Forget California, now it’s Portofino
The journey from California to Portofino has transformed Ferrari’s entry model, writes David Linklater.
The outgoing California was an easy car to make fun of. Conceived as an ‘‘everyday’’ Ferrari, it had softer, less-threatening styling than the marque’s sports models, a two-plus-two cabin and a folding hard-top. That last thing meant it had a weird-looking bum as well.
It all seemed a bit more Maserati than Ferrari, and indeed there has always been speculation that it started development as just that, before evolving into a more expensive and therefore more lucrative Prancing Horse model.
Make light of it if you must, but the California lasted a decade and typically accounted for a third of Ferrari’s volume.
According to Ferrari, 70 per cent of California buyers were new to the brand, they drove their vehicles 150 per cent more than other owners and even used the tiny rear seats 30 per cent of the time.
But Ferrari has clearly been aware of the California’s image issue. Its replacement, the Portofino, gets a new name from Italy rather than America, muscular styling more befitting the Prancing Horse, and substantial performance and chassis upgrades. First New Zealand deliveries will start in July.
Portofino is pretty much allnew and 80kg lighter than its predecessor. The body, chassis and suspension share nothing with the California and the 3.9-litre V8
turbo powertrain has a host of new components, ranging from pistons and conrods to the exhaust system. The engine itself is essentially a tweaked version of what’s in the 488.
We’re past the shock-Ferrariturbo phase, since the California moved from a naturally aspirated V12 to the V8 T in 2014. So let’s just drive: on the roads around Bari in southern Italy, at Ferrari’s international media launch.
Being an everyday Ferrari doesn’t mean you can’t also be crazy-fast. Portofino has 29kW more than the California and will rocket to 100kmh in 3.5 seconds.
Having opted for turbo power for reasons of efficiency, Ferrari has gone to great lengths to make the blown V8 feel anything but. It has a boost management system that ensures power builds in a linear fashion, like a naturally aspirated engine. It revs to 7500rpm and does so with alacrity. It’s brilliant.
The new exhaust system, with electronically controlled bypass valves, has been tuned to change soundtrack according to the driving situation. At full noise it’s astonishing: hard-edged, hardcore.
The seven-speed dual-clutch gearbox can be overly keen to climb up the ratios in its Comfort/ Auto setting in the interests of economy, but shift Ferrari’s signature steering wheel-mounted Manettino switch to Sport, go paddle-shift manual and you can slam up and down the gears like you’re driving a baby supercar.
Portofino is loaded with chassis tech, including magnetic-ride suspension (SCM-E) and Ferrari’s latest electronic differential (E-Diff3). It’s also the second Ferrari after the 812 Superfast to have electronic power steering (EPS).
All of the above is employed towards Ferrari’s goal of making the Portofino a more satisfyingly aggressive drive than the California, but without losing any of the previous model’s comfort and ease-of-use.
Comfort-wise, Bari’s shockingly broken roads certainly put the car to the test, while the region’s weirdly slippery seal highlighted the importance of chassis balance while doing the car no favours in terms of traction and mechanical grip.
The EPS is light and it does also isolate the driver from the road texture - a deliberate choice for this GT car. You cannot fault the accuracy, but the slightly artificial feel does take some getting used to in quick corners.
The steering ratio is seven per cent quicker than the California’s and it did feel a touch nervous in some 100kmh driving, with a strong self-centring action.
There’s a huge range of adjustment in the SCM-E dampers, but the Portofino also features a stroke of genius called Bumpy Road Mode (also fitted to the 488). At the push of a button, the dampers go into a soft setting while everything else stays just as it was.
The Portofino chassis doesn’t talk to you like a sports car and nor is it supposed to. But in terms of the grunty styling, astonishing performance, outrageous sound and failsafe high-speed cornering ability, it does look and feel like The Real Thing.
Your $375k is buying something special for sure; a Mercedes-AMG SL 63 or Porsche 911 Turbo cabriolet seem a little prosaic in comparison. Blinded by the badge? Maybe. But it’s a Ferrari!
The really big question might be whether this everyday GT is more practical than the car it replaces.
It’s hardly any larger: California’s city friendly dimensions were considered a big plus by previous customers. The new front seat design has allowed 50mm more rear legroom, although it’s still far from adultsized back there.
The cabin looks old-school cool but the quality isn’t as consistent as something from Germany. Nor are the electronic systems as slick, although the new infotainment system and 10-inch touch screen are good. If you want the last word in fit and finish, you don’t look to a low-volume, largely-hand-built Italian GT.
You might notice that Ferrari has banished the California’s big bum. The aim was to make Portofino look like a proper coupe with the roof up. There’s now nothing awkward about it.
With that in mind, it’s strange that the new folding hard-top is actually larger than the old one: it’s just better packaged, that’s all.
You can also now raise or retract the roof at up to 40kmh. In the previous model, you had to park and pose.
Which kind of sums up the shift from California to Portofino: it still puts on a show, but does its best work on the move.