There was a time when 1,000 bhp felt like an summary quantity. One thing unreal, reserved for essentially the most excessive exotica, the Bugattis and different bona fide hypercars that existed as a lot to show a
level as to be pushed. The Ferrari 849 Testarossa quietly detonates that notion. It is a 1,036 bhp series-production Ferrari that accelerates from 0–100 km/h in underneath 2.3 seconds and reaches 200 km/h in 6.3 seconds, but it begins at round €460,000 and is out there from launch not solely as a coupé, however as a Spider. Numbers like that also really feel faintly ridiculous, however Ferrari now delivers them with a confidence that implies that is merely the following logical step.
When Ferrari unveiled the automobile and its title for the primary time, the web duly combusted. “Testarossa” stays one in all Maranello’s most emotionally loaded badges, and for a lot of it instantly summoned pictures of flat-12 engines, facet strakes and Miami Vice posters. However the historical past runs far deeper than that. Lengthy earlier than the 1984 icon, Testa Rossa referred to the redpainted cam covers on Ferrari’s racing engines of the Fifties, a designation reserved for the model’s most excessive, competition-bred powerplants. Considered via that lens, the title immediately is sensible. That is Ferrari reclaiming Testarossa as an announcement of engineering intent quite than a styling train.
The 849 Testarossa replaces the SF90 on the high of Ferrari’s mid-engined V8 vary, and crucially, it feels just like the completed article quite than an excellent prototype. Its totally reworked twin-turbo V8 produces 819 bhp by itself, paired with a three-motor plug-in hybrid system for a mixed 1,036 bhp. It’s the strongest manufacturing powertrain Ferrari has ever supplied, however extra importantly, it lastly feels cohesive.
Visually, the automobile leans into Ferrari’s Sports activities Prototype heritage quite than road-car nostalgia. The sharp, geometric surfacing and squared-off volumes reference the Nineteen Seventies, most clearly on the rear the place the twin-tail structure nods on to the 512 S and 512 M. These twin tails should not styling theatre. They combine energetic rear aerodynamics and assist generate 415 kg of downforce at 250 km/h, alongside a 15 per cent enchancment in cooling efficiency over the SF90. Heritage right here is purposeful, not ornamental.
Inside, Ferrari has intentionally pulled issues again. The cabin is extra driver-centric, with a mechanical really feel returning via bodily steering-wheel buttons and the traditional crimson begin key. The gated-style selector motif reappears as a tactile anchor in an in any other case very trendy cockpit. It feels up to date, however unmistakably Ferrari. Entrance-trunk house stays lower than sufficient, however the house behind the seats can be utilized when you pack very frivolously.
Inside a couple of metres on the highway, you realize this can be a trendy Ferrari. The management weights are hyperalert but measured, the steering needle-sharp and fast. The seating place heightens that connection, inserting you near the entrance axle and its electrical motors, which provides a definite sense of precision to the way in which the nostril responds.
There may be theatre too. Underneath load, you get a playful flutter from the turbo wastegates, audible and interesting with out ever turning into obnoxious. In EV operating, the electrical motor emits a delicate, futuristic whirr that feels thought of quite than gimmicky. It’s all the time current, however by no means irritating. Efficiency is outrageous with out ever feeling ragged. In-gear acceleration borders on surreal as on the spot electrical torque stacks seamlessly with the relentless muscle of the 819 bhp V8. You burn via the revs so shortly you’d swear the gearing is brief, however it’s not. The powertrain merely builds pace with an nearly unreal sense of momentum, the type that recalibrates your inner sense of tempo.
The eight-speed dual-clutch gearbox is outstanding. Pull the outsized left paddle and it delivers downshifts you don’t suppose it’ll permit, slamming straight into the crimson line with a correct V8 howl. Upshifts have been given actual character too. There’s a hard-edged, nearly brutal chuff on the change that makes every upshift really feel like an occasion quite than a background course of. The brakes are ferocious. Ferrari’s newest brake-by-wire system with ABS Evo clearly delivers astonishing stopping energy and repeatability. I trusted them utterly, however I wanted extra miles to really feel totally at one with the pedal. I had the identical expertise lately within the Amalfi, which suggests that is extra about acclimatisation to ABS Evo than any actual flaw. When you regulate, the arrogance stays sky-high.
