I, for one, always thought the Ferrari California got a bad rap. People said the rear end was “bulbous,” that the car felt heavy, and that the V8 engine “wasn’t powerful enough.” That may have been a little bit true, then again, those people may have been whiners (keep in mind that I like the Mondial Cabriolet, too). But even the whiners would have to agree that the Portofino, the California and California T’s successor, addresses all those shortcomings and more.
The Portofino does descend from the California and more powerful California T but almost the whole car is new, from the larger, restyled grille opening to the quad exhausts and LED taillights. It’s faster, lighter, wider and lower than the cars it replaces and the look – oh man the look of the thing will make grown men swoon and young women weep. Or vice versa. Some will both weep and swoon at the same time. I know I did. I’m not too proud to admit it. And like the 488 and 812, the Portofino is so beautiful to behold that you’ll want to send a thank you note to the Ferrari Design Center the first time you watch one drive by. Mille grazie.
The new model rounds out the Ferrari lineup perfectly, too. While the V12-powered 812 Superfast can outrun it in a (long) straight line, and while the 488 GTB may be quicker and more maneuverable on a racetrack, the Ferrari Portofino manages to do almost as much as its Maranello stablemates while being measurably more comfortable to drive every day.
I know. I just drove one for five long, fast, glorious days.
The Portofino, as you’ve read here, here and especially here, is almost all-new. The chassis alone is 70 pounds lighter and provides increased torsional rigidity, while the total Portofino is 177 pounds lighter than the California T it replaces. Curb weight is listed at 3,670 pounds.
Moving that curb weight off the line is a more powerful 3.9-liter twin-scroll, twin-turbo V8. While it has the same block, crank and turbos as the California T, it gets new pistons, connecting rods and new one-piece cast exhaust headers for greater efficiency and quicker spool-up of the turbos. Variable boost management controls those turbos and helps produce their 591 horses (a 39-hp increase) and 561 lb-ft of torque (5 more lb-ft). This engine is mated to a seven-speed dual-clutch automatic that will make you forget your near-constant insistence that you want a manual.
The whole thing gets to 60 in under 3.5 seconds and to 125 mph in just over 10.4.
So when I had an appointment in the high desert of Southern California and had to drive to it from northeastern LA, there was no doubt whatsoever that A) I’d be taking the Ferrari and not the long-term Nissan Leaf electric car and B) I’d be taking Angeles Crest Highway. There’s also a C) I’d be taking the top down the whole way even though it was winter and lesser men would have flipped it up and cranked the heater.
First of all, it’s all true — everything you’ve heard, imagined or fantasized about Ferraris — all of it: true. They really are special cars worthy of all the slobbering adulation they get. If you’re lucky enough to own one, you know.
Secondly, this Ferrari is worthy of all the above strictly on its own. It really is beautiful, like a slightly shorter version of the 812 Superfast, with a long hood, short deck and svelte undulations along the sides. Putting the top up or lowering it doesn’t change its curb appeal. The top itself goes up or down in 14 seconds at speeds up to 25 mph, so don’t hesitate to drop it whenever the mood hits you.
In the city, it is supremely comfortable, especially for a car that’ll go almost 200 mph. There are 18-way power seats, for instance, and, in addition to one new 10.2-inch infotainment screen for driver and passenger, there is a separate 8.8-inch screen on which the passenger can read various items of performance data.
All of which you’ll forget as soon as you start driving. Or soon after you start. I made the mistake of starting off up The Crest with the driving mode knob on the steering wheel twisted to sport. This made the steering overboosted and the throttle too twitchy, as it seems to do in every vehicle made nowadays with this kind of control. So I switched the knob to comfort and pressed the shock button on the left to stiffen up the magnetorheological dampers. This seemed to be the best way to wring the most out of the Portofino driving experience.
Then I started whaling on it. Unlike some crossover SUVs that have paddle shifters uselessly tacked onto their steering columns as adornment, the ones on the Portofino really do make driving faster and more enjoyable. Pull back on the paddle and listen to the engine roar, burble or pop, depending on whether you’re upshifting or downshifting. Put it in automatic mode and it does maybe the best job of anything at keeping up with your driving. But use the paddles, as I did on ACH.
I was pushing it pretty hard but never felt it start to slip. Credit both the third-generation electronic rear differential (E-diff3) and the F-1 Trac traction control shared with the 488 GTB. Maybe on a racetrack I would have pushed it hard enough to feel some drift, or maybe the diff and Trac would’ve kept it in line there, too. You can crank the knob over to ESC off, but I didn’t want to risk even a scratch to this magnificent machine. All I know is that it tracked true and held on tight through every corner and curve I threw it into.
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