"Enjoy it, but remember: you carry 1,000 horses." These were the last instructions they gave me just before leaving the SF90 Stradale through the historic gate of the Ferrari factory , on Via Abertone number 4 in Maranello . That is where the first street model came out 73 years ago with the prancing horse in front. Now another historic car was crossing that arch.

Because the SF90 Stradale writes new chapters in the trajectory of the most prestigious sports car manufacturer on the planet and we have been the only Spanish publishing group to test it. It is the first plug-in hybrid Ferrari and the only one that can be powered solely by electricity , the most powerful of all street models ... and the fastest on the track . Because the clock (1:18) has placed the SF90 one second below the LaFerrari , which had the best record in Fiorano, the circuit in which each red model shows its worth.

Perhaps that is why, at Ferrari they have placed this car at the height of the most legendary in its entire history. At the level of its so-called Supercars , the Olympus of the brand in which only the 288 GTO , F40 , F50 , Enzo and LaFerrari have a place . Unlike these, the SF90 will not be produced in a limited series , but will be marketed without hindrance, with a price for Spain of 481,598 euros .

A unique feeling

We are not talking, although we could, about going out to try a unique Ferrari like the SF90 Stradale (SF90 is the name of the F1 car with which the 90th anniversary of the Scudería Ferrari was commemorated and Stradale is the Italian word that refers to the versions street model competition) by the most iconic point of the factory. We do it because our exit to the streets of Maranello was made ... in complete silence .

Our mount, with 1,000 horsepower , had almost the same as the SF1000 with which Charles Leclerc had awakened days before to the town that houses the heart of Ferrari, but we were able to cover the first kilometers in complete silence . The inhabitants of Maranello, where red is religion, were not surprised by it, although it was noted that the SF90 Stradale was still quite new to their eyes.

Undoubtedly, one of the most contradictory sensations of the day we spent with the beast was that: that of silently riding through the surrounding towns. And it is possible because the heart of the SF90 is a complex hybrid system that consists of a gasoline twin-turbo V8 engine and a rear electric unit that come together to drive the rear wheels and two other electromotors on the front axle , which are the only ones that can govern the previous train, therefore generating electric total traction. The 'pile' is a 8 kWh battery (6.5 useful actually) and weighs 72 kilos located just behind the driving position, own development of Ferrari.

Here we must stop to explain some keys to the RAC-e (Rotaion Axle Control Electric), the name that Ferrari has given to the SF90's electric front axle . He is in charge of propelling the car in clean mode, but he is also the one who drives the car when we reverse it (quiet, there is a back up in case we run out of battery) ... and something more important: an ally even in track thanks to the vector torque control that allows the right force to be sent to each wheel with millimeter precision and a speed that escapes the human brain. And this is a vital element in its performance on track ... apart from making driving this 'little angel' much more affordable, which has nothing to do, without going any further, with that of the 812 Superfast, much more nervous and stressful.

Interestingly, the Ferrari engineers have decided that the RAC-e undocks from 210 km / h , since in those situations we will normally roll in a straight line or the curves will be of such an open radius that we will not need your support to control the car , nor will there be excess power or torque behind.

We will roll in silence in two situations. One: when we select the Electric program from the e-manettino , a second selector (tactile and located to the right of the steering wheel, perpendicular to the dynamic manettino) for the different propeller programs. We will enjoy 25 kilometers of autonomy and we will be able to reach 135 km / h with the force of the battery, which recharges in two hours (it does not support fast charging, but we can do it running through the thermal engine with a Recharge program that is select from the menus).

And the other, when the electronics decide it within the Hybrid program , the one that the car selects by default when starting and where the action of all the motors is combined depending on the driving circumstance, without us having to do anything.

The beast wakes up

In Hybrid mode the V8 is already felt when needed. At first, its rumble is very shocking to break the previous silence, but with the passage of kilometers his music is the best travel companion.

It is an evolution engine of the F8 Tribute but with so many changes that Ferrari almost talk about a new engine . For example, the injectors are mounted in the center of the combustion chamber, the cylinder capacity grows to 4 liters due to the increase in piston diameter (from 86 to 88 mm), the injection pressure increases to 350 bar, the turbos they are more efficient ... It is even 25 kilos lighter and, in addition, its center of gravity is 15 mm lower. Consequently, its power increases from 720 to 780 horsepower and the torque increases from 780 to 800 Nm.

All in all, the true symphony is in the combination of all these elements in favor of maximum efficiency and driving pleasure. To the 780 CV of the thermal engine, we add the 220 that can be provided by electric motors , but not only this: we must also manage the action of the traction control , the vector distribution of front torque, the electronic brake , the performance of the eight-speed double-clutch gearbox (the first in Ferrari with this number of ratios, 10 kilos lighter and which reduces consumption by 8%) ... This is handled by the eSSC (Electronic Side Slip Control) system .

The numbers 'sing', the sensations impress

From 0 to 100 in 2.5 seconds (in just 30 meters it reaches that speed), from 0 to 200 in 6.7, maximum speed of 350 km / h ... Said like that, it sounds brutal, but reality surpasses the numbers .

On our road route we could already get an idea of ​​its potential, because there was not a long enough section to get the most out of the SF90. "La vettura e fortissima" , the test pilot warned us before leaving us the keys ... and he was not exaggerating. We have never felt such a wild acceleration at the controls of something with wheels (it must be closer than an astronaut feels when taking off) and the sound of the engine when we circle the red zone must resemble that of a tyrannosaurus rex bellowing at our ears . But without giving fear, pure pleasure.

