We’ve tried the hard-top Testarossa in both standard guise and with the £42,115 Assetto Fiorano performance package. The same option is offered on the Spider, bringing Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2s, stiffer Mutimatic dampers that are both 35 per cent lighter and 10 per cent stiffer than the SF90’s set up – it’s also more usable thanks to a nose-lift feature to protect against particularly aggressive speed bumps.
If you don’t intend on taking the 849 Spider to a track regularly, we’d stick with the standard MagneRide adaptive dampers, which are far more compliant without relinquishing the astounding road-holding ability of the relatively light 1,660kg Testarossa (only 90kg heavier than the coupe). While you don’t really appreciate the 415kg of downforce (achieved at 155mph) on the road, there’s also completely revised geometry influenced by the hardcore SF90 XX, helping the 849 stick to the tarmac.
You have more to enjoy than just grip levels with the Testarossa Spider, however. Ferrari’s traction control systems have long been one of the best for allowing drivers to experience the car’s limits without spitting them off into a ditch – or in our case in Tenerife, off the side of a volcano.
The latest of this technology is called the ‘FIVE system’. While most normal traction control systems are reactive, Ferrari’s can estimate what is going to happen via real-time measurements of acceleration, pitch, roll and yaw. It creates a ‘digital twin’ of the car with a margin of error of less than 1mph and a slip angle of less than one degree. It’s all incredibly complex, yet it works away in the background unnoticed.
The sheer amount of technology on offer with the Testarossa Spider is stunning, but while it costs half a million quid once you’ve indulged in a few options, it actually looks like a bargain compared with some rivals.
The Lamborghini Revuelto is around the same price and its plug-in hybrid V12 might have a better soundtrack, but there’s no roadster variant as yet. The same is true for the Aston Martin Valhalla, which has a similar PHEV V8 set-up to the Ferrari, but costs twice as much and has almost exactly the same amount of power.
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Model:Ferrari 849 Testarossa SpiderPrice:£442,468Powertrain:4.0-litre V8 twin-turbo petrol PHEVPower/torque:1,036bhp/842NmTransmission:Eight-speed auto, four-wheel drive0-62mph:2.3 secondsTop speed:205mphEconomy/CO2:TBC/212g/kmEV range15 milesSize (L/W/H):4,718/2,304/1,186mmOn sale:Now
