Ferrari Flexes SUV Customization

Ferrari SpA’s upcoming SUV/crossover vehicle will be built on a flexible platform that will provide unique and customizable features, chief technical officer Michael Leiters tells Autocar.

Codenamed Purosangue, the four-seat crossover will ride on the same new Ferrari “front-mid-engine” architecture expected to carry a variety of GT-type cars. Autocar says the SUV will be nearly 200 inches long and feature a height-adjustable suspension.

As with Ferrari’s new mid-engine platform that debuts with the F8 Tributo supercar, the front-mid layout can support V-configured engines with 6-12 cylinders, along with a variety of electrified powertrains, including all-electric architectures. The chassis also can accommodate various wheelbase lengths, body styles and ground clearances, as well as rear or all-wheel drive.

The Purosangue is expected to offer a modified version of the hybrid drivetrain used in the SF90 Stradale. That vehicle teams a 4.0-liter V-8 with three electric motors. A turbocharged V-6 and range-topping V-12 also are being considered, according to Autocar.

The new SUV along with the GT cars also will sport a new and more comfortable interior. Autocar says the layout includes a new steering wheel design, updated infotainment and instrument displays, a head-up display, new ways of operating controls, rear-seat entertainment and improved ingress/egress.

Leiters claims the new Ferrari will combine “real SUV” capabilities, supercar-type performance and unspecified customized features that differentiate it from other luxury crossovers. He asserts that the Aston Martin DBX, Bentley Bentayga, Lamborghini Urus and Rolls-Royce Cullinan have had to make ] tradeoffs because they typically share a platform with a more mainstream model.