Out there? Maybe– Ferrari’s newest concoction blends a grand tourer with a flat out racecar to produce the SF90 XX.
Tickling 1,000 horsepower is hard. Straddling the line between luxury and racecar might just be even harder. A coup d’etat of the traditional supercar industry, Ferrari wanted something that doesn’t just scream prancing horse. Instead it was representative of what the brand itself stood for. Complacency doesn’t exist in Maranello, only constant improvement.
If anyone thought the 986 horsepower in the seemingly plebian SF90 Stradale might’ve been too much, they may want to close their eyes. Ferrari isn’t one to get bogged down in the past. So in a direct challenge to the previous iteration of the SF90, out comes the SF90 XX– a 1,016 horsepower diavolo that blurs the barrier between a racecar and a luxury vehicle.
Advancement in vehicle technology isn’t linear, especially when it comes to numbers. The law of diminishing returns has long held steadfast in the automotive world– and it’s clear cut when it comes to 0-60 times. For years, the feat to beat was 3 seconds. Then 2, and finally now, one. Yet when Ferrari states that the SF90 XX can sprint to 60 in 2.3 seconds, we look at it with a little bit of skepticism. Especially when outlets like Car and Driver tested the normal SF90 at 2.0 seconds just last year. That would situate the XX amongst the upper echelon of the supercar– if not hypercar world, a perfect kickoff to what the XX is truly about.
The SF90 XX is the First Road-Legal XX
The SF90 hooks the driver by being faster, lighter, and more aerodynamic than the original SF90. Utilizing the original powertrain, Ferrari has managed to make serious improvements on the product by fixating most of their firepower on the internal combustion component. The twin turbo V8 now enjoys 17 more horsepower than before and a new “extra boost” function allows the XX to break the four-figure mark in terms of horsepower.
The extra boost is a unique version of anti-lag developed for the electric motors. The feature enables the car to quickly get back up to racing speeds when exiting a turn. It’s limited to Ferrari’s highest drive mode– Qualify, and is a metaphor for the car itself, tightroping the line between F1 racecars and one that can actually be registered by the DMV.
More Prancing Horses to Get Revved Up About
The SF90 XX is the first XX car to ever earn a road-legal status. The moniker has long been held for Ferrari’s halo vehicles which fall well within the lines of rocket ships on four wheels. Now, the company has made the ambitious move to make the vehicle available to regular retail customers. We use the term regular very loosely in this case due to the fact that all the XX’s are sold out– in both the coupe and convertible format as well as no “normal” human being would ever think of themselves driving this car.
The car still gets 9 miles of range purely on an electric motor, which means the only major alteration to the EV powertrain was the Extra Boost function. However, the eight-speed sequential transmission gets cues from the Daytona SP3 and gets serious aerodynamic changes when looking back at the relatively stoic SF90.
Aero, Aero, Aero
Tailing the car is a massive wing that replicates a suspension bridge when you tilt your head. Ferrari claims the SF90 XX can create a maximum of 1168 pounds of downforce at 155 mph, which is a huge leap compared with the 860 pounds of the SF90 Stradale. The hood even gets an update punctuated by two huge vents smack dab in the center.
“The aerodynamics are a key element of any XX car,” Ferrari’s chief development officer Gianmaria Fulgenzi explains. “We worked a lot on this, believe me – there is not one square centimeter on the car that is not shaped by aerodynamics. And we have for the first time in a long time this incredible, high-performance rear wing, because [Raffaele di Simone] is always pushing to have more downforce and grip, because more downforce and grip mean increased performance and driving experience.”
Ferrari still uses the active aero setup they originally had in the Stradale with the rear lip spoiler popping up when the car dictates it’s time for more downforce. A smoother underbody also allows air to slip underneath the car without much friction. The SF90 XX has been elongated to accommodate the extra aero and receives a slew of technological upgrades such as three distinct yaw sensors borrowed from the 296 GTB to decipher exactly how the car itself is driving.
Only 799 coupes and 599 convertibles will ever grace earthly streets and all of them have been snatched up already. Not like much of us could even get on the waiting list, with the MSRP on one starting at $844,000– with the return on investment predictably pretty good. An XX finally gets to touch US roads for the first time in history, and we’re all for it.
