Ferrari Purosangue 2023 Review – carsales.com.au

The 2023 Ferrari Purosangue is priced from an eye-watering $728,000 plus on-road costs and personalisation, which positions it far above contenders such as the Aston Martin DBX707 (from $428,400) and Lamborghini Urus Performante (from $465,876).

Local customer deliveries of the Purosangue start in the second half of this year, and Ferrari Australia spokesman Ryan Lewis says: “The reaction from clients has been overwhelmingly positive.”

Despite the stratospheric price, the waiting list will be long as Ferrari execs say the company will cap Purosangue production so that the model accounts for no more than 20 per cent of its overall sales volume.

The 2023 Ferrari Purosangue comes loaded with kit but doesn’t include everything you might expect.

Among the quota of standard features is climate control, a multifunction steering wheel, aluminium pedals, LED headlights and daytime running lights, and huge 22-inch rims with 255/35 tyres at the front and even bigger 23-inch wheels with 315/30 tyres in the rear.

A weight-saving carbon-fibre roof is standard, but there’s also the option of a full-length electrochromic glass roof.

Interestingly, there’s a 10.2-inch digital gauge cluster and a separate 10.2-inch screen for the front passenger, but no central infotainment screen.

Perhaps controversially, Ferrari has also opted not to offer in-dash navigation, saying that buyers can instead access this feature via Apple CarPlay or Android Auto.

The logic that Ferrari execs offer is that it’s impossible for any OEM to keep up with the currency of data that Google Maps provides.

The power-adjustable front and individual rear seats (with heating and massage functions) are superbly contoured and trimmed in Alcantara that’s made using 68 per cent recycled polyester.

You can’t have a bench seat in the rear as Ferrari says it’s not in the business of building five-seat cars.

One of the Purosangue’s in-cabin highlights is the superb 21-speaker Burmester audio system that belts out symphony-quality sound – regardless of whether Beethoven or Megadeth is your cup of tea.

The 2023 Ferrari Purosangue is loaded with a vast array of active and passive safety features.

These include adaptive cruise control, autonomous emergency braking (AEB), lane departure warning, lane keeping assist, blind spot detection, rear cross traffic alert, surround view camera, traffic sign recognition and driver drowsiness and attention monitor.

Although there are no dedicated off-road modes, the Purosangue comes equipped with hill descent control as a standard feature.

Like the Ferrari 296 GTB, the Purosangue has a brake-by-wire system with the latest-generation ABSevo anti-lock system that’s said to be improved, especially in low-grip conditions.

The Purosangue also has SSC 8.0 Side Slip Control, 4RM-S Evo all-wheel-drive and four-wheel steering, plus a Multimatic-developed active suspension management system for precise control of each wheel’s vertical movement.

The Purosangue is equipped with 10 airbags and the integrity of the cabin is safeguarded by a crash structure and passenger cell that uses a blend of high-strength steel and aluminium.

Arguably the biggest tech advance the 2023 Ferrari Purosangue makes is in its new active suspension system to reduce the effects of body roll and serve up tenacious grip and handling without any trade-off in ride quality.

It employs Multimatic’s True Active Spool Valve (TASV) tech, which uses 48-volt electric motor actuators and spool-valve hydraulic dampers with coil springs (air suspension doesn’t respond fast enough) at all four corners to precisely control each wheel’s movement and isolate it from body movement.

This tech reduces roll and pitch during heavy cornering and braking, while optimising each damper’s compression and rebound response.

The rear-mounted eight-speed dual-clutch gearbox (essentially the same unit in the 296 GTB) is dry-sumped to keep its centre of gravity low, and the V12 is set well back in the chassis, making for ideal 49:51 weight distribution over front and rear axles.

Although it’s technically an all-wheel drive car, the Purosangue’s V12 sends power solely to the rear wheels for the most part. It’s only when traction is compromised that the front wheels get a share of torque via a Power Transfer Unit (PTU). This is a format Ferrari has utilised in past in the FF and GTC4 Lusso.

The PTU is essentially a two-speed (plus reverse) gearbox that sends drive directly from the engine to the front wheels. It can independently transfer up to 800Nm to each wheel via wet clutches connected to the axle shafts, which means it provides genuine torque vectoring (as opposed to torque vectoring by braking individual wheels).

