2023 Ferrari Purosangue review
Ferrari has done the unthinkable and built an SUV. We've driven the Purosangue to find out whether it deserves to wear the legendary performance brand's prancing horse logo...
On sale Now | Price from £313,120
Ferrari has finally done what all its rivals already have, and given us an SUV. Well, sort of. The company doesn’t like to use the phrase about the new Ferrari Purosangue, arguing that it’s a different sort of car to, say, a Rolls-Royce Cullinan, and that at heart it’s still a sports car.
And maybe you can see where the argument’s coming from. The Purosangue – unlike the Bentley Bentayga, the Lamborghini Urus and the Porsche Cayenne – isn’t built on underpinnings shared with any other more humdrum models.
It has a bespoke aluminium structure with a huge engine in the front and there are only four seats inside what is the Italian car maker's first five-door car. It sits lower to the ground than all its rivals, too. It is, if you like, a more practical and habitable variant of the Ferrari GTC4 Lusso two-door estate.
As is typical in the class, there are no separate trim levels but there are a huge number of options and Ferrari expects buyers to tick quite a lot of them, adding to the Purosangue’s already lofty £313,120 list price. Only a Rolls-Royce Cullinan asks a similar amount from customers.
What’s it like to drive?
The Purosangue arrives with arguably the most spectacular of all engines fitted to tall cars like this. It’s a 6.5-litre V12 making 715bhp, and while most SUVs are about low-end grunt – with even the similarly mighty Aston Martin DBX 707 making its peak torque at 2750rpm – the Purosangue’s peak torque doesn’t doesn’t arrive 6250rpm and maximum power until 7750rpm.
Still, it’s a more muted and restrained engine than in, say, the Ferrari 812 Superfast – quieter but still rich and expansive. It drives smoothly through an eight-speed dual-clutch automatic gearbox plus four-wheel drive.
The GTC4 Lusso had a similar set-up – it’s not the sort of rugged 4WD system fitted to ‘proper’ SUVs, so the Purosangue can’t actually tow anything. What it does do is offer a really engaging driving experience.
The steering is just as quick as in other Ferraris but seems to have a gentler initial response, so it cruises easily and with lots of stability. The complex suspension (made in England) gives it a smooth, absorbent and yet very controlled ride.
It’s as isolated and refined as we think you’d want a Ferrari SUV to be, while exciting when you want, too. There’s a really fine handling balance and, while we’d want a back-to-back test to say for sure, we think only a DBX707 or a Cayenne Turbo GT are similarly exciting to drive in this class.
Access to the four-seat interior is easy. The gearbox is mounted at the rear, between the two rear chairs, so it can’t be a full five-seater, but there’s decent head and leg room for back-seat occupants.
In the front, the seats are comfortable and there’s a heavily sculpted dashboard with touches that retain a familiar Ferrari feel, including a steering wheel heavy on buttons and drive-mode selectors. Ergonomics are improved over the Ferrari Roma and 296, so it’s easier to scroll through a reduced number of screens. Sat-nav is by smartphone link only.
The boot is 473 litres (compared with 600+ for all the rivals) and the load area doesn’t fold flat, although you can specify a load cover so you don’t damage the seat backs. You can get an optional rack that mounts to the tailgate for bikes and skis.
Verdict
Ferrari is right, the Purosangue doesn’t feel like an SUV, or at least not like one from any of its rivals. If anything, it feels like a jacked-up variant of the Ferrari GTC4 Lusso – the sort of model that would get Cross Country or Scout or Allroad badging if it were a slightly tall estate.
It’s a luxury sports coupé like the GTC4 Lusso but made more practical by the appearance of rear doors and the fact that, with a 185mm ground clearance, you won’t be worried about cracking a carbon-fibre splitter on a steep driveway.
Like all Ferraris, it’s highly consumptive and expensive, but it feels true to the brand – and that's not something you can say of many cars like this.
What Car? rating 4 stars out of 5
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Ferrari Purosangue
Price £313,120 Engine 6.5-litre petrol Power 715bhp Torque 528lb ft Gearbox 8-spd dual-clutch automatic, four-wheel drive Top speed 193mph 0-62mph 3.3sec Fuel economy 16.5mpg (WLTP) CO2/tax 393g/km, 37%
Rivals:
Aston Martin DBX
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