Here are some more pictures of the new Ferrari Roma
These are the latest pictures of one of the big new-model surprises of 2019 – and a car sure to be one of the must-drives in 2020: Ferrari’s entry-level front-engined GT, the Ferrari Roma. Or as Ferrari likes to call it, “La nuova dolce vita”.
If we didn’t know it before (and we did), the new pictures confirm just what a pretty machine the Roma is. It is pure and simple in a most un-showoffy way. Just right for attracting people who may not have considered a Ferrari before, which is believed to be one of Maranello’s focus with the car.
Its elegant minimalism is partly achieved by aerodynamics which are integrated into the shape, lacking obvious spoilers and vents, but they should be no less effective for that. A three-position (Low Drag, Medium Downforce and High Downforce) electrically adjustable rear wing – normally concealed as part of the rear window – generates 95kg more downforce at 155mph than the Ferrari Portofino.
The “twin cockpit” cabin comes across as something new for Ferrari and a major drawcard in its own right, appearing attractive and organised with as much appeal for the passenger as the driver. Unlike Ferrari’s more driver-oriented sports cars, the Roma’s cabin has an almost symmetrical structure with the passenger getting their own colour HD touchscreen (as an option at least) to display music, satnav and climate functions as well as the car’s performance. For the driver, the instrumentation is now entirely digital.
As lighter, more powerful and more rigid coupe cousin of the Portofino, the 612bhp Roma gets the hardware and the software to be fast and incisive on road or track. But it also promises to be a Ferrari that tempers its sporting aggression with everyday driveability, and long distance comfort and practicality to live up to its billing as a grand tourer.
So how liveable with will it be? We still don’t know how realistic that “2+” description of the car’s accommodation is; there might be ledges to sit on in the back but from the interior picture shown here there couldn’t possibly be much legroom. Or headroom.
We do know now the rear seat backs fold down to extend the 272 litre boot into a larger if hardly flat-pack furniture friendly 345 litres. Plenty for a weekend away though. The other thing we know now is that there is no lift-up tailgate; that’s a separate boot lid at the back there.
Longer gear ratios for easier cruising, more torque down low, a drivetrain refined to be smoother in start-stop traffic, all prosaic attributes but ones which could be the making of the Roma. Whatever next, a seven-year maintenance programme? Well actually yes.
Make no mistake, the Roma is in line to be one of the star cars of 2020. A Ferrari to please the head and the heart, but perhaps most of all a Ferrari to use and enjoy every day.
Ferrari
Roma