The predominantly aluminium bodyshell features a front-hinged bonnet to hark back to past Ferraris, and the Purosangue is the first Prancing Horse-badged car to feature four doors (Pininfarina created the one-off Ferrari Pinin four-door in 1980, but that never progressed beyond a concept).

The rear portals are hinged at the rear and open up to an angle of 79 degrees to make for easy ingress/egress to the back seats. But don’t call them suicide doors because they’re “welcome doors” in Ferrari-speak.

Ferrari claims torsional rigidity is up by 30 per cent compared to the GTC4 Lusso and, even though the Purosangue is a bigger vehicle than the Lusso, its aluminium spaceframe chassis weighs four per cent less.

The Purosangue has a dry weight of 2033kg (2180kg with all fluids on board), which is on the sprightly side for an SUV that stretches 4973mm long, 2028mm wide and 1589mm tall.

The jewel in the crown of the 2023 Ferrari Purosangue is an operatic 6.5-litre V12 that’s derived from the unit in the Ferrari 812 Competizione.

That said, the engine has been subjected to a thorough rework to ensure it delivers more urge at low revs, in keeping with the Purosangue’s contrasting job description.

The V12 gains a new intake manifold, reprofiled camshafts, a high-pressure (350 bar) direct-injection system, equal-length headers and remapped ignition timing. The resulting outputs are 533kW at 7250rpm and 716Nm at 6250rpm.

The raw numbers may make the engine seem peaky on paper, but the key point to note is that 80 per cent of the peak torque quota is on tap from just 2100rpm, so the sonorous V12 is extremely tractable in all conditions (more on this later).

Ferrari quotes a 0-100km/h split of 3.3sec, 0-200km/h in 10.6sec and top whack of over 310km/h, so the Purosangue can comfortably see off all comers (Aston Martin DBX707 and Lamborghini Urus Performante included) in a drag race.

Company execs say the Purosangue is “the quietest Ferrari ever built” and this is partly the result of focusing on the V12’s sound quality rather than sheer volume, plus the fitment of extra sound-deadening in the cabin and thicker glass for the windows.

No consumption or emissions figures are available at this stage, but clearly the 2023 Ferrari Purosangue won’t be a fuel miser.

This isn’t in any case likely to be a key consideration for its target market.

The events team chalked out an interesting drive route for the 2023 Ferrari Purosangue that took us from the northern Italian town of Pinzolo to the lofty ski resort of Chalet Rocce Rosse – high up in the Italian Dolomites – and then back again.

Before we set off, a few minutes were required simply to survey the Ferrari Purosangue from all angles. There’s a clear demarcation between the lower and upper sections of the car, with the lower half described as being more “technical” as it features a raft of aero elements to optimise airflow and cooling.

The front fascia incorporates air curtains in the outer edges of the lower air intakes and also above and below the headlights. The lower curtains work with ducts in the front and rear wheel-arch extensions to smooth airflow down the flanks of the car, effectively ‘sealing’ the front and rear wheels in the process.

Meanwhile, the ducts above the headlights channel air through the engine bay and out via vents just below the base of the A-pillars on each flank. This not only contributes to cleaner airflow around the sides of the car, but also reduces under-bonnet air pressure.

The upper half of the car is pure Ferrari. All curves and bulges, it manages to look svelte yet muscular. Arguably the best angle is the rear three-quarter, where you can take in the steeply raked roofline, voluptuous haunches and subtle Kamm-tail that kicks up gently before sharply dropping away.

Styling is always a subjective area, but the Purosangue scores an unreserved thumbs-up from this tester.

Getting in and out of the car requires no contortions whatsoever as the high hip point (by Ferrari standards) means you can simply slide in. The cabin has an open, airy feel – especially in the glass-roofed car we tested – and the seats are superbly contoured in both front and rear.

The V12 fires up with trademark Ferrari flair, but it recedes into the background as you ease away from standstill and trundle down the road.

Ferrari’s claim that this is the quietest car they’ve built isn’t without substance. Drive it sedately and you’ll barely be aware of the V12’s presence.

