Dorset and Hampshire are two particularly beautiful areas of the UK with historic villages, a world-heritage coastline and picturesque countryside that’s been featured in a number of famous novels. What better way to explore these two counties than in a rather special car? With its strikingly elegant yet potently sporting lines, seriously impressive performance and comfort, the Ferrari Roma was a perfect choice.
Our chosen route took us from the heart of the New Forest, and down to the coast at Highcliffe, and on to Sandbanks, famous for its white sand beaches and being one of the most coveted and expensive places to live in the world. A good blend of windy country and fast A roads, to really experience the Ferrari Roma’s power, handling and ride.
For those new to the Roma, this Ferrari is a mid-front engine 2+ Coupe. Nestled under the sleek gorgeously honed bonnet is a 3.9 litre, twin-turbocharged, 612 Bhp, V8 engine, delivering a blistering 0-62mph sprint time of just 3.4 seconds and on to an impressive top speed of 199mph.
All Ferrari’s are effortlessly eye catching and the Roma is no exception. This is one of the most beautiful models created by the hallowed marque – and not just in our opinion, judging by the number of positive comments and thumbs up received from other drivers and passers-by. Most commented on how they appreciated the fact it’s elegant and uncontrived, with no superfluous spoilers and all that jazz to detract from the purity of its design. It simply oozes class and there’s not a single compromised angle – whether viewed from the front with that purposeful shark nose, or sculpted sides with their beautiful flowing lines, or the curvaceous rear with its striking slit design rear lights. Ferrari really has excelled itself and delivered a breath-takingly handsome GT car.
The visual delights continue into the cabin. From the moment you slip down into the leather seats and softly close the door, you instantly feel an integral part of the car. The way it’s designed, it wraps around you giving a racing car feel, but does this cleverly in a way that’s not claustrophobic. The cabin is actually very airy and spacious. The innovative design of the dash and the way it swoops down seamlessly through to the doors and the centre divide between you and the passenger is very well thought out. In fact Ferrari has purposely designed the Roma interior to make the passenger feel involved in the driving experience too.
Located between you and your passenger is the state of the art central infotainment display which is intuitive to operate and controls your climate settings, navigation system and host of other things such as phone, media, audio etc. There is also the option of having a passenger display which was fitted to our test car, which is situated just above the glove compartment in front of the passenger seat. On this screen the passenger can control their own seat controls, audio, air conditioning, and what we thought a particularly neat touch, they can see the vehicle’s speed and revs and even if the tyres are up to temperature. It again gives the passenger that feeling of involvement in the car and the drive.
All Ferrari models are a dream drive and the Roma is no exception. From the moment you sit down and wrap your hands around the half leather, half carbon fibre steering wheel with that prancing horse in the middle of the wheel tingles run up your spine. It really does make you feel very special. The steering wheel itself is full of tech. Ferrari cars for quite some time now have had all the driving aids fitted on the steering wheel itself. The only thing behind the steering wheel are the absolutely gorgeous big carbon fibre paddles for gear changing, no stalks for wipers and indicators.
The paddles feel so nice, but more about them later. The steering wheel may look complicated but actually after just a very short time it becomes second nature and feels totally right and normal. Ferrari actually call it ‘eyes on the road, hands on the wheel’ philosophy and it works!
The steering wheel has touch pad sensitive controls which also have an audible noise (which can be turned off if preferred) so you know your gestures have been recognised. The previous physical red starter button has gone to be replaced with a touch sensitive start button. On the first press the digital display (HMI) will burst in to life – first with the prancing horse appearing followed by your driver’s display, then with your foot on the brake you push that button again and the amazing V8 sparks in to action. The sound of that V8 on start up is pure music to the ears – although your neighbours may not agree at 7am in the morning. After a few seconds the V8 softens down a little to a lovely purr.
When you set off, the Roma pulls away effortlessly. You would think a 3.9 litre twin-turbo would be a bit of a handful but it can actually be so docile you’d almost forget just what the car is capable of. If you’re new to supercars, and possibly a bit nervous, this is a perfect Ferrari for you, as when it’s not providing a million thrills when fully engaged with at speed, it is perfectly capable of pootling along in auto mode seamlessly shifting through the gears.
During our test we were coasting around rural areas at 30 mph in eighth gear and it would be happy to do that all day. It’s even got start/stop which is very good and smooth. You can turn it off, but to be honest, in traffic it’s worth having it on. Also, the Roma can average 25mpg and has a 80 litre fuel tank capacity. This makes it a great GT car for those long trips or driving holidays across the UK or Europe. The Roma really is a truly versatile Ferrari you could use every day.
The ride is exemplary, Ferrari have done an excellent job on the suspension set up. We had a few family members experience the Roma with me as passengers and they were all amazed how good the ride was. We came across some very poor road surfaces but the Ferrari just took it all in its stride. Gravel car parks at restaurants in the New Forest, speed bumps going into a supermarket car park – it handled everything with ease. The Roma has a good size boot too which can be extended by putting the rear seats down. Speaking of these, you can easily put small children in the back and it does have Isofix connection points, but for tall teenagers and adults, it would be a bit of a squeeze.
Versatility and being perfect for even less confident sportscar drivers aside, this a Ferrari and there are 612 horses at your disposal.
On the steering wheel is the Manettino switch which will give you five different driving modes. There’s a setting for wet, comfort, sport, race and ESC off. Knowing our limits and we’re not exactly likely to take on Charles Leclerc any time soon, we resisted trying the ESC off setting to see just how edge of your seat thrilling this oh-so capable car can be. Of the set up choice, obviously wet is for rainy and damp cold days when the roads can be damp and slick, but most of the time comfort mode was deployed. Even in sport mode you can press the bumpy road setting and it still gives an amazingly comfortable ride.
Out on the open (New Forest Pony free) road, when you can start to safely play, hit the accelerator and wow! This is when you appreciate you’re in a true supercar with unbelievable speed accompanied with amazing sound track from that glorious V8.
As mentioned earlier you can change gear with those lovely carbon fibre paddles. The gear changes are just so rapid and smooth. There’s an LED display on the top of the steering wheel that lights up telling you when to get that perfect up shift, which is a neat touch. This again adds to Ferrari’s ‘eyes on the road’ philosophy because you can see the LED flashing even though your eyes are focused on the road ahead.
The gear box is new, and is derived from the SF90 plug in hybrid Ferrari supercar. With this speed and amazing gear box you’re left in no doubt that although the Roma is versatile enough for daily use, it’s still very much a true Ferrari with real passion, real feeling and real emotion. This stunning car is a true thoroughbred and provides an intensely exciting driving experience and you will find yourself thinking of every excuse to take off for a drive.
Ferrari expects around 70 per cent of Roma buyers will be new customers to the brand. What a great way to start your journey with this most hallowed marque? Once bitten by the Ferrari bug you’ll never go back, and many will move on to the brand’s more extreme models. The Roma starts at £170,000 and might be Ferrari’s entry level coupe, but the racing DNA still runs incredibly strong.
For further info, visit ferrari.com/en-GB.
