Forget California, 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 4.3 litre V8 to the 3.9 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
If there’s one place where society truly meets on equal terms, it’s the petrol station. Everybody has to go there. Everybody has to do pretty much the same thing there.
If there’s one place where motoring etiquette is crucial, it’s the petrol station. Especially in the weekends when queues can be long and tempers can be short.
So here’s the big question: if you’ve just filled up at the pump and there’s a line of traffic behind you, is it OK to move your car off the forecourt before you go inside to pay?
More to the point, is it the considerate thing to do?
The answer to that second thing is yes. Of course. Especially when you consider that modern fuel stations don’t just sell fuel and in weekends or holidays you’re far more likely to go inside and stock up on road-trip essentials (or be waiting for a coffee) before you make it back to your vehicle.
So it’s polite to move your car before you’ve paid. But will it look like you’re doing a runner?
We mystery-shopped three city service stations and the staff all said the same thing: yes, please move your car before you pay if it’s really busy.
It keeps the fuel flowing, it keeps people happy and it allows consumers more relaxed time to buy other stuff. This sounds obvious, but it really helps if you take note of the pump number and amount before you move your vehicle. It’s surprising how easy it is to forget when you’re rushing.
Large service stations have people watching the pumps and they generally won’t authorise a transaction until they have a good idea where the previous customer has gone. And there are cameras of course. Many cameras.
The situation might be different in rural areas where it’s unusually busy and there isn’t the same level of staffing and/or technology. Then you might be caught in the crossfire between frustrated customers and stressed staff trying their best to prevent driveaways.
As it happens, a friend of Stuff Motoring was indeed a servicestation
So it’s polite to move your car before you’ve paid. But will it look like you’re doing a runner?
attendant in a rural area in a previous life: ‘‘We were generally small enough that we knew most customers. If we didn’t and somebody moved their car before paying, we would get a bit worried.
‘‘But when it got really busy it was still preferable for people to do that.’’