Ferrari’s Most Affordable GT Appears Fresh, But A Closer Look Is Necessary To Confirm | Carscoops

      The Amalfi may not be an entirely new creation, but it features numerous enhancements over the Roma.

      After six years, Ferrari has unveiled the completely new Amalfi as its latest front-engine grand tourer.

      This new sports car replaces the Roma as the starting model in Maranello's evolving lineup.

      Initial static views have sparked discussions on whether it represents a genuine advancement or if it simply recalls familiar elements.

      The decision-makers at Maranello certainly took their time, didn’t they? The Roma was introduced in 2019 and, while it presented a completely fresh design language for the brand founded by Enzo, it remained in production for six years—a lengthy period by Ferrari's standards.

      Now, the Italians have launched the Amalfi, which serves as the new entry-level vehicle for Ferrari ownership. At first glance, it doesn’t appear to be a drastic change. One doesn’t need to be Frank Stephenson to notice that it is fundamentally the same car with some updates to keep pace with increasingly tough competition.

      Ferrari would like you to believe that it's significantly better, urging Roma owners to trade in their cars immediately. To support this claim, they’ve released an extensive list of enhancements. In terms of the powertrain, the twin-turbo V8 has received improved turbochargers, dedicated pressure sensors for each cylinder bank, a higher redline, a new ECU, a redesigned engine block, lightweight camshafts, and a gearbox that is both faster and smoother.

      The driving experience should also be enhanced, thanks to a quicker and more precise (yet still electric) power steering system and a brake-by-wire setup with advanced ABS. On the safety side, the latest Prancing Horse is equipped with a host of driver assistance features, from Adaptive Cruise Control to a Surround View Monitor. This is to be expected, as despite being considered the "baby" Ferrari, it remains an extremely costly vehicle.

      Moreover, they have completely revamped the dashboard, eliminated the central "bridge," updated the displays, and finally recognized that haptic controls for everything was an inadequately thought-out solution to a non-existent issue. Consequently, they have reintroduced some physical buttons, which is undoubtedly a smart move.

      As anticipated, Ferrari invited select media outlets to get an up-close look at their latest creation, and you can see their impressions in the accompanying videos.

      The Roma was quite satisfactory to begin with, so I think its successor will perform well, thank you very much. Personally, I believe the most notable aspect is that, as Top Gear’s Ollie Kew pointed out, Ferrari chose to use the name Amalfi—after a picturesque village in southwestern Italy—rather than names like Purosangue and 12Cilindri, which come across as overly complicated.

      Not only does Amalfi sound much better, but it also has ties to literature, as the Duchess of Malfi, a Jacobean tragedy by John Webster published in 1623, is set in the same location.

      But enough of that; what we really want to find out is whether Ferrari has truly improved upon an already great design. Cue the videos.