Ferrari Roma

Ferrari Roma – Overview

‘An F1 car in evening attire’. That’s how Ferrari describes its latest compact GT, the Ferrari Roma. To be sure, Maranello’s success today is built on grand tourers, but the marque went on to focus on mid-engined supercars in the intervening years. 

Thus, the Roma may represent a renaissance for House Enzo, putting elegance ahead of handling and thus opening doors to a section of the market who are not obsessively keen drivers, but want to buy into the marque just the same.
That doesn’t mean the Roma is a slouch either, with over 600 horses to play with and Ferrari’s wealth of knowledge in chassis development.  

Ferrari Roma – Exterior

Is this one of the best-looking Ferraris in the modern era? Indubitably. Its proportions are sublime, and every surface is beautiful to look at. There’s just enough visual aggression from details like the headlights and flared haunches, but not enough that it stops being sexy as all hell.

There’re big hints of the SF90 Stradale in front, and at the rear the coupe eschews the signature round taillights in favour of flat units that flows beautifully with the lines at this end of the car. Quad tailpipes are integrated neatly into the sizeable rear diffusers.

The visually arresting coupe is not all looks either, as there are underbody vortex generators in front, and active aero in the form of the electronically-actuated spoiler. Together they create 95 kilos more downforce than the Portofino at 250 km/h. The active spoiler reacts to the speed, longitudinal and lateral acceleration, as well as the manettino position, which will give it three different positions.

Buyers can choose 26 different colours, 2 different rim designs with 3 colours each, as well as 6 different brake caliper colours too. When compared to the Ferrari Portofino, the Roma has a lower roof height, as well as as a wider body and axles. The centre of gravity is 20 mm lower, and the coupe is also 100 kg lighter.

Ferrari Roma – Interior

The Roma has an interior that is a bit of a departure from its other cousins. The cabin has a nice flow to the proceedings, with a taller centre console separating the front seats. The flow of the lines and colour here includes the dash, the doors, as well as the rear seats and tunnel. 

This creates a singularly cockpit-like separation in every seat, and this design approach is superb. However, there are a few things that are baffling here too. The start/stop button requires a bit of searching to find, a touchpad is used to adjust the wing mirrors, and a button is used in place of a normal lever to open the door.

Dominating the centre console is an 8.4-inch central touchscreen, which eliminates all physical knobs and buttons for infotainment and climate control. The world we live in is increasingly button-less, it seems. A touchpad on the left spar of the steering wheel controls adaptive cruise control, and the large 16-inch screen in front of the steering wheel is controlled by the touchpad on the right spar. 

The front passenger can also have an 8.8-inch touchscreen of their own too. Like all Ferraris, options for customisation abound, and there will likely be no two Romas out there that are alike. We counted 15 different colours, with 20 different detailing options, 3 different seating options, a carbon interior upgrade, as well as 18 colours for stitching.

Ferrari Roma – Features

As a more ‘comfort-biased’ Prancing Horse, the Roma has the features that are expected of such a coupe. The portrait touchscreen in the centre has sat-nav and can also be used to adjust the bolsters of the front seats, while the optional display for the passenger can be used to interact with infotainment, the sat-nav, and climate controls.

For the first time, a Ferrari can come with Advanced Driver Assistance Systems. The usual slew of passive safety equipment can be complemented with an ADAS package that includes a front radar that enables automated cruise control, a back radar for cross traffic monitoring, a front camera for lane keeping assist, and electrochromatic mirrors. There is also an option for Surround View too, which adds additional cameras around the car, which certainly helps when parking the Roma next to pesky curbs by showing what’s what on the centre display.

Ferrari Roma – Powertrain

Under that long, sculpted hood is the familiar F154 3.9 litre twin-turbo V8 that is also in the Portofino, but it is 20 PS more powerful here, making 620 PS at 7,500 rpm and a maximum torque of 760 Nm in between 3,000 and 5,750 rpm.
All of this juice is routed to the rear wheels via a new 8-speed dual-clutch transmission, which is derived from the SF90 Stradale.

Ferrari Roma – Driving Performance

Ferrari Roma – Ride Comfort

With the optional magnetorheological dampers fitted, the Roma is exceptionally talented in keeping occupants cushy. However, even without, the ride is still refined and superbly dampened. The extra 2 seats at the rear is not just for very young children, either. With the front seats positioned accordingly, they are useable for taller adults too.

Ferrari Roma – Fuel Economy

Ferrari’s official figurest put the Roma’s combined fuel consumption at 11.2 l/100km, or 8.9 km/l. At this consumption, CO2 emmissions is rated at 255 g/km.

Ferrari Roma – Conclusion

The ‘entry level Ferrari’ is anything but, and is a worthy addition to the illustrious stable. Maranello is expecting 70% of the buyers for the Roma to be customers new to the brand, and due to the more relaxed nature and gorgeous looks of the coupe, we expect they may be right. The world is in limbo now with so much uncertainty, and maybe a less brash, more refined Ferrari may just be what we all need right now.