an uncouth jolt.

Flat out in the Ferrari SF90 Stradale

If driving the SF90 Stradale on the road is a voyage into the unknown, driving it on track is sailing into home port.

This car has the familiar Ferrari supercar blend of amazing performance, aural drama, technical polish and elite-grade dynamics, but amped up to a higher level.

Switch both the manettinos to somewhere near their top settings, for maximum chassis and powertrain capability, and drive…  

The SF90 Stradale’s electric-boosted acceleration is simply incredible. It’s made even more thrilling by the manic, rasping bark of the hard-working engine. And the car’s excellent new brake-by-wire Brembo calipers get rid of speed even more ferociously. 

Those electric motors in the front axle also contribute to the car’s track prowess, adding to steering precision and curbing understeer.

Like all recent Ferraris, the SF90 Stradale relies on a complex web of electronically controlled systems to make it manageable at the limits of grip. Their lightning-fast interactions are so subtle that they’re seldom noticeable from the driver’s seat. All you’re aware of is how easy the car is to drive very, very quickly.

Plug-in hybrid technology in a Ferrari? It makes perfect sense…

How much?

The SF90 Stradale costs $846,888 in Australia. Deliveries are scheduled to begin early in 2021. Ferrari will also offer an option package of aerodynamic, suspension, paint and interior trim upgrades called Assetto Fiorano that will increase the price to a little over $1.1 million. Globally, around half those who have ordered an SF90 Stradale have chosen to spend the extra money.  

Ferrari SF90 Stradale specifications

Price: $846,888

Basics: PHEV, 2 seats, 2 doors, sports car, electric on-demand all-wheel drive

Electric range: 25km

Battery: 6.5kWh

Battery warranty: Not available

Energy consumption: Not available

Motors: 2 front 99kW/85Nm each and 1 rear 150kW/266Nm

Engine: 4.0-litre V8 twin-turbo petrol 574kW/800Nm

Transmission: 8-speed double-clutch 

AC charging: 3.5kW, Type 2 plug

DC charging: Not available

0-100km/h: 2.5 seconds