Ferrari has officially unveiled the SF90 Spider, the open top version to the bonkers SF90 Stradale launched just recently in our country, promising the same insane hybrid performance, but with more wind in your hair.
The hybrid powertrain from the coupe was carried over to the Spider completely unchanged, which means its 4.0-litre turbocharged V8 and three electric motors still put out an insane 1,000 hp and around 900 Nm of output. 0-100 km/h times is also unchanged from the coupe at 2.5 seconds, as is its top speed of 340 km/h.
Surely adding extra weight with the roof mechanism will cause some penalty on performance, right? You’d be right – 0-200 km/h is a touch slower at 7 seconds (+0.3 seconds), but it’s not like you’d realise it anyway, since it’s still faster than the LaFerrari around the company’s own Fiorano test track with a time of 1:19.5 seconds – that’s 0.5 seconds off the hard-top SF90 Stradale, but 0.2 seconds faster than “The Ferrari”.
Much like all other Ferrari convertible these days, the SF90 Spider is also equipped with an aluminium retractable hard-top, which takes 14 seconds to open or close and is operable on the move at up to 45 km/h.
The roof mechanism and associated chassis reinforcements brought about an additional 100 kg, bringing the Spider’s kerb weight to 1670 kg. Despite that extra heft, Ferrari says that it will still feel nimble around bends thanks to the improved stability and traction brought by the RAC-e electric motors on the front wheels, which supposedly equates to an “equivalent weight reduction” of around 200 kg.
With years of constant improvement to the RHT architecture, Ferrari has managed to shrunk the roof mechanism to occupy only 100 litres of space as opposed to the nearly 200 litres required by a “traditional” system, which means that it can still be placed above the mid-rear-mounted engine right behind the passenger compartment.
Accommodations of course had to be made for the RHT storage compartment, including a pair of vents on the engine cover to ensure that the engine bay is sufficiently ventilated even when the RHT is retracted, as temperatures inside reach nearly 900 degrees celcius according to Ferrari.
Ferrari also says that the Spider was designed specifically to minimise aerodynamic turbulence and noise with the RHT retracted, but still delivering the same aerodynamic performance as the SF90 Stradale with its roof up.
Aerodynamic elements carried over from the Stradale include the air-channels at the front to direct air to the underbody, forged wheel designs, and the ‘shut-off Gurney’ rear wing which has been slightly tweaked to better suit the Ferrari SF90 Spider’s aerodynamic profile. There’s also new subtle trim elements in the cockpit to channel air away from the driver and passenger when the roof is down.
The entire passenger cell has also shifted forwards slightly, though it’s barely noticeable even when put right next to a SF90 Stradale. Other changes in appearance include a 20 mm lowered roofline, a slightly slimmer A-pillar, and a slightly more raked windscreen.
The most discerning feature on the Spider – aside from the lack of roof of course – is the iconic Ferrari rear buttresses, which have been shaped in line with the headrests to minimise any loss of rearward visibility. Even then, the Spider is still very stylistically similar to the coupe variant.
Inside, the Ferrari SF90 Spider is pretty much identical to its coupe sibling, featuring the use of a curved 16-inch digital instrument cluster, along with a whole host of touch-sensitive buttons on the steering wheel for most of the driving controls – including the d-Manettino switch.
Just like the Stradale, the SF90 Spider can also be optioned with the Assetto Fiorano upgrade package, which includes Multimatic shock absorbers, a 21kg weight loss thanks to the use of carbon-fibre on the door panels, underbody, and rear wing, as well as titanium springs and exhaust, along with stickier Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2 performance tyres.
The Ferrari SF90 Spider is priced starting from EUR473,000, which makes it roughly 10% more expensive than the Stradale. First deliveries will begin in the second quarter of 2021, with the left-hand drive markets receiving the new topless Ferrari first.
GALLERY