Luckily, the afternoon included a tanda on the Fiorano track , where we could more safely squeeze those 1,000 magical horses. However ... the feeling was the same. Anything other than an airfield runway will fall short of the SF90 , such is its dynamic opulence.

It is here that it is mandatory to activate the Performance or Qualifying modes of the e-manettino, where the V8 is always operational. The second squeezes every last drop of all thrusters, but only for a few laps ... as was the case.

Apart from this, we could see that it is a more affordable car to the limit -at least to ours- than other Ferrari . Its traction capacity is surprising for a four-digit power and the action of the front axle is noticeable , especially in the two slow curves of Fiorano in which the SF90 is obediently registered ... as long as we do not dare to remove the traction and stability controls , in which case skidding is guaranteed. In the rapids we will get closer to its grip limits the more faith we have in its ability to add lateral Gs .

A detail that we collected on the track will express better than our words the nobility of the SF90. The head of track development of the car, a Spanish engineer settled in Italy since the time of Fernando Alonso, confessed to us that he himself, without being a professional pilot, had managed to shoot very, very close to that 1:18 in Fiorano.

It is true that the fast lap corresponds to an SF90 with the optional Assetto Fiorano package (and that 50% of customers automatically request, as well as the racing decoration) which further refines the athletic qualities of the Italian supercar. It includes aluminum Multimatic shock absorbers developed by Ferrari Competizione GT, various carbon exterior and interior parts that reduce weight by 30 kilos and an active spoiler that generates 390 kilos of downforce at less speed, at 250 km / h. An SF90 without this kit would roll three tenths slower.

We cannot fail to mention an important innovation: the electronic by wire brake , without mechanical connection between the pedal and the discs. Everything is done with electrical impulses and, although we traveled with the prejudice that it could be a problem, nothing is further from reality. The SF90 brakes with a lot of power, the pedal has a solid feel and is easy to dose , both on the road and on the track.

A Ferrari P of the 21st century

It does not have such voluptuous forms as that of the P3 and P4 that wrote historical pages in competition for Ferrari (both in Le Mans and Daytona) but the SF90 does draw inspiration from them to create a new image, that of the future of Ferrari .

There are many things that attract attention. In the nose, the headlights take on new shapes , a light signature (with three horizontal bands as daylight) ... and technology, since it uses led arrays for the first time. In addition, underneath they hide a channel that cools the brakes , complementing the calipers with their own internal duct, a solution taken from Formula 1 that reduces the temperature of the brakes by 15 degrees.

The cabin is well advanced and the rear, seen from the profile, has several cuts. The engine is one step below where the roof ends and also under the spoiler that includes an integrated mobile spoiler that is capable of generating up to 390 kilos of aerodynamic support at 300 km / h ... or 250 in the Assetto Fiorano version .

The area of ​​the motor cover (transparent and openable from the inside) does not completely close the opening, but there is a channel for cooling , in addition to the surrounding circular holes. The need for breathing is greater in this hybrid heart SF90 since while the leaks reach temperatures above 1,000 degrees, the electrical elements have to stay ... at the temperature of the human body . Hence also the air flows behind from the sides of the front mustache itself to the air intakes of the rear fins. A good part of the carving of the car has responded to this.

The rear includes a spectacular diffuser , the outputs of the exhausts, higher than usual, and again drivers who abandon the traditional round shapes of the Ferrari , something that Roma had already begun to target.

Inner revolution

Inside, we enter a new world at Ferrari. Steering wheel, screens, bottom of the center console ... Everything is new. The watch box is the first curved screen of a production car, with 16 inches diagonal and multiple display options: from the usual one, with the tachometer in the center and the hybrid indications on the right to another with the navigator at full speed. screen ... or even one that summarizes our trip by turning off the engine, with the maximum performance obtained.

The steering wheel is an evolution of the latest, with all the controls included in it (turn signals, lights, clean and, of course, the manettino in which we select the dynamic modes -Wet, Sport, Race, CT Off and ESC Off-) to which must be added the e-manettino that, by means of a haptic command, allows us to change the engine programs already mentioned above (Electric, Hybrid, Performance and Qualifying).

Another novelty is the touch controls located on the edges of the arms. We will especially use the one on the right, with a box that we manage as a 'joystick' to navigate between the menus and the View Max key to enlarge the size of the main information that we have selected. We have encountered two problems here. The precision of the tactile 'joystick' is not very good, although possibly we would end up taking the trick, but what we are not going to be able to avoid is touching the Max key with the palm in the turns or if we relax the position of the hand a little . It is very easy to touch it involuntarily.

It inherits from the Tribute or the Superfast the additional screen for the passenger, but it is a novelty, and much appreciated, the good taste with which the center console area is resolved. The buttons for the automatic transmission have been arranged in the shape of an H, like the classic manual gearboxes of reijlla , a very wise decision. No less than the new square key with the Ferrari logo occupying its entire main face and the model name on the reverse. In addition, it fits just below the grille, letting the prancing horse shine in another detail worthy of applause.

We could tell you a thousand more things: for example, that the front part of the cockpit, in the foot area, goes more than 15 mm higher to be able to mount a vortex generator that provides 30% more donwforce. Or that rims, by design alone, achieve 5% more aerodynamic efficiency . Or that the spoiler has 66% lighter actuators. Or that it is the first Ferrari with head-up-display (which, incidentally, includes curious information such as the angle of the next curve expressed in level of difficulty) ...

And it is that the SF90 Stradale is made to the last detail . How could it be otherwise when we refer to a car destined to have a place next to the largest in the history of Ferrari.

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