Portofino vs Portofino M

I have driven both and would buy the M where I live but in London?
Oh my!
Performance is not that much different as you have already noted.
You may want to also think about which Ferrari warranty you will qualify for as being in your decision tree, as well as which you can get as part of your deal.
Good luck!

 

You will never notice the difference unless you drive them side by side.. the Porto is a touring car (a great one) and the non-M version is plenty… however if money is no object and you think you may develop FOMO if you don’t get the M … then go for it …

 

M. Difference was clear to me. M just tightens a bit of softness.
BUT I fear you are being slightly optimistic about expecting to include your 3 and 5 with you on your trips.
- suggest you try with them both in the car with both front seats occupied- and remember they grow!
fwiw I found it did not work - but a 911 cab did till mine were about 10 / 8.
not to say the M is not a great car but it’s not a family car.
also other than the badge -and the noise - a good spec 911 is just as if not more fun to drive. roma spider is a different story - but mine are now old enough that I don’t consider the back seats to be functional for anything other than bag storage

 

Oh just to add:
As an alternative - I can 100% recommend a GTC Lusso as an amazing option / great drive and great family car and now well depreciated. They also feel super premium - more than the portofino or Roma. That was my option for some of the teenage years. Just not a convertible!

now that they are not at home - back to a Roma spider.

 

I have the M and thought the performance was noticeable, but only back to back as others have said. If you and the wife are tall there is very little room in the back and the kids will soon be too big. I live in London and even with older kids I would never use the car for the school run. Lots of reasons. It might be an entry level Ferrari but it still gets a lot of attention, some of which will be negative if used for a school run that a 911 would not.

 

Urge you to try fitting the entire family into either car with whatever seat regulations must be met for the children and also considering the extensive advice on rear occupant sizing and child seats in the Ferrari user manual. And consider how large the kids will be in a year or two. My Cali T rear seats are nice to look at but get zero passenger use. The Portos have a thinner back on the front seats to help with this issue, your mileage may vary.

 

I have a PM and thought I could use it for my kids for a daily as well. Technically it's possible, but the kids don't like it back there (the seats have a forward pitch to them making them very uncomfortable). So I understand the rationalization, but you are kidding yourself if you think the back seat is useful for anything more than short trips around town.

 

Guys, Endgamebro's question was about the DIFFERENCE between the P and PM. I have the Porto. Even if you push it, you will probably not feel any difference between the two, so save yourself 50k and get the interior touched up with red accents which make it look wonderful. The rear seats are pretty hopeless, even if you are quite short. My grown up daughter and her husband can actually squeeze in but only for very short distances and with howls of complaints. Oh, your kids will earn far more kudos at school when daddy picks them up in a Ferrari rather than a Porsche.

Also take the missus for a very good dinner; she obviously loves you

 

We ordered a Portofino M for my wife and it is great. The one big difference between the two cars (for me) is the M has the "race" option on the manettino, while the Portofino only goes to "sport." I feel the difference in spirited driving between sport and race mode, although not as big as the difference in my 458. My wife drives it in "comfort" so it doesn't matter to her. Obligatory photo:

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for me the big difference is the updated 8 speed transmission.

 

The difference was 100k so I went for the Porto. I didn’t see the M being worth the greater delta to me. Especially because it has the GPF which my F8s has and sounds not so good.

 

For a £50k saving, I'd get a standard Portofino. The M has only got an extra 20PS which on a car with 600PS is insignificant. Another point is the M has GPFs fitted and doesn't sound as good as the Portofino.
However, in your situation, I'd probably get a Lusso V12 or even Lusso T which is about the same money.

 

Image Unavailable, Please Login I live your use case every day and I agree with the Lusso (or FF or 612 OTO) recommendation.

First thing to check is that you can disable the front passenger airbag. You can’t buy a car without this feature if you have kids ( and not all Ferrari’s have this option).

Next is the car seat situation and equally important is stroller and its effect on luggage space.

in the trunk of my 612 OTO there are 2 zero Halliburton cabin size suitcases, 3 Xl longchamp soft bags, and a cybex compact stroller (amazingly small when folded) plus another small bag of microfibres towels and cleaning supplies and an umbrella and few more things. This is normal service for a weeklong trip in Europe - for us anyway.

A true four seat Ferrari is what you need.

Bill