Ferrari drops top on savage SF90 PHEV

NEARLY 18 months since revealing its new plug-in hybrid (PHEV) SF90 super-coupe, Ferrari has expanded the offering of its electrified bruiser with the reveal of the SF90 Spider.

Due to arrive Down Under in the fourth quarter of next year, the SF90 Spider is distinguished by its retractable hard-top roof that can be raised or lowered in 14 seconds, with Ferrari claiming the new roof to be around 40kg lighter than a conventional hard-top convertible roof.

With a dry weight of 1670kg, the Spider is around 100kg heavier than the Stradale coupe, with the roof mechanism eating into around 100 litre of cargo capacity, leaving 74L of luggage space.

Visually, the SF90 Spider largely mirrors the styling of the Stradale with the obvious exception of its roof mechanism, featuring the same slim LED headlight signature, wide lower bumper/air intake and sculpted bonnet with integrated air channels. 

At the rear, the squared-off quad LED tail-lights are retained, along with the twin exhaust pipes mounted high into the bumper and a massive rear diffuser.

Arguably the headline act of the SF90 Spider is its powertrain – carried over unchanged from the Stradale – a 4.0-litre V8 powering the rear wheels, tuned to produce 574kW at 7500rpm and 800Nm at 6000rpm.

The petrol V8 is then teamed with a trio of electric motors – one of which sits between the engine and eight-speed dual-clutch auto, the other two on the front wheels – which boost the combined power output to a savage 736kW.

The electric motors are paired with a 7.9kWh battery, which allows up to 25km of combustion-free driving, and an electric-only top speed of 135km/h.

Its massive performance numbers allow the SF90 Spider to rocket from standstill to 100km/h in just 2.5 seconds – the same as the Stradale despite the weight penalty – while reaching 200km/h takes 7.0s, trailing the hardtop by 0.3s.

The drop-top also only took 0.5s longer (1:19.5) to lap Ferrari’s Fiorano test track compared to the coupe.

Ferrari says the SF90 Spider boasts a 45:55 per cent front/rear weight distribution, and rolls on 255/35 front and 315/30 rear tyres wrapped around 20-inch alloy wheels.

High-performance brakes also help the SF90 Spider pull up from 100km/h in around 29.5 metres.

Like the Stradale, SF90 Spider buyers will be treated to a new 16-inch wraparound digital instrument cluster, operated by a new-generation steering wheel whose buttons control 80 per cent of the infotainment system’s functions.

As is the case with most high-end Ferraris, fans can expect the initial local allocation of SF90 Spiders to be snapped up by well-heeled Prancing Horse fans in quick time before the local arrival in around a year.

Pricing is yet to be detailed, however buyers can expect to fork out a premium of $50,000 or more over the Stradale, which asks a dizzying $846,888 plus on-road costs.

With two months of sales left in 2020, Ferrari has sold a combined 180 vehicles, down 20.4 per cent on the 226 managed over the same period in 2019.