Ferrari has unveiled the new SF90 Stradale, the Italian brand’s most powerful road car to date.
Named to celebrate the 90th anniversary of the Scuderia Ferrari racing team, which pre-dated the road-car side of the business by nearly 20 years, the SF90 Stradale is Ferrari’s second electrified car after the LaFerrari hypercar from 2013. It also shares its name with the Ferrari SF90 Formula One racing car being campaigned by the Scuderia this year.
More significantly, it is both Ferrari’s first plug-in machine and the brand’s first hybrid production car. The SF90’s powertrain mates a redesigned 3.9-litre V8 of 780hp to an electric motor that adds a further 220hp.
Power from the V8 is sent to the rear wheels via an eight-speed dual-clutch automatic gearbox – another first for Ferrari – while the electric motor powers the front axle.
This all-wheel-drive system incorporates Ferrari’s new ‘RAC-E’ technology on the electrified axle, too. Ferrari likens it to ‘a hand guiding the car into corners’, using torque vectoring technology to optimise the percentage of power sent to each wheel at any one time.
All of this adds up to a 0-60mph time of 2.3 seconds (Ferrari’s quickest car to date) and a top speed of 211mph. Although lap times have not yet been announced, the SF90 Stradale is also likely to be the fastest Ferrari to ever lap its historic Fiorano test track.
Being a plug-in hybrid, the Ferrari SF90 Stradale is also capable of running solely on electric power, Ferrari claiming that it can cover just over 15 miles between charges when in EV mode.
The major technical innovations on the car may be underneath the skin but there is also visible technology, including a drag reduction system (DRS) on the SF90’s rear wing.
Ferrari has abandoned the large rear wing format employed by many supercars in favour of a system that lowers a segment of bodywork in front of the wing to increase downforce under braking and hard cornering, before raising it again to minimise drag. In total, the SF90 can produce 390kg of downforce.
Inside the car, an overhauled steering wheel features touch-sensitive buttons to put most of the car’s functions at the driver’s fingertips. Behind it sits a new 16-inch digital instrument cluster, as well as a new head-up display.
Even the key is new – the SF90 is entirely ‘keyless’, allowing it to be locked, unlocked and started with the fob in the driver’s pocket. This fob has been designed to look identical to the Ferrari badge at the front of the car.
Ferrari expects many owners to use their SF90 Stradale on the track and for them the ‘Assetto Fiorano’ package is available. This adds carbon fibre door panels and underbody elements, plus titanium springs and exhaust components to shave 30kg off the weight of the standard car, while its 20-inch forged alloy wheels are shod with Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2 tyres for increased grip.
Ferrari is yet to announce the price of the SF90 Stradale. As the firm’s new range-topper, it is expected expect it to surpass the £260,000 of the previous flagship model, the 812 Superfast. First deliveries of the SF90 Stradale are scheduled for 2020.
