2025 Ferrari Amalfi revealed

News.com.au

2 days ago

It's hard being beautiful.
Human or automotive, keeping your looks can sometimes prove an impossible task.
With all that weight of responsibility on their shoulders, designers could have bottled it when it came to freshening up the Roma – that's already been declared the Prancing Horse's most beautiful car of modern times.
Surely, a mild facelift was the safest option, although like in the real world, a quick nip and tuck has the propensity to go very wrong indeed.
Instead, Ferrari took a much braver decision to pension off the Roma nameplate and start afresh with the Ferrari Amalfi.
Referencing the pretty, picturesque cliff-top town located south of Naples, designers worked like artists to create a simpler, sleeker, as if carving a piece of automotive sculpture.
Take that with a pinch of salt, but the result is nonetheless striking, borrowing plenty from the 12Cilindri, but beautiful? We'll leave that up to you.
Sharing no body panels with the Roma, beneath the Amalfi's smoother skin lurk the Roma's lightweight aluminium spaceframe and its front, mid-mounted twin-turbocharged 3.9-litre V8.
That's right, despite millions invested in an all-new hybrid V6 for the 296, Ferrari's latest GT keeps its V8, escapes electrification and makes 15kW to boot.
Now packing 471kW of power and thumping 760Nm of torque, the gains come from an engine that breathes easier, with quicker-spinning turbos and lightweight internals for elastic responses.
Bolting on a smoother, quicker-shifting version of the old car's eight-speed dual-clutch transmission, careful kilo-cutting means 0-100km/h now takes just 3.3 seconds – 0.1sec swifter than before, while top speed remains pegged at 320km/h.
Ferrari insists it hasn't turned its back on people who bought the 2+2 coupe for sedate coastal cruises, but still couldn't resist tinkering with the Roma's sublime drive anyway.
Gaining new springs and dampers all around, plus drive-by-wire braking, larger carbon-ceramic discs ensure the Amalfi is quicker to stop and faster on track.
Packing Ferrari's cleverest 6D sensor and latest Side Slip Control (SSC) 6.1, the Amalfi is easier to drive fast too and said to be able to drift for Italy, if you're feeling reckless.
Keeping it stable at higher speed is neat F1 aero know-how that includes fresh intakes above the headlamps that jet cool air into the engine bay, while a redesigned floor, prominent splitter, larger diffuser and three-way pop-out boot spoiler generate 110kg of downforce at high speeds.
Most buyers will be more curious about what's happened within.
While there's no more millimetres to speak of, the cabin does feel extra spacious thanks to a new centre console that's placed lower and is made from a milled-down block of aluminium.
Present and correct is Ferrari's awkward gear selector gate, key holder and a wireless phone charger pad, plus a feeling that you're inhabiting something a cut above a Porsche.
Changes include a switch to a landscape-mounted 10.25-inch infotainment that
runs Ferrari's latest software and works with wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto.
Current owners will rejoice, not at the large 15.6-inch digital instrument cluster, or gimmicky 8.8-inch display for the passenger, but the fact Ferrari has binned the steering wheel's horrid, too-easy-to-trigger haptic controls and replaced them with proper buttons.
Cementing its grand touring credentials, Ferrari offers three sizes for its heated, ventilated, massage Comfort seats and there's even an optional 14-speaker 1200W sound system if you tire of the V8.
Speaking of which, engineers admit the V8 is a 'few decibels' quieter than before, which is irritating, but the biggest gripe must be the roll out of the adaptive cruise, AEB, blind spot detection, lane-keep assist and traffic sign recognition – which are all great for safety – but are joined by a dreaded intelligent speed warning buzzer.
Luckily, the new steering wheel features a shortcut that can kill all the tech in a single-digit stab.
More bad news is the price.
While you wouldn't expect beauty like this to come cheap, Ferrari says its new Amalfi will be priced well beyond $475,000 when it lands in the second half of next year in Australia – and that's before the usual $50-100k of options most buyers add.
The ugly truth is the most affordable Ferrari remains an expensive alternative to the Aston Martin DB12 ($455,000 plus on-roads) and Porsche 911 Turbo S ($559,400 plus ORCs).
2026 Ferrari Amalfi