auto italia 17FERRARI SF90 STRADALE
A notably curved windscreen, slender A-posts and a
wide track help lend it an ultra-sleek look. The
headlight design marks a clean break from Ferrari’s
usual L-shape, adopting a more slender C-shaped ‘slit’
that integrates the air intakes for the brakes. The
headlights are matrix LED units, another first for Ferrari.
Bold flying buttresses extend to the rear of the car,
which is dominated by those high-mounted twin
exhaust pipes. The rear screen no longer follows the
line from the roof to the rear bumper, but is interrupted
stylistically, while the tail lights mark another radical
change, switching from Ferrari’s iconic round shape to asquarer profile. You can clearly see the engine thanks
to a transparent cover and an exceptionally open
engine compartment, while up front is a transparent
Lexan panel to let you see the hybrid system.
Moving inside, the cockpit is described as “
aeronautically-inspired” but it also takes many cues
from F1. For instance, the steering wheel has a
touchpad and buttons that allow the driver to control
virtually everything using thumbs alone – very F1.
The central instrument cluster is entirely digital, with
a huge 16-inch curved HD screen – the first time this
type of screen has ever been used in a production car.
When the engine is off, the instruments go black – all
very minimalist – while when it’s on, the default screenparticular, there’s a new patented active rear spoiler
that Ferrari calls a ‘shut-off Gurney’. At low or very high
speeds, the fixed and movable sections are aligned,
allowing air to flow both above and beneath the shut-
off Gurney, reducing drag. In high downforce conditions
(like cornering or braking), the movable bit of the
spoiler lowers electrically, uncovering the fixed element
and broadening the load surface, boosting downforce.
There’s more clever aero elsewhere, such as a front
‘underwing’ to boost the effectiveness of the
underbody vortex generators. New Brembo brake
callipers have aero ‘trumpets’ to guide air flow from
intakes under the headlights, better cooling the pads
and discs. And we love the optional wheels, whose fin-
shaped profiles cleverly extract air from the
wheelarches and align airflow with the car’s flanks.
It looks totally fresh, too. The exterior design
represents a clean break for a Maranello mid-engined
berlinetta. Ferrari’s design chief, Flavio Manzoni, says:
“We wanted a clearly futuristic look... [an] almost
‘spaceship-like’, futuristic personality. The SF90 is an
extreme car that looks like a slingshot ready to be
released. It’s a car that looks ready to pounce.”
The cockpit has been moved closer to the front of
the car than in previous mid-engined Ferraris, which
reduces drag, while the cabin area sits lower down, too.
“
When powered by electricity, it’s 100% front-wheel drive,
which means this is the first FWD Ferrari ever
”