Drove Roma yesterday...

I was able to drive it after really thinking of ordering one. Glad I passed. Based on the lines I felt like it might be the spiritual successor to my old 612. The exterior is so polarizing. It looks like three different people designed it. One from the headlights forward, one from there to rear and one from taillights back. I like the middle part but the front grill just doesn’t do it for me. As for the interior, the cockpit design is very tight and feels claustrophobic. The gauges, while modern really lacked soul for me. I don’t want to sound like one of those old traditionalists. My daily drivers are Teslas! But I just don’t want the Tesla feel in my Ferrari. The ride was peppy but felt muted and really seemed to lack the soul of most Ferraris. Much like the original California did. My wife and I drove Cali Ts as well and REALLY loved everything about it. While not the rocket ship the V12s are, it was just an awesome experience that put a huge smile on our faces. I wish I could have said the same for the Roma. I wanted to like it more but it’s just not what I get a Ferrari for. It will certainly bring new fans to the brand but at what cost to the Ferrari brand?

 

I sat in a display Roma and felt it was too tight for me.
I’m 6’ and 180.
I drive a California T which has a much more comfortable interior.
The Roma has a high bridge which makes it seem even tighter.
As I sat there I wondered who is going to gravitate to this car.
The instruments are high tech for sure but that won’t save it in my view and in fact may be an additional barrier to some for success.
I was reminded of the Maserati Alfieri in terms of interior space, which has never made it to production.

 

The former is my hang up. I can get over exterior features as I can't see them from the cockpit, but the interior seems overly "busy" to me.

For the latter, per F's own literaure - 30 - 40 year old urban hipsters are the Roma target demographic!
I don't know about ya'll, but I like to think of myself as a 50-something, small town hipster!
T

 

You prefer the feel of the Cali-T to the Roma ??

 

Oh hell yeah. Like I said, I love tech and if the only real difference was a virtual screen, I could get behind that (although the virtual manettino seems WEAK). I would choose the Cali T over Roma ANY day of the week. The performance difference isn't huge but the Cali T is more real, more analog. As someone who drives Tesla's daily, I want my Ferrari to be that old school throwback, complete with sound, soul and gusto. The Roma is meh. It won't age well. Not with that nose. And as it has been said, the Roma interior made ME feel claustrophobic, and I am 5'7"!!!

 

Interesting. I’ve driven the Cali-T however not the Roma although I went to the debut. I think the Cali-T will age very well. I kinda think the exterior of the Roma will age ok however the interior screen won’t. I don’t mind it’s styling and feel it will be hugely popular especially with Adam Lavine and Behat Prinsloo hawking the car to the masses which makes me want to puke.

 

One more reason not to buy it lol. I like the back of the Portofino more than the Cali T, but overall, I honestly think the Cali T is one of the most under appreciated Ferraris out there now. The older these cars get, and the more cars get electrified/virtualized, the more demand there will be for the old school analog stuff. The tech is great for cars that are more designed to be daily drivers but not for cars that you want to stir your soul as a special feeling. The Roma does NOT feel the least bit special, minus the great curves.

 

In terms of inside the car I definitely prefer the interior of the T.
I would not be able to live with the interior of the Roma.

 

Interesting comments. I have a completely different perspective. I am 6'4" and 240 lbs. I test drove the car for about 1/2 hour last week. Due to my size, I'm use to being uncomfortable in cars but after taking some time to adjust the seat properly, the driving position was good and adequately comfortable, much more so than other sporting cars. The interior is certainly not spacious but I didn't feel claustrophobic at all. I liked the tight cockpit feel of it.

The styling is certainly different from the current F car line up. Perhaps that's why I love it. Understated elegance with a high level of performance. The 458 is the last Ferrari that in my opinion, had great styling. Since then, too many vents, scopes, splitters etc.. for my taste. I can appreciate the aero benefits but the overall effect has gotten too "Johnny Racer" for my taste. I have no experience with the Cali or Portofino but thought the styling fussy and a bit chunky. But to each his own.
I liked the Roma so much I ordered one.

 

That’s precisely how I feel. Portofino is somewhat upright and chunky to my eye. I have ordered a Roma subject to test drive this week. Coming from a GT3 RS....so I’m tiring of hyper aggressive styling cues.



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I thought I would be unusual, I'm going from a 430 Scuderia to a Roma....similar to your move from the GT3 RS to a Roma! Looking forward to hearing your comments on the test drive. Totally different driving experience than the Scud but similar performance. I bet lap times would be within a second of each other, not that I intend to do much serious track time. I raced a 911 for 11 years and scratched that itch.

 

Got 30 mins in today, they let one of my best friends and I take a pair of Romas out together.

