If you’re going to revive one of Maranello’s most storied names, you had better bring more than a pretty badge.
Ferrari’s new 849 Testarossa has made its regional debut in Thailand. Poised for the new age, this is a plug-in hybrid berlinetta that is lined up to replace the SF90 Stradale.
Think of it as a force-of-nature V8 given a doctorate in electrification, with the sort of aero and control logic that make engineers grin and drivers go quiet.
1050hp, served two ways
Beneath the glass lies a thoroughly re-engineered twin-turbo V8 now at 830hp, paired with three electric motors for a combined 1050hp, 50 more than the car it succeeds. Two motors sit up front for on-demand e-AWD and torque vectoring. The third, an MGU-K derived from Formula 1, lives on the rear axle.
In eDrive, it will waft for up to 25 km on electrons alone, courtesy of a 7.45 kWh battery tucked low for optimal balance.
Engine hardware reads like a greatest-hits album: the largest turbo ever fitted to a Ferrari road car, low-friction bearings, revised cylinder heads and manifolds, lightened internals, and a freer-breathing Inconel exhaust tuned for that bright, clean Ferrari timbre.
The 849 Testarossa generates 415 kg of downforce at 250 km/h thanks to an all-new aero package, a lighter, faster active rear spoiler, a twin-tail rear architecture inspired by the 512 S, and a redesigned front underfloor that does 35% of the total aero work by itself.
A real-time “digital twin” called FIVE estimates speed and yaw with astonishing accuracy, feeding smarter traction, e-diff and e-4WD decisions. ABS Evo then uses those estimates to set ideal wheel slip, letting you brake later, harder and with repeatable precision, rain or shine, road or track.
Form that follows very fast function
The 849’s design is quintessentially 70s, taking a decisive step towards the geometric and architectural. Doors double as sculpted ducts to ram more air into larger intercoolers; the squarer front bumper and deeper splitter calm the front axle; the multi-level rear diffuser and twin-tail surfaces do heavy lifting out back.
It’s all business, yet unmistakably beautiful, like a tailored suit cut for sprinting.
Inside, the cockpit is tighter, cleaner, more ergonomic. The central “sail” with its integrated gear-gate tidies secondary controls, and a new steering wheel returns to mechanical buttons.
The latest HMI simplifies mode-hopping on the e-Manettino. Wireless phone charging, Apple CarPlay and Android Auto keep the everyday civilised. Boot space is, surprisingly, a useful 74 litres.
Tick the Assetto Fiorano box and the Testarossa sheds about 30 kg via carbon and titanium, stiffer single-rate Multimatic dampers, lighter springs, additional underfloor aero, and a rear setup that trades twin-tails for twin wings to triple vertical load with barely any drag penalty.
Maintenance? Seven years, factory-backed. Hybrid peace-of-mind extends up to year 16 with battery replacement provisions baked into Ferrari’s warranty programmes.
A return to form
When the SF90 appeared back in 2019, it was a bit of a game changer. Something we’d not seen before and planted somewhere between super and hypercar. The Ferrari 849 Testarossa takes that same DNA, but weaves in a bit of that Testa Rossa spirit.
Will it still be a class leader against other new electrified rivals? We’ll have to wait to drive it to find out. But on looks alone, it seems it has a fighting chance.
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