Ferrari FF: Fastest 4x4, seats four

MANILA, Philippines - Here’s a test: Imagine a 6.2-liter, V12 Ferrari. Got it? You’d be right in assuming stellar numbers from the massive engine: zero to 100 kph in 3.7 seconds, zero to 200 in 11 ticks, and a complement of 651 ponies. You’d also be right to expect the car to come with humongous wheels (20 inches, thank you very much) and, of course, a ravishing Ferrari body from the folks at Maranello.

You would think that this Ferrari über roadster would be a coupé – even a convertible. Since we’re dreaming, the perfect Ferraro scenario would have to be through an unnamed highway in a European countryside with but one passenger—preferably the girl of your dreams. Surely by choice, and because you have no choice. There are no rear seats, right? Right?

If it isn’t a Ferrari FF, that is.

With that much power and pomp on tap, the Italians decided to throw a curve ball our way in the form of a pair of body-hugging rear seats. That makes the FF as, Autostrada Motore chairman and president Wellington Soong, aptly put it, “The world’s most powerful four-seat supercar.”

At the very exclusive, ironically low-key launch of the supercar last week at the Ferrari showroom in Bonifacio Global City, Soong said in an interview with Star Motoring that the FF is for Ferrari car buyers on the lookout for “sporting features that (also) highlights the 4x4 element,” referring to the four-wheel drive capabilities of the grand tourer.

Ferrari claims “exceptional performance” on a variety of terrain because of its patented 4RM (ruote motrici) system (how the Italians call 4WD), where “torque is still delivered by the rear wheels, but with the PTU (Power Transfer Unit) ensuring that as much as is required is also transferred to the front wheels when necessary on low-grip surfaces.” The FF intelligently distributes torque to each of the four wheels individually.

The Pininfarina-styled FF boasts a muscular profile as befits this coupé, although some may take umbrage with the oddly shaped front grille that gives an impression that the FF is grinning at you. Then again, there’s much to be happy about if you’re a Ferrari and the rest are, well, not.

Few places are more satisfying to be in than the driver’s seat of a Ferrari. With the FF, being in the back seat is just a smidge less exciting than the former. Soong shared that the back seats boast “stadium seating that allow people there to get a better view. It’s definitely a different ergonomic approach.”

Interestingly, Soong added that the FF also enables the owner to share the bliss of a Ferrari drive with more people. “It’s a group experience, a group thrill,” he maintained. The small group of media people was obliged with a swift start and stop of the FF’s engine. The V12’s throaty growl filled the showroom and, unlike the threat of some aftermarket bolt-ons, the menace is very real. Not to mention very costly, of course. Ferrari guards its local pricing stringently (there are numerous options too, so it would be hard to pin down a standard price), but suffice to say you need to be earning more than a pretty penny to count yourself among Ferrari owners. I’m talking eight figures.

Space is probably the last thing a Ferrari owner would look for, but FF literature is highlighting it anyway: 450 liters of the good stuff in the rear cargo area (about the same capacity as that of a midsize sedan)—expandable to 800 liters when you fold down the rear seats (comparable to a station wagon or small SUV). It’s a category-leading, game-changing figure, so put that V12 to work hauling your stuff for the road trip you will want to take—every single day.