First Look at New Ferrari Roma Coupe That's an Instant Classic

By Matthew Askari, Car and Driver

Ferrari gave us an up-close look at its stunning new Roma coupe in Rome.

The Roma takes its design inspiration from 250GT Ferraris of the La Dolce Vita period in Rome of the '50s and '60s.

Despite its ageless appearance, it has fully modern technology and, Ferrari promises, best-in-class performance.

The Ferrari Roma is meant to evoke the La Nuova Dolce Vita, and with stunning modern looks, a powerful turbocharged V-8 engine, and clever performance and design tricks, a bit of the sweet life can be yours, too, with Maranello's latest.

We're in the Eternal City, from which the Roma takes its inspiration. Like the Ferrari Portofino, Modena, and others, it is named after a specific place in Italy, this time its most famous city, and the capital. And while Italy's La Dolce Vita period was the 1950s and '60s, the Roma takes its physical inspiration from Ferraris of that era, including the 250GT Berlinetta Lusso and the 250GT two-plus-two. You can really see this in the sculpted hood, the grille, and the overall profile silhouette.

The exterior is exceptionally sleek, defined by clean lines, the most modern front end we've seen on a Ferrari, including sharp full-LED adaptive headlights with a horizontal light strip. The rear evokes muscle with haunched shoulders wrapped over 20-inch wheels—245/35 ZR20s in front, 285/35 ZR20s in rear. The taillights are the thinnest we've seen on a Ferrari, and create an especially sharp graphic in tandem with the two sets of dual exhaust pipes, set to the outer corners hinting at the Roma's performance prowess.

The mid-front engine proportions are backed up by Ferrari's award-winning turbo V-8, good for 611 horsepower at 7500 rpm and 561 lb-ft of torque. Power is distributed via an eight-speed DCT, the same one that recently debuted on the SF90 Stradale, meaning it should also be about 13 pounds lighter than the one it replaces. Ferrari says the Roma can hit 60 mph in about 3.3 seconds (Ferrari quotes 3.4 seconds to 62 mph), and 124 mph in 9.3 seconds, with a top speed of 199 mph.

Ferrari says the Roma boasts best-in-class performance, and it employs a few slick tools to accomplish as much. For one, the rear windscreen has a built-in mobile spoiler that is flush within the rear of the car but automatically deploys under hard driving to aid with downforce. The Roma also boasts cutting-edge dynamic systems like its Side Slip Control 6.0, with a five-position manettino (steering-wheel-mounted switch), and the Ferrari Dynamic Enhancer, which controls yaw angle by hydraulically adjusting brake pressure at the calipers. This is a first on a Ferrari GT model.

Ferrari also used new, lighter components—70 percent of the parts are new—in tandem with new production techniques to reduce weight wherever possible. The result is a claimed best-in-class power-to-weight ratio.

With needing to use gasoline particulate filters, the engineers in Maranello paid extra attention to sound of the exhaust system. Engineers redesigned it, removed silencers, and introduced new bypass valves to help magnify naturally produced notes.

Once you step inside, you realize that this is a thoroughly new Ferrari, too. The interior reflects an evolution of the dual cockpit, featuring separate driver and passenger cells; it looks more like what we've seen on concept cars. The HMI has been completely redesigned, the steering wheel is new, and all of the Roma's main commands can be accessed via haptic controls on the wheel, to allow the driver to keep their eyes on the road and hands on the wheel.

A 16-inch digital cluster provides all necessary information, and the 8.4-inch vertical touchscreen and a passenger screen, are developed to be intuitive. A Ferrari key with "comfort access" allows the driver to open the car with just a touch of a button next to the new flush handle on the door. The Roma will be available with optional advanced driving systems (ADAS) to make longer journeys—we suspect this car will encourage them—a bit more comfortable.

The Ferrari Roma looks like a thoroughly modern Ferrari, and a proper GT. With its turbo V-8, slick features, and alluring design, this is one we're eager to get our hands on.