Ferrari SF90 Stradale Review

The SF90 Stradale, named for the 90th anniversary of the Scuderia, was Ferrari's first plug-in hybrid and a new kind of flagship: with 1,000 cv it out-powered the LaFerrari, yet Ferrari built it to order rather than in a numbered run. Flavio Manzoni's team pushed the cabin forward, partly to make room for the radiators the hybrid system needs, and kept the flying buttresses and an engine cover as low as they could make it. The Drive thought it lacked the visual shock of the F40 or the LaFerrari, which is fair; it looks efficient more than theatrical.

The powertrain is the story. A 4.0 liter twin-turbo V8 of 780 cv, the most powerful eight-cylinder in Ferrari's history at the time, drives the rear wheels through a new eight-speed dual-clutch gearbox. One electric motor sits between engine and gearbox and two more drive the front wheels individually, giving torque vectoring and, because the gearbox has no reverse gear, doing the reversing. Total output is 986 hp. Ferrari quotes 2.5 seconds to 62 mph and 211 mph, and a Fiorano lap seven tenths quicker than the LaFerrari's; on Top Gear's test track it set the fastest lap the show had aired, 1:11.3. The Drive found the damping precise and communicative and the brake pedal slightly artificial.

It is easier to use than any earlier Ferrari flagship: it can leave home silently on electricity, running about 15 miles on the front motors alone by Ferrari's figure, and it has all-wheel drive when the road is wet. The cabin is less friendly. A curved 16 inch display replaces the gauges and the steering wheel carries capacitive touch pads, which The Drive felt did not do justice to the car's mechanical soul.

Owners on the FerrariChat forum have logged hybrid system faults, including a car that displayed a high voltage battery failure and would not start, and in 2023 Ferrari recalled 614 SF90s built between November 2022 and September 2023 over turbocharger oil pipes that could leak and start a fire, telling owners not to drive until they were replaced. The EPA rates it at 18 mpg combined on gasoline.

Ferrari unveiled its successor, the 849 Testarossa, in 2025, and the SF90 already reads as the car that proved a hybrid Ferrari could work as a series model rather than a limited special. It is one of the fastest cars Ferrari has built and among the easiest of its supercars to use every day, and it asks for some faith in its electronics. Admiration comes first; the affection comes more slowly than it does with the V12s.