The Purosangue, which had its world premiere in September 2022 as Ferrari's first four-door, four-seater model. What kind of car is this model, drawing attention as Ferrari's first SUV? This is a report from an international test drive event held in Italy.

About three and a half hours by car northeast from Milan Malpensa Airport. The majestic scenery, woven from towering, rugged mountains and sheer cliffs, unfolded outside the car window, captivating the eye.

Northeastern Italy—the Dolomites, a mountain range with peaks of around 3,000 meters, registered as a UNESCO World Natural Heritage site in 2009 for its geologically rare beauty. The international test drive event for the Ferrari Purosangue, which had its world premiere in September 2022, was held in this location, and I had the opportunity to visit.

The Dolomites, known as one of Europe's premier winter resorts with numerous ski areas. And the time was late February, the heart of winter. The stage chosen by Maranello for this test drive hints that the Purosangue is a departure from previous Ferraris.

The Purosangue's most defining characteristic, needless to say, is that it is Ferrari's first-ever four-door, full four-seater model. According to Ferrari, this packaging was arrived at in response to market demand for a model that could comfortably accommodate four adults and allow for easy entry and exit.

As is well known, Ferrari has consistently produced 2+2 models that combine high performance with excellent comfort, such as the "330 GT 2+2" (1964), "456" (1992), and "GTC4Lusso" (2016).

“The Purosangue is the latest evolution of these models.”

Pietro Valeriani, the car's Product Marketing Manager, stated this at the beginning of the press briefing.

While the Purosangue is drawing attention as Ferrari's first SUV, Ferrari itself does not refer to it as an SUV. Valeriani's statement implicitly suggests that the Purosangue is, after all, a sports car in the continuing tradition of Ferrari.

One of the key points, Valeriani added, is that while ensuring sufficient ground clearance, it adopts the same layout as other front-engine, rear-wheel-drive Ferraris: the traditional Ferrari V12 engine is mounted in the mid-front, behind the front axle, and the dual-clutch transmission (DCT) is placed at the rear via a transaxle.

This can be seen as proof of the car's name, Purosangue, which means "thoroughbred" in Italian.

Furthermore, like the GTC4Lusso, the Purosangue employs a unique four-wheel-drive system called "4RM," which combines a very compact Power Transfer Unit (PTU) in front of the engine to drive the front wheels.

These factors achieve an ideal front-to-rear weight distribution of 49% front and 51% rear, as expected for a front-engined high-performance car.