2020 Ferrari SF90 Stradale

2020 SF90 Stradale Photos
LOS ANGELES — Pulling onto Wilshire Boulevard, in the heart of Beverly Hills, in a Ferrari, does not exactly make one unique. Ferraris are ubiquitous in L.A.’s most overtly tony neighborhood. But driving a Ferrari, silently, under pure electric power – as I did in the brand’s newest supercar, the SF90 Stradale – made this experience extremely distinctive, and enjoyable, a summation that carried over to my entire day with the car. The Bianco Cervino SF90 Stradale test car had specs that, while shaming of just about everything else on the road, feel appropriate for a range-topping product from Maranello. It hosted a twin-turbocharged 4.0-liter V8 that produces 769 horsepower. Sandwiched between this mid-mounted motor and its redesigned eight-speed dual-clutch automated transmission is an electric motor that provides extra oomph to the rear wheels, adding output during the nonexistent turbo lag. But the real news is up front, where two more electric motors – one at each hub – give the forward wheels pull and allows for torque vectoring. Combined, these three volt-suckers add 217 hp to the mix, for a grand system total of 986 hp. Ferrari prefers to advertise the metric horsepower rating of "1,000 CV," which is admittedly sexier.    Because owning a Ferrari is all about options, a haptic switch on the steering wheel toggles between four "e-manettino" hybrid-related drive modes (pictured below left), combining with the traditional hard-switchable "manettino" driving mode selector (below right) to deliver obsessive bartender levels of powerplant mixology. Because it wasn’t raining, and I wasn't on a track – and because the manettino settings aren't actually news – I left the knob in “Sport” and forgot about it. Unless you’re a professional driver, so should you. With that side of the steering wheel settled, I sampled from the e-manettino menu of eDrive, Hybrid, Performance and Qualify. In eDrive mode, the SF90 motivates itself solely under battery power. Because of the way the system is configured, this means that only the front wheels are being powered, making this a rather anomalous front-wheel-drive Ferrari. One can drive about 15 miles in this mode at speeds of up to around 85 mph, which I did, and it was eerie. Because of all the relatively limited twist generated by the front motors, the SF90 doesn’t exactly fly in this mode. And a Ferrari without euphonic engine noise is a bit like a giraffe without a long neck: interesting, but uncanny. Still, it’s fun to imagine using an outrageous Italian exotic car to do counterintuitive things like sneak up on valets, or back out of the driveway without antagonizing the neighbors. (Reverse, selectable with the silver, gated-shifter-inspired selector on the center console, uses electric power only.) Hybrid mode maximizes efficiency, another somewhat oxymoronic circumstance for a Ferrari, particularly one that only achieves a combined EPA rating of 18 mpg. But since the car was low on gas, and I started the drive on the highway, I tried it out. It doesn't block out the V8, but it …
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LOS ANGELES — Pulling onto Wilshire Boulevard, in the heart of Beverly Hills, in a Ferrari, does not exactly make one unique. Ferraris are ubiquitous in L.A.’s most overtly tony neighborhood. But driving a Ferrari, silently, under pure electric power – as I did in the brand’s newest supercar, the SF90 Stradale – made this experience extremely distinctive, and enjoyable, a summation that carried over to my entire day with the car. The Bianco Cervino SF90 Stradale test car had specs that, while shaming of just about everything else on the road, feel appropriate for a range-topping product from Maranello. It hosted a twin-turbocharged 4.0-liter V8 that produces 769 horsepower. Sandwiched between this mid-mounted motor and its redesigned eight-speed dual-clutch automated transmission is an electric motor that provides extra oomph to the rear wheels, adding output during the nonexistent turbo lag. But the real news is up front, where two more electric motors – one at each hub – give the forward wheels pull and allows for torque vectoring. Combined, these three volt-suckers add 217 hp to the mix, for a grand system total of 986 hp. Ferrari prefers to advertise the metric horsepower rating of "1,000 CV," which is admittedly sexier.    Because owning a Ferrari is all about options, a haptic switch on the steering wheel toggles between four "e-manettino" hybrid-related drive modes (pictured below left), combining with the traditional hard-switchable "manettino" driving mode selector (below right) to deliver obsessive bartender levels of powerplant mixology. Because it wasn’t raining, and I wasn't on a track – and because the manettino settings aren't actually news – I left the knob in “Sport” and forgot about it. Unless you’re a professional driver, so should you. With that side of the steering wheel settled, I sampled from the e-manettino menu of eDrive, Hybrid, Performance and Qualify. In eDrive mode, the SF90 motivates itself solely under battery power. Because of the way the system is configured, this means that only the front wheels are being powered, making this a rather anomalous front-wheel-drive Ferrari. One can drive about 15 miles in this mode at speeds of up to around 85 mph, which I did, and it was eerie. Because of all the relatively limited twist generated by the front motors, the SF90 doesn’t exactly fly in this mode. And a Ferrari without euphonic engine noise is a bit like a giraffe without a long neck: interesting, but uncanny. Still, it’s fun to imagine using an outrageous Italian exotic car to do counterintuitive things like sneak up on valets, or back out of the driveway without antagonizing the neighbors. (Reverse, selectable with the silver, gated-shifter-inspired selector on the center console, uses electric power only.) Hybrid mode maximizes efficiency, another somewhat oxymoronic circumstance for a Ferrari, particularly one that only achieves a combined EPA rating of 18 mpg. But since the car was low on gas, and I started the drive on the highway, I tried it out. It doesn't block out the V8, but it …
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Retail Price

$625,000 - $625,000 MSRP / Window Sticker Price
Engine V-8
MPG 18 Combined
Seating 2 Passengers
Transmission 8-spd auto-shift man w/OD
Power 769 @ 7500 rpm
Drivetrain e4WD all wheel
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