since 1976
since 1976
By Lee Pang Seng
DRIVING a Ferrari along the twisty Balik Pulau road in Penang has to be a great dream. And there we were recently driving the Roma Spider with the soft-top down, enjoying the wind rustling our hair as we took to the series of corners at a leisurely trot.
Although the Spider (or soft-top) variants are not uncommon in the Ferrari stable, they are mostly a staple in the mid-engine models. For a front-engine soft-top variant, the Roma Spider is special because it has been more than 50 years since such a model was made available.
The last front-engine soft-top model was the Ferran 365 GTS4 in 1969. As such, Ferrari says the Roma Spider ‘pays homage to the pleasure-seeking lifestyle of the 1950s and 1960s’ while moving its ‘La Nouva Dolce Vita’ concept beyond city limits for ‘elegant, carefree driving’ with wind in the hair excitement.
Sharing the same chassis as the Roma hard-top coupe, the body and chassis saw obvious enhancements to ensure torsional rigidity was maintained. This came in new components and a rear that Ferrari says featured a solution used on the Ferrari Portofino M. The sill, a fundamentally important structural element, was developed specifically for the Roma Spider as were some elements required to install the soft top and A-pillar/windscreen surround.
These new developments added 84kg in weight against the Roma coupe. Contributing to this is the addition of the unique integrated wind deflector that Ferrari says significantly improves occupant comfort and rear seat headrests that visually integrate into the tonneau cover design. This wind deflector is patented by the Italian sports car maker.
Ferrari adds that the gas springs used to extend the wind deflector were meticulously designed and developed to deliver smooth action at all stages of movement and in all conditions. The wind deflector could be opened at up to 170km/h and is automatically speed-limited to ensure that it could be deployed in safety. Once in place, the wind deflector could be used at any speed in the open configuration.
The wind deflector retains all the features unique to a real backrest for the 2+ Roma Spider. The surface that the rear occupants (typically children) rest on is padded for comfort while it is shaped to open even when the front seats are pushed back. The central duct compensates for the air pressure acting on either side to improve the efficiency of its movement. Ferrari says the system’s kinematic points are the result of an in-depth study of the entire back seat and boot area to optimise their position in relation to movement and weight.
Focus on the soft-top was another priority in the careful selection of the materials and ensuring that its design would complement the engine performance on fast highway driving. Ferrari emphasises that the automatic fabric soft top guarantees occupant comfort on a par with the retractable hard top system that is equipped in other spider models in the range.
The large rear glass screen is fully integrated into the soft-top geometry. The five-layer fabric is said to dampen wind and road noise, making it quiet even at high speeds. During development, special attention was also paid to reducing the ballooning effect typical of soft tops. The technical solutions adopted by Ferrari’s engineers are said to guarantee class-leading performance in these areas.
The soft-top mechanism was designed to be light yet resilient: Ferrari says it pushes technical performance limits to new heights with a Z-shaped movement that folds the soft top away in a quick 13.5 seconds and up to a maximum speed of 60km/h. When stowed, the roof’s height is just 220mm, said to be the lowest in the category. That, in turn, ensures a roomy boot that is apparently a class-leading 255 litres with the top up.
Unlike the more usual basic fabrics seen on most convertibles, Ferrari says a new material is used for the Roma Spider’s soft-top to give it a sophisticated air. Special fabric weaves were selected and developed in colour combinations that highlight the car’s ‘twin souls - one more elegant and the other sportier’.
Ferrari adds that the bespoke finish with two-tone weave draws on a palette of four colours to highlight the ‘refined, haute couture nature’ of the fabric. There is also the optional technical fabric developed specifically for this car that is said to give it a ‘sporty yet very sophisticated allure’ with an innovative weave creating an extremely striking iridescent red finish that further enhances the roof’s 3D surface.
Acclaimed power
And what is a Ferrari without its acclaimed power. The Roma Spider is powered by a V8 turbo engine that is named ‘International Engine of the Year’ for four consecutive years and voted ‘Best Engine of the Last 20 Years’ in 2018. The 3855cc power unit punches out 456kW (620PS) at 5750 to 7500rpm and 760Nm from 3000 to 5750rpm. Ferrari says the outright power combines with the flexibility of low-end pick-up as 80 per cent of the torque is available from a low 1900rpm.
New developments see the Roma Spider featuring the introduction of an ‘important evolution’ of the oil pump that reduces time-to-pressure in cold starts by 70 per cent as well as increasing the flow rate at medium revs. This modification is also introduced in the Roma.
Ferrari adds that the Roma Spider’s instantaneous throttle response is a direct result of the adoption of specific solutions, such as a flat-plane crankshaft, which is more compact in size with lower rotating masses to improve fluid dynamics; compact turbines that have a lower moment of inertia; twin-scroll technology that directs exhaust gases from each cylinder through separate scrolls and increases the pressure of the exhaust pulses for maximum power; and a single-piece, cast exhaust manifold with equal length pipes to optimise pressure waves in the turbine and reduce losses.
