It goes without saying Italian supercar maker Ferrari has had a busy year. Apparently, Ferrari’s not done as it revealed more details on the 2020 Roma GT. The Roma is the fifth new road car from Ferrari in 2019. It’s essentially a hardtop version of the Portofino, or so we thought.
The new Ferrari Roma has a lighter 8-speed gearbox
We knew beforehand the Roma is packing a reworked version of the 8-speed automatic from the Ferrari SF90 Stradale, a mid-