A different animal emerges as traffic thins and the road turns twisty. The V12 responds to the slightest prod of the throttle, and the eight-speed dual-clutch auto is brilliantly fast and intuitive, as we’ve come to expect from Ferrari’s other models.

The roads we’re on are narrow, especially in a 2028mm-wide car, but a commanding (yet not too high) seating position makes for good forward and lateral visibility, while the precise and tactile steering makes it easy to accurately point the car.

With a few more kilometres under the belt, it’s time to more fully explore the Purosangue’s performance envelope. It’s almost hard to fathom this a 2.2-tonne projectile, especially as we tackle the ascent to Chalet Rocce Rosse, perched 2250m above sea level.

This stretch is strewn with a mix of hairpins and faster, more open corners. The harder you push it, the more Purosangue encourages you to keep upping the intensity.

Each tweak of the steering elicits an immediate response, while the predominantly rear-drive format means you can also adjust the car’s attitude via your right foot. There’s seemingly endless grip and traction, while the rear-steer helps hide the Purosangue’s 3018mm wheelbase through tight hairpins.

The huge carbon-ceramic stoppers are operated by a brake-by-wire system, yet it’s so exquisitely calibrated that you’d swear it was an analogue set-up.

The Manettino switch on the steering wheel has Ice, Wet, Comfort, Sport and ESC Off settings and the Purosangue’s active suspension system means there’s more adjustability on offer than in other Ferraris.

Pushing down on the Manettino in Comfort mode gives you the option of selecting Soft or Medium damper settings, while in Sport mode you can select Soft, Medium or Hard. Even with the Hard setting selected, we found ride quality never deteriorated to bone-jarring levels – far from it.

All in all, the Purosangue is an exhilarating drive – whether you’re flogging it across mountain roads or simply mooching around town.

By the supercar marque’s own admission, the 2023 Ferrari Purosangue was not conceived for off-roading duties.

You only need a quick glance at the XXL rims and rubber-band tyres to glean that this is no mud mauler or dune tamer.

That said, the Purosangue has reasonable ground clearance (185mm) and the TASV active suspension system can raise it an additional 20mm, but only at speeds of up to 30km/h and that, too, just for short durations.

There’s an optional electronic lift kit that can raise the suspension by 30mm (for total ground clearance of 215mm), but suffice to say that gravel tracks and snow-bound roads are as far as the Purosangue has been designed to venture.

The 2023 Ferrari Purosangue has a familiar Ferrari ambience inside, but with a difference. The sweeping dashboard has twin binnacles – one housing the 10.2-inch digital instrument cluster, and an adjacent one incorporating a 10.2-inch display screen for the passenger.

As alluded to earlier, there’s no central infotainment screen, so what you find instead is a rotary pop-up dial for the air-con settings.

On the whole, the cockpit is well resolved, but the only infuriating element is the touchpad on the right spoke of the steering wheel. It’s meant to enable you to scroll through various display screen options and choose the one you want, but the problem is that it only works sometimes, so you can be pushing and prodding fruitlessly until it decides to co-operate.

Other than this glitch, there’s not much to complain about.

All four seats are superbly contoured and nice to behold. Crucially, the rear seats offer enough room for adults up to 1.83m tall (six feet in the old scale).

That said, boot capacity is a bit tight at 473 litres.

See our walkround video from the launch here.

The 2023 Ferrari Purosangue is a brilliant piece of design and engineering, and it’s no exaggeration to say it rewrites the rulebook for what’s dynamically possible for a full-size SUV (note: when we say full-size, we’re referring to overall dimensions, not passenger or luggage space).

Apart from being a scintillating drive across winding mountain roads, the Purosangue has a Jekyll-Hyde persona (in the best possible way), whereby it can also fulfil the brief for a relaxed, refined highway cruiser and fuss-free rush-hour transporter.

It’s the most useable, daily driveable Ferrari by a huge margin, and it wouldn’t be a surprise to see each example clock up many multiples of the annual mileage registered by even the grand-touring Roma or defunct GTC4 Lusso.

The Ferrari Purosangue is a magnificent ultra-high-performance SUV. The only questions are: Can you afford it, and are you prepared to wait two years to take delivery?