What additionally stands out on the highway is the trip high quality, which is nothing in need of sensational. This automobile doesn’t use Multimatic’s energetic dampers, these are reserved for the F80 and Purosangue, but the passive set-up here’s a quiet masterclass. In its softer settings, significantly in bumpy highway mode, the adjustable spring and damper calibration delivers exceptional compliance with out ever feeling unfastened. It breathes with damaged tarmac, maintains physique management, and by some means manages to really feel each settled and alert on the similar time. Crucially, Ferrari has now made this configuration out there as a part of the Assetto Fiorano package deal. Relatively than the mounted Multimatic set-up that beforehand outlined Fiorano automobiles, consumers can now specify this adaptive passive suspension alongside a entrance axle elevate system, making essentially the most targeted model of the 849 Testarossa way more usable in the actual world. It’s a smart move, and a really Ferrari one.
What really defines the automobile on the highway is transparency. Many felt the SF90’s calibration was barely rushed, as if the methods by no means fairly settled into concord. Within the 849 Testarossa, every thing feels aligned. The automobile is calm, devastatingly fast, and remarkably readable. You possibly can sense the electronics working, however they work with you quite than over you.
Monteblanco was new to me, and studying a circuit with 1,036 bhp is objectively absurd. But the 849 Testarossa by no means as soon as felt intimidating. This Assetto Fiorano-equipped automobile delivered big tempo with astonishing composure. The best way the facility is metered out is masterful. You get every thing you ask for, however by no means in a method that suggestions you into hassle.
The automobile permits you to really feel quick, encourages you to push, and quietly takes care of you within the background. Variable traction management and side-slip methods allow you to lean into the torque, trip the swell, and make small, clear corrections. On nook exit, with the Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2s clearly previous their finest after a full day of punishment, you could possibly really feel the automobile rigorously metering out its 1,036 bhp, the traction-control gentle flashing feverishly because it translated intent into ahead movement quite than wheelspin. The chassis talks; the methods interpret. You can too really feel the entrance electrical motors at work on circuit. On turn-in and thru tighter corners, there’s a refined pull from the entrance axle that helps draw the automobile into the apex, sharpening response and aiding rotation earlier than the rear energy takes over. It by no means feels synthetic, simply quietly efficient. On those self same well-used tyres there was a hint of understeer on entry, solely comprehensible given the abuse. But traction off the apex remained mighty, and the steadiness stayed reliable all through the lap.
The gearbox on monitor is borderline telepathic. There isn’t any hesitation, no second-guessing. It offers you the gear you need, while you need it, even when meaning snapping a downshift straight into the limiter. The sense of pace is immense, however the readability via the steering and pedals retains your head cool. You suppose you’re the hero, and then you definately realise the calibration is quietly doing the heavy lifting whereas preserving the enjoyable.
The flip facet of all this management and confidence, and it’s a real flip facet quite than a criticism, is that the 849 Testarossa is just not the spiciest or most intense Ferrari expertise. It doesn’t go away you climbing out drenched in sweat, ears ringing, reserving an appointment with each your therapist and your chiropractor. If that’s what you’re after, Ferrari presents different solutions. Automobiles just like the 296 Speciale exist exactly to ship that sort of uncooked, nerve-ending depth. The truth that such completely different experiences sit facet by facet throughout the similar vary says every thing about how broad Ferrari’s providing has turn out to be.
The design, too, divides opinion, and I embrace myself in that. I discover the 849 Testarossa visually difficult, significantly with the AF package deal, full with its stripes. That’s solely subjective, and there’s no questioning the purposeful brilliance of the aero work, nevertheless it lacks the pure magnificence of another Ferraris. For these drawn to extra classical proportions and extra conventional powertrains, there are alternate options inside Maranello’s personal catalogue, such because the 12Cilindri, that prioritise type, environment and theatre over outright technical aggression.
None of that detracts from what the 849 Testarossa achieves. It’s ferociously quick, deeply confidence-inspiring, and astonishingly full. It makes four-figure bhp really feel usable, approachable and coherent in a method that might have appeared absurd not so way back. It delivers on a reputation that set the web alight, not by leaning on nostalgia, however by reminding us what
Testarossa was all the time meant to characterize. Ferrari has not simply revived a legendary badge. It has earned it, however provided that you’re taking the time to grasp why.
