Ferrari shuns California for Portofino
New 320kmph 2+2 roadster to replace underwhelming California T
BEING GENEROUS, YOU might say that the Ferrari California of 2008 onwards is far from our favourite product to have slipped through the gates at Maranello. To call it the modern-day equivalent of the Mondial would be a touch harsh, but even so it’s never looked like a thoroughbred Italian supercar and the current ‘T’ version doesn’t drive as well as its stablemates – or most of its rivals. There is hope, then, that its replacement, the Portofino, will be far more worthy of the badge so many pay so much for.
Certainly, first impressions are good. It actually looks like a Ferrari for one thing: there’s a hint of F12 mixed with 488 GTB about its nose and a pair of tightly tucked-in hips ahead of the rear arches. Ferrari’s design team has also managed to remove much of the bulk that blighted the California’s back end with the roof down. With the roof (still a metal, folding affair) raised, there’s more of a junior-F12 look about the car.
Being 2017 and Ferrari having an F1 team, aerodynamics make it into the press bumpf, which says ‘the outside edge of the headlight hides an innovative air intake which vents into the front wheelarch and exits along the flank to reduce drag’.
Sitting on an all-new, lighter chassis with a body-in-white Ferrari claims has been redesigned with weight reduction and torsional rigidity increases in mind – although no numbers to back this up have been released. The Portofino is also equipped with the company’s latest chassis tech. This includes the E-Diff 3 electronically controlled rear limited-slip differential, which has been adopted with the firm’s F1Trac stability-control system. It’s also the first Ferrari GT to be fitted with electrically-assisted power steering, resulting in steering that’s seven per cent quicker. The magnetorheological dampers have