So, the SF90 XX is the latest car from Ferrari’s famed XX programme. You know the one where you pay unimaginable amounts for a car that you can neither take home nor take on the road. Yes, that one!
Although, I guess Ferrari did realise that this model was a bit faulty, so guess what they’ve done for their latest car? They’ve gone ahead and made it road-legal, yes, an XX car that can run on taxpayer’s asphalt.
So, the SF90 XX still has the same roaring PHEV powertrain from the ‘standard’ SF90, with a slight pinch salt of course! It’s the same twin-turbo V8 and the same three motors, but through some sheer Italian trickery, the chaps over at Ferrari have managed to extract 30 more prancing horses. This puts the maximum total system output at 1016hp. I mean what!! You know cars are going crazy when 1016hp starts sounding normal.
The SF90 XX gets an extra boost system in the ‘Qualifying’ drive mode, derived from Ferrari’s F1 tech. To quantify how crazy the ‘Qualifying’ driving mode really is, the SF90 XX can do a nought to 100kmph run in 2.3 seconds with 200kmph coming in 6.5 seconds.
The XX programme’s latest & greatest borrows its 8-speed DCT’s shift-logic from the Daytona SP3. The gearchanges are accompanied by a soundtrack that can only be described as an aural experience! The sound is piped in through a redesigned tube which connects the intake to the cabin. The soundtrack of the SF90 XX is both goosebump and hard-on inducing.
Maranello has decided to give fixed wings a return, because before the SF90 XX, the last Ferrari to feature a fixed wing was 1995’s F50. And the fixed wing isn’t the only wing on the SF90 XX, the standard active aero wing from SF90 is still there to give the car a double-wing design. Bet you didn’t notice that coming, did you?
The wing’s not the only aero change, there quite a few of them. Ferrari also used their paper punch machine on the SF90 XX’s hood to give it two nostrils which are the exhausts for the front radiators.
Some electronic wizardry has also been sprinkled on top of this banger of a dish! A new chassis-control system has been borrowed from the 296 GTB that maximises braking performance.
The interior is much more stripped down compared to the standard SF90. The carpeting and other comforts have been tossed out of the window to make way for an interior made of carbon fibre. An interior that screams race-car!
You know what those two ‘X’s stand for? They stand for exclusivity I guess! That’s because there only ever will be 1,398 of these cars, 799 Stradales and 599 Spiders, and as is the case with most limited production Ferraris it will take more than just dollar bills to get your hands on one of these. Although, you’re too late if you’re thinking of picking one up, and that’s because all 1,398 of these are sold out, because of course they are!
There’s no word on how many of these, if any, will utilise the Indian taxpayers’ asphalt but one thing is for sure, the Stradale & Spider, priced starting from EUR 770,000/- & 850,000/- respectively, will be one hell of a collectible one day, irrespective of where they end up!
Words: Sresht Garg
