In the past month I’ve taken three generations of Ferrari convertibles out, the Ferrari California, the Ferrari California T and most recently, the brand new Ferrari Portofino. I loved the experience except for the fact that I had to give the cars back at the end of the day. The Portofino was the best of the bunch but its also newer and more refined so giving it back was also the hardest. I don’t know why I do this to myself, I should test drive cars I dislike that way I don’t feel upset when I have to give them back.
The Ferrari Portofino was launched earlier this year as a replacement to the California T which I test drove a couple of weeks back. Like the previous two California’s, the Portofino is a hardtop convertible which makes it extremely suitable for Kuwait’s weather. After driving and loving the California T, I was really curious to see how much further Ferrari would be able to improve on such a great car. Turns out quite a bit.
When I parked my car at the dealership and spotted the Portofino outside waiting for me I got super excited. The car looked incredible and I couldn’t wait to get the keys and drive off. The lines on the car are very sharp, the front lights now resemble the latest Ferraris and the rear end I think had the biggest improvement with a much more aggressive look. The interior also got a major facelift and now looks very similar to the GTC4Lusso which I also test drove a few months ago. Like the GTC4Lusso the center screen is now huge and uses Ferrari’s updated infotainment system that also includes Apple CarPlay. It’s very slick looking and gives the interior a very futuristic feel.
Since there was rain in the forecast and the sky was getting darker, I decided to get some photos of the car before the storm hit. The dark clouds ended up adding a lot of drama to the shots and because the car was so photogenic, it didn’t take me long to get my photos before I got back out on the road. I had some errands to run in Shuwaikh again and one of the things that keeps surprising me about these new Ferraris is how well they handle the inner streets with all the potholes and imperfections. They’re so good I actually ended up googling information on them and turned out Ferrari uses “magnetorheological dampers” which is a suspension system that’s controlled by magnets and software. It’s very impressive in real-world use because on flat roads at high speeds, the suspension is fairly stiff, but then a few minutes later you’re in Shuwaikh traveling over bumpy horrible roads and the suspension eats up all the imperfections giving you a super comfy ride. Their software controlling all this is super smart and makes me wish I had a similar setup in my violently rough Lotus.
Once I was done with my errands I headed to the Gulf Road. The weather was still good at that point so I was enjoying the drive and the much-improved sound system. The Portofino felt considerably faster than the California T even though on paper that shouldn’t have been the case since performance-wise, they’re supposed to be pretty close. My theory is the Portofino feels a lot faster because the exhaust note is now louder and more aggressive sounding while the gearbox is more responsive. Even when it started raining later in the day and I had to close the roof I still continued to enjoy the car since it was easy to drive and didn’t mind the road legal speeds we were traveling at.
The only two negatives with the car I could think of is that I had to give it back, and that I can’t afford one even though the starting price is a very reasonable (in Ferrari standards) KD 68,000. That price can quickly go up depending on the options you add, but even with the base model, it’s not like you’re getting any less of a car. If you can afford it and are looking for a convertible that’s fast, extremely comfortable and great looking, you need to check the Portofino out if you haven’t already done so. It really is one of the best looking convertibles on the market.
The local Ferrari dealer is located on Instagram @ferrarialzayanikuwait and their website is alzayani.com/ferrari