The Roma Spider also boasts Variable Boost Management, a control software developed by Ferrari that adjusts torque delivery to suit the gear selected, delivering ‘increasingly powerful’ pick-up as revs rise while optimising fuel consumption. As the car goes up through the gears, the amount of torque delivered by the engine increases, continuing all the way up to 760Nm in 7th and 8th gear. This allows the use of longer ratios in the higher gears to keep fuel consumption and emissions down.
The gearbox is based on a dual-clutch oil bath architecture and is derived from the eight-speed gearbox first introduced on the SF90 Stradale. The main modifications made are longer gear ratios and the introduction of a reverse gear. Ferrari says the new layout and component integration optimises the gearbox’s size and its installation in the car.
The main technical features are the use of low-viscosity oil and a dry sump configuration to minimise fluid-dynamic efficiency losses (oil splashing) in addition to the use of a specially-designed differential (with the input pinion axis not offset to reduce slip speed).
The clutch module is 20 per cent smaller than the previous seven-speed model but delivers 35 per cent more torque, with up to a maximum 1,200Nm of dynamic torque transmitted when gear shifting. This transmission software strategy is evolved from a more powerful ECU and better integration with the engine management software. Ferrari says attention was also lavished on strategies to reduce fuel consumption and emissions, in particular the Start&Stop function.
Every single Ferrari engine is said to have its own particular soundtrack that makes it unique and the Roma Spider is no exception. In addition to the flat-plane crankshaft, which synchronises engine firing, and equal-length exhaust headers, which equalise the sound, the spider adopted the Roma’s entire exhaust line that eliminated the two rear silencers in favour of new geometry for the by-pass valves. The continuous and progressive by-pass valve control underscores the engine sound and performance depending on the driving situation.
Leisurely drive
All this power talk was purely academic for us during the Roma Spider drive in Penang. Firstly, it was a lefthand drive Ferrari that we figured was brought in for showroom purposes. Funnily, this wasn’t our first acquaintance with a lefthand drive Ferrari on Malaysian roads. Our first go in a lefthand drive Ferrari was more than 20 years ago when Ferrari organised a World Tour with the Ferrari 360.
The World Tour that wound its way through selected countries around the globe was in celebration of something that we couldn’t quite remember while also showing the prowess of the 360 as a worthy successor to the much-acclaimed F355. We took the drive for the Ipoh to Penang leg that involved mostly robust highway driving with an urban stretch from the Penang Bridge to a Batu Ferringhi hotel.
Just for comparison, the Ferrari 360 is a mid-engine sports car with a 3.6-litre (3586cc) 90-degree V6 (F1310-00) engine that delivers 295kW (400PS) at 8500rpm and 373Nm at 4750rpm. It accelerates to 100km.h in 4.98 seconds and a top speed of 295km/h. The Ferrari 360 Modena Berlinetta (hard-top coupe) we drove came with a six-speed F1 Graziano automated manual transmission.
The more powerful Roma Spider is faster accelerating to 100km/h, taking just 3.4 seconds, slightly slower than the lighter Roma, while top speed is similar being more than 320km/h. Kerb weight is similar between the 360 and Roma in the 1500kg bracket, with the former being the lighter Ferrari.
We only had a slight whiff of the Roma Spider’s acceleration performance when taking off from the hotel. We certainly revelled in the throaty roar of the exhaust when we floored the accelerator and bringing the V8 to life before coming quickly onto slow traffic for most of the drive.
To get us acquainted to a lefthand drive Ferrari and the raft of electronic controls that it comes with, we had a short preview drive from the Lone Pine hotel in Batu Ferringhi to the Teluk Bahang dam. That was probably less than 15km.
The following day was a 40km-plus convoy drive that took us along the winding Balik Pulau stretch to a beach. As we were doing below 60km/h pretty often, we could fiddle with the opening and closing of the soft-top. On the return drive, we had the wind deflector up to see if it would reduce the air turbulence from messing up our hair. It’s supposed to reduce turbulence by about 30 per cent but we found out that we still needed a baseball cap if we didn’t want our hair messed up.
The start button is on the bottom of the steering wheel boss, an unusual place to press to bring the V8 to life. Another novelty was the turn indicator buttons on the upper part of the steering wheel boss. We found that rather practical as we merely have to press the respective button for the side we were turning to. A low-slung sports car has its merits and disadvantages. Looking cool is one of the former but sitting low has its bugbear. We found the door mirror a big too big when we came to junctions and found that looking out for traffic was a tricky one without the help of a front passenger.
Another interesting item was that to get going, we had to use the right steering wheel shift paddle to engage the first gear. Pull it once and first gear is selected. The electronic parking brake is released at the same time and we were good to go. We let the automatic eight-speed gearbox select the best gear as we moseyed along. When we came to a stop, we had to pull both steering wheel paddle shifts to get into Park mode. It was all very simple once we were used to it.
In any case, for the elite clientele that the Roma Spider panders to, the light physical involvement in driving this Ferrari must surely be welcomed. The days of the real man’s muscle sports car are very much over. And in case you are interested, the Ferrari Roma Spider goes for a cool RM3.2 million inclusive of duties and taxes. Check it out at Ferrari Ital Auto Malaysia at Four Seasons Place, Kuala Lumpur.
