17 March 2023
The Ferrari Roma Spider, the latest model from the Maranello marque, was presented to clients today at an exclusive event at the El Badi Palace in Marrakesh.
This timelessly elegant, high-performance car is a contemporary take on the chic, pleasure-seeking Italian lifestyle of the 1950s and 60s.
This spider carries over the proportions, volumes and specifications of the Ferrari Roma’s hugely successful V8 2+ concept, but what makes it so striking is the adoption of a soft top, a solution making a welcome return to the Prancing Horse range on a front-engined car 54 years after the 1969 365 GTS4.
There’s a novel and modern take on the soft-top design that underlines the Ferrari Roma Spider’s exuberant character, with extensive personalisation options that include sophisticated, bespoke fabrics and contrasting stitching.
On a functional level, the soft-top deploys in just 13.5 seconds and can be actioned at up to 60 km/h.
The fact that it is so compact also yields a larger boot and boosts the car’s versatility.
A new, patented wind deflector integrated into the backrest of the rear bench can be deployed by a button on the central tunnel, guaranteeing exceptional in-car occupant comfort without taking up any space in the car.
The Ferrari Roma Spider retains the Ferrari Roma’s excellent dynamic characteristics: it boasts a best-in-class weight/power ratio thanks not only to its soft top, but also to its all-aluminium chassis and 620 cv V8 from the engine family that was heralded as the International Engine of the Year on four consecutive occasions.
The engine is coupled with Ferrari’s universally acclaimed 8-speed DCT known for its incredibly fast shift times as well as excellent standards of comfort and mechanical efficiency.
The Ferrari Roma Spider is not just rewardingly easy to drive, it’s also extremely dynamic and responsive: this makes it the perfect companion on out-of-town weekends and longer journeys alike. Always, of course, with the exhilarating Ferrari V8 soundtrack playing in the background.
A number of features are designed to make this car superbly versatile, including a category-topping boot size which includes a hatch via the rear seat backrests to allow larger items to be carried, and standard wireless connectivity by Android Auto® and Apple CarPlay® Wi-Fi.
Not forgetting, of course, 18-way-adjustable heated ergonomic seats that are also available with an optional neck warmer for colder days.
Designed by the Ferrari Styling Centre headed by Flavio Manzoni, the Ferrari Roma Spider aims to move La Nuova Dolce Vita concept beyond city limits for elegant, carefree driving en plein air.
This 2+ spider boasts a sophisticated fabric soft top, which is designed not just to maintain, but to enhance the flawless proportions of the coupé on which it is based without modifying that car’s elegantly flowing silhouette.
Redesigning the coupe’s tapering, fastback roofline meant modifying the rear screen to incorporate it into the soft top so that it can fold below the tonneau cover when open.
On the Ferrari Roma Spider, the original styling theme has become a body-colour band running across the base of the roof that divides the carbon-fibre active spoiler from the roof and rear screen, creating a seamlessly integrated tonneau cover. When the soft top is lowered, the active spoiler visually connects with the rear bench and headrests.
Unlike the more usual basic fabrics seen on most convertibles, a new material has been used for the Ferrari Roma Spider’s soft-top, giving it a sophisticated air.
Special fabric weaves were selected and developed in colour combinations that highlight the car’s twin souls, one more elegant and the other sportier.
The bespoke finish with two-tone weave draws on a palette of four colours highlighting the refined, haute couture nature of the fabric. The optional technical fabric developed specifically for this car gives it a sporty yet very sophisticated allure with an innovative weave creating an extremely striking iridescent red finish that further enhances the roof’s 3D surface.
For the Ferrari Roma Spider’s cabin, the Ferrari Styling Centre designers took the same approach to volumes and forms introduced on the Ferrari Roma. Two separate spaces, one each for driver and passenger, were created in an evolution of the dual cockpit concept, which has its roots deep in the marque’s history with cars from the 1970s.
The innovative look of this dual cockpit was achieved by extending the philosophy applied to the dash to the entire cabin. Hence, the vision of two modules that wrap around the driver and passenger and that extend and integrate with the two rear seats.
The F1 gearbox controls have been set into a modern metal plate that references the iconic gear lever gate. In the Ferrari Roma Spider, this is in the centre of the tunnel and inclined to make it easier for the driver to reach and see.
The Ferrari Roma Spider is powered by an engine belonging to the V8 turbo family named International Engine of the Year for four consecutive years and also voted Best Engine of the Last 20 Years in 2018.
The 3,855 cc power unit can punch out 620 cv at 7,500 rpm, the equivalent of 161 cv/l, which it combines with the flexibility of low-end pick-up, thanks to 80 percent of the torque being available at just 1900 rpm.
The Ferrari Roma Spider boasts the coupe’s 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8, which produces 456 kW between 5750 and 7500 rpm, and 760 Nm between 3000 and 5750 rpm.
It drives the rear wheels via an eight-speed automated dual-clutch transmission. The Roma Spider can complete the 0-100km/h dash in 3.4 seconds, like the coupe. Both Roma variants have a top speed of over 320 km/h.
The Ferrari Roma Spider also sees the introduction of an important evolution of the oil pump which reduces time-to-pressure in cold starts by 70 percent, as well as increasing the flow rate at medium revs.
The same modification has also been introduced on the Ferrari Roma, demonstrating the company’s commitment to continual research and development.
More details about the new Ferrari Roma Spider here.
Setting the standard