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Thoughts, in no particular order:

• I think that the highlight is the steering, and the taut feel of the car. It feels pretty compact.
• The speed is thrilling when the turbos are ready. The turbos are not as instantaneous as people say, at least to me being spoiled with an NA V12 I can tell what "instantaneous" is. That said, after they get spinning, the torque push is a lot of fun.
• The deceptive thing about a 0 to 60 statistic in a turbo car like this (3.4 seconds), is that you go 0-10 mph in 2 seconds, and then 10-60mph in 1.4 seconds. So on paper it's on pace with a 458, but IRL it would probably lose the jump then catch up. It's not nearly as quick as an F8, that you can tell. From memory, I would say the speed feels a lot like the Portofino (but that was years ago now that I tried that).
• Visibility is great. once you figure out how to cycle through the touchpad interfaces for the side mirrors.
• Seating is good, arm rests in the right spot.
• They thought about human arms for the cupholder (the worst ergonomic on the 458), and I kept slipping my phone into the side pocket along the center column, which was handy.
• I really liked the front camera, and 360° view in the dash. That's technology that actually worked. Although I was surprised it didn't seem to turn off automatically, I had to press the camera touchpad even after I'd started driving out of the parking lot and back on the street.
• The touch interfaces on the wheel are trash. I hated them. As I drove and turned the wheel, I kept hitting things and changing settings, adjusting the audio and radio, bringing up the voice command menu like four times, cycling through the dash configurations and just generally frustrating me.
• The muffled sound is a real disappointment for a V8. You can make a better sound with your lips and a wrapping paper roll. I mentioned that this was the real let down on the F8, too. Both the 458 and F12 are better for sound. Probably 488 too.
• I got through a 30-minute drive without having to touch the tablet in the center. I tried to figure it out while sitting at a red light and gave up.
• The jumpseats are merely for decoration, storage or luggage.
• It is a car that looks IRL like it does in photos. The nose is the best part of the car, and looks sharp driving along. The monolithic sides need something for flair - I've said it needs 550/575 'shark gill' vents. But driving along with my friend they looked wonderful and it looks special.
• As far as being a GT daily driver with some exotic flair, it totally meets the project proposal. It is sporty enough but not frantic, direct but not overly firm. Graded with that syllabus, it is an A- student - losing for the infuriating touch pads/buttons. I'd rather have the Portofino switchgear. It is not a wild sports car in the sense of the 488/F8 line. My friend, a longtime Audi and Porsche fan, thinks it could be his first Ferrari.
• If you can spec it close to $225k it would obliterate the value proposition of both the auto Vantage and the DB11.
• Getting right back into the F12, the F12 immediately felt larger (although it might not be that much bigger, it steers bigger), slightly heavier, much louder on WOT and a little bit softer in steering. The larger steering wheel feels heftier. Touchier throttle. Real dials with machined metal knobs that that click.

 

Great write up!!


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Also, I didn't feel like I wanted to buy it. As wonderful as it was. Same as when I got out of the Portofino and 488.

It was so good but didn't pluck that heart string. You know the one. It's the one that makes you immediately start talking purchase numbers and planning things out in your head. I had that with the 458, and the Giulia Quadrifoglio - the latter I bought within minutes of my first test drive, and took it home.

I think with the overwhelming tech in the driving experience, cars are becoming [too much like] cell phones. This will be Ferrari's most leased model ever. Guys will lease Romas like MB/BMW/LR-RR, put 6-8k miles on them over 36 months and then return them.

 

Sounds like Ferrari has nailed the Roma brief 100%. This car is going to make life really difficult Porsche Turbo, Aston DB11 and the McLaren GT, I feel especially bad for the latter two.

 

I disagree. After the novelty wears off I would take ALL THREE of those over the Roma, especially the 911 Turbo and Mclaren. BOTH HAVE SOUL, the one main ingredient that many have said it completely lacks.

 

I agree with your first point there - exactly what I thought - it was good/ok but I am not trying to figure out how to get on in my garage anytime soon.

 

Love you blue F12 - - don't see many. Bought my first Ferrari a few years ago - - Blu Mirabeau 612. The old girl still looks great when clean and shiny. I'll keep an eye put for yours if you ever chose to sell it. Shame you didn't like the Roma.

 

Turbo S is soleless. GT3 RS does..but not as DD


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I felt the same way after test driving one. I personally like the exterior, but the inside was not that great and all digital everything is not what i want in a Ferrari. On the other hand i just LOVE my Portofino!

 

I think the Roma is best looking.....

... Aston Martin.

Actually I like this car a lot but I just wish they had pushed the styling a bit more "Ferrari". Still, for a Luxury GT, its a darn attractive car.

I'm not sure though why you would buy this over a Portifino...

 

Thanks Pail. Yeah, I like the light blues and could only find a TdF car on the market but since I like wrapping, I picked based on interior and options and then wrapped it this color.

I wouldn't say that I didn't like the Roma, it is wonderful in many ways and a car that the new Ferrari driver would say is a 9/10 or even 10/10... but if you've driven other N/A Ferraris, or any of the recent V12s, it is not the same.

 

I doubt McLaren will be too worried about it’s GT v Roma.
Maybe other Ferrari models but not the Roma.

 

Thanks for the post. I was beginning to think I was the only one who prefers the Porto to the Roma! (Though I also daily a Tesla, so maybe it's something about us

Agree about the interior. Loss of the analogue tachometer is a real shame -- Porsche did a much better job modernizing gauges with the 992-gen 911-- and the thick center tablet looks too Aston (which in turn is of course 2000s Merc). Front grille looks mediocre to awful depending on colour, but I suspect an alternative option will shortly appear, rest of the exterior I don't mind.

Been over a year since I drove a CaliT but they're starting to look very tempting value and a managable upgrade on my 911. Or perhaps wait another 12 mos for Porto to depreciate a bit further?