Very early spring is surely the ideal time of year to put the Ferrari Purosangue to the test and properly assess how much utility is in Ferrari’s really-not-an-SUV. A skiing trip, perhaps, would be the thing - how does it cruise, is there enough space, can it tackle mountain passes, do the wheel controls ever make sense, will 20mpg be possible and so on. Alas, that adventure will have to wait for another year. Or potentially another lifetime if skiing is involved. This UK review, following our much longer stint abroad, is culled from a quick blast around the roads near Goodwood circuit - so comprehensive it was not. But memorable it undoubtedly was.
Because the how, what, why, when aren’t very important when a Ferrari-built V12 is involved - you take the opportunity to drive it for as long as possible wherever you happen to be. Harry was lucky I agreed to stop so he could take some pictures. Even with the V8 and new V6 as sublime as they are, there’s something so otherworldly about a red car with a yellow prancing horse badge and twelve cylinders to the front. Or rammed right up against the bulkhead, in this instance. The excitement never, ever dulls. It's as intoxicating as road cars get.
The 6.5 would therefore dominate in any context - but in a day that otherwise involves driving four-cylinder turbos and a very large EV, it feels totally imperious. Hauling up mountains on a forgettable launch route, there was a suspicion that lacking the twin-turbo thump of torque offered by some rivals held the Purosangue back. On smaller, narrower, more familiar roads, it doesn’t feel an issue at all, the Ferrari being manically fast even when presented with the briefest window of opportunity. And if it’s not quite fast enough, the eight-speed DCT downshifts before you've even had time to think about it. Any surrounding compromise must be worth the chance to experience everything this engine can do.
It can dawdle and demur like many a big capacity engine with a modern auto, hardly ticking over, the gearbox's machinations imperceptible. It can do everyday Ferrari with absolutely no drama at all, too, as easy to drive as anything. And on the flip side, it is virtually unbeatable for sheer thrill. It never seems happier than when charging to 8,000rpm, strong enough in its middle order and truly wild as the shift lights illuminate. The sound, of course, is sensational; malevolent and melodic all at the same time like only Ferrari V12s tend to be. Many other similar cars can shuffle about just as unobtrusively, yet nothing else is this exhilarating given the chance to prove it. The only reason not to think it entirely peerless is that the Lamborghini Revuelto’s V12 exists. Among cars with four doors, nothing even comes close to the sensory appeal - a turbo V8 just isn’t in the same league.
Its maker might've been excused for not investing as much in the way the Purosangue drives having got the engine in. It’s one heck of a USP already. But perhaps the manufacturer's greatest achievement is that it really, truly feels like a Ferrari to drive. Even if it didn’t have the V12 (perish the thought) there are recognisable brand hallmarks that identify it as a Maranello supercar, from the light yet perfectly geared steering to the burly brake pedal, from the deft damping to supreme driver assists. Sport for the Multimatic-developed chassis arguably leaves the ride a little unforgiving for B roads, though it’s pretty damn good for such a heavy car on 22-inch wheels - so that’ll likely be your fast A-road setting. Otherwise, Comfort will suffice, and anyone familiar with any recent Ferrari will be right at home with how the Purosangue feels.
Even more impressively, the front end seems completely unencumbered by such a large engine or the implicit requirement that it should spend some of its time powering the wheels, and is responsive and precise to any input. Very quickly, you trust the idea that it can be placed on the road with unerring accuracy; a confidence that seems remarkable in a car this large and this expensive, and in so little time. Obviously there will be no delay whatsoever in your use of the throttle; only your sense of self-preservation can restrain that ongoing tsunami.
Just as with the much lighter, mid-engined cars, the way the Purosangue communicates (and helps you out) in and around its limit must be experienced to be believed. For a company that came fairly late to the benefits of four driven wheels, it’s become an undisputed master of the game. On a wet road, it means that the Purosangue is more accessible and (slightly) less scary than a two-wheel drive V12 while also offering up a more immersive experience than the old FF/GTC4 thanks to how keenly it steers, how adeptly it manages its mass and how the V12 (yes, really) sounds better than ever.
In short, it's awesome - and the more you drive a Purosangue the easier it is to be convinced of Ferrari’s lofty claim that it isn’t what everyone says it is and that it doesn’t really have any rivals. The price rather ensures that unique status anyway (and perhaps there’s only so much conviction that can be attached to a brief revisit) but it really does serve to make the Uruses and DBXs of this world feel a tad flat-footed. That isn't meant as put down either - both are very impressive - yet the Ferrari is the only one that feels like a genuine supercar in the way it goes about its business. And a Maranello supercar at that. It manages to be a pulse-raising, slightly intimidating V12 monster in one addled moment, and then an amenable, docile family crossover the next. It is that remarkable duality - touched upon elsewhere, but never to this extent - that makes the Purosangue seem like it's in a class of one.
As you'd expect for a £400k Ferrari, right? But after the mixed reception it initially received, on top of the scepticism that apparently greets any supercar maker intent on doing something different, the Purosangue's achievement seems greater even than the sum of its incredible parts. Anything mid-engined and rear-drive and furnished with more than 800hp is always going to seem life-affirming, but a two-tonne four-wheel-drive behemoth has no preordained right to be this epic - so it’s to Ferrari's enormous credit that it is. All that can be hoped for now is depreciation to match its more conventional V12 predecessors. Oh, and a much longer go. In the summer perhaps.
SPECIFICATION | 2023 FERRARI PUROSANGUE
Engine: 6,496cc, V12
Transmission: 8-speed dual-clutch automatic, four-wheel drive
Power (hp): 725@7,750rpm
Torque (lb ft): 528@6,250rpm
0-62mph: 3.4 seconds
Top speed: 193mph
Weight: 2,033kg (dry, with lightweight options, 2,100kg wet))
MPG: 16.3
CO2: 393g/km
Price: £313,120
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