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October 2, 2022
Why does Ferrari insist its first SUV is a sports car? — The Purosangue's World Premiere | Ferrari
Ferrari Purosangue | The Ferrari Purosangue
Ferrari's First Four-Door Model, the Purosangue, Makes its World Premiere
The Ferrari SUV, long rumored and eagerly awaited, has finally debuted. Fumio Ogawa, an automotive journalist who attended the world premiere, reports on the new model, named Purosangue (meaning "thoroughbred").
Text by Fumio Ogawa | Photographs by Ferrari
The Core: Active Suspension System
The four-door Ferrari, long anticipated, was finally unveiled on September 13, 2022, at the Teatro del Silenzio in Lajatico, Pisa, Italy.
In addition to being a full four-seater, comfortable for long journeys, it boasts a newly developed 533kW V12 engine, all-wheel drive, and rear-wheel steering – a full-spec package. It is particularly interesting that Ferrari emphasizes that this model, the Purosangue (meaning "thoroughbred") with a height of 1,589mm, is "strictly a sports car."
Ferrari previously created a four-door prototype called the "Ferrari-Pinin" in 1980, based on a proposal from Pininfarina. This was because customers were requesting a Ferrari that could be driven by the whole family.
"That plan was scrapped by Enzo Ferrari, who was unsatisfied with its performance at the time. Ferrari's principle is that whatever form it takes, it must meet Ferrari's standards. That policy has been maintained ever since."
Prior to the unveiling at the Teatro del Silenzio, I attended a press preview at Ferrari's headquarters. At the event, Chief Product Development Officer Gianmaria Fulgenzi shared insights with us.
"The reason we can launch the Purosangue now is the completion of our active suspension system, which meets our standards. It's an electromagnetic system using a 48-volt motor, controlling both body and tire movements at high frequencies. This suppresses roll and pitch, and absorbs road imperfections (by effectively using the coil springs). Its response is far superior to air suspension, maximizing cornering performance."
Ferrari's development team's dedication is thorough. As mentioned earlier, the newly developed 6.5-liter naturally aspirated V12 engine features red cylinder heads. It's a dry-sump design to reduce height and is mounted behind the front axle, intruding into the cabin, to optimize front-rear weight distribution.
Furthermore, the 8-speed dual-clutch transmission is integrated with the rear differential in a transaxle configuration, also for weight distribution considerations. The 4WD system, along with this transaxle, uses a PTU (Power Transfer Unit) with clutches to control the power distribution to the left and right wheels at the front.
As Chief Marketing & Commercial Officer Enrico Galliera stated, "The Purosangue is a name that reflects its content," and it seems to live up to that description.