Yahoo Autos 2018 Ferrari Portofino: First Drive
THE CALIFORNIA WAS TO FERRARISTI what the Epiphone Les Paul is to Gibson guitar fans. A Ferrari but never the Ferrari. Yet the hardtop convertible brought thousands of new customers to dealers’ doors. Moreover, it followed an important line of cars from Maranello, stretching back seven decades, that accentuated daily-driving duties over track performance. Think Enzo commuted to work in a 250 GTO? The old man’s choice of wheels-when pried out of his beloved Peugeot sedans-was in fact the cruisy 330 GT 2+2.
So, despite purists’ distaste for the California recipe, there are no big changes to its successor, the Portofino. It has a new name, cribbed from a postcard-picture coastal village in northern Italy, and a lighter, stiffer aluminum structure clothed in a different design, which apes the 812 Superfast.
The Portofino is a more aggressive, more masculine-looking car than the California, with pronounced shoulders and an elongated fastback tail. It’s handsome both in coupe guise and, 14 seconds later, as a convertible, with the folding hardtop stored in the trunk. Sitting behind the long hood, you face a slick, center-mounted touchscreen. There are seats for four, but have a doctor and gurney standing by if you plan on subjecting friends to more than a few minutes in the back.
The turbocharged V-8 carries over from the California T, albeit with new pistons and intake runners and more boost from the turbos. Power rises from 552 to 591 hp, backed by 561 lb-ft of torque. A seven-speed dual-clutch automatic remains the only available transmission. Ask Ferrari engineers why there’s no manual, and their eyes roll back in their head like they’re examining the underside of their frontal lobe. (The California was briefly offered with a stick. Maybe three customers ordered it, according to Ferrari.)
An electronic limited-slip differential, fitted to Ferrari’s mid-engined sports cars as far back as the F430, but never to the front-engined California, works in tandem with the traction-control system and magnetorheological dampers making for more confident hammer-down cornering. Aided by an extra 39 hp and a claimed 176-pound weight loss, that diff also contributes to Ferrari’s quoted 0.1-second improvement on the old car’s 3.6-second 0–62-mph time. Doesn’t sound like much, but the Portofino feels even faster.
As before, Ferrari manages boost pressure electronically, to replicate the sensation of winding out a naturally aspirated engine. In lower gears, the V-8 delivers a noticeable kick beyond 4500 rpm that encourages you to chase the 7500-rpm redline. But there’s more torque-and a progressively flatter curve-in the upper three ratios. That lets Ferrari run tall, fuel-efficient gearing. It also means you can tackle uphill freeway sections without having to get overly busy with the downshift paddle. Turbo lag is there if you look for it, but only then. The sensation is of a big, naturally aspirated V-8.
The sound isn’t quite there-you’re still left hankering for some high notes. But the tone varies more this time around, with less emphasis on bass. And because the exhaust butterflies now offer the precise control of electronic actuation, there’s less of the annoying on/off boominess of older Ferraris. Creeping up in speed by 1 mph in the ebb and flow of freeway traffic no longer elicits a sound like an old lighthouse foghorn-eeehhhh- OHHHHHHHH.
The Portofino is the second front-engined Ferrari, following the 812 Superfast, to get electric power steering. It doesn’t tingle your fingers with old-school surface feedback, but it’s responsive, accurate, and connected in a hyperclean way. The message the wheel relays from the front tires is, in any event, reassuring. There’s plenty of grip. Sharper body control puts the Portofino somewhere between the base model and the Handling Speciale package version of the outgoing California T. A sportier suspension option for the new car seems inevitable, but we can’t imagine most buyers wanting more aggressive tuning, given the trade-off in comfort.
In fact, it’s the lack of trade-offs that makes this such an appealing Ferrari. Sure, we’d pick a 488 to rip down a twisty road, but that would be missing the point. Even looking past the fact that the 488 costs almost $31,000 more, the California’s sales success proves there are plenty of drivers out there-people who might otherwise have bought a Bentley Continental GT or a high-end Mercedes-AMG-who find a car like this a lot more alluring, more enjoyable, and less intimidating than a mid-engine wedge that looks like it just left parc ferme at Le Mans.
For those drivers, the Portofino should make for an even easier choice than its predecessor. It looks and goes better than the California ever did. It feels sufficiently convincing as a Ferrari that won’t make you flinch when pressed specifically about which Ferrari your pony-branded key fob belongs to. And it does all this without compromising the usability and friendly character that helped make the California the best-selling Prancing Horse product ever.
We have a hunch Enzo would have left the Peugeot keys on the hook if he’d had a Portofino in the driveway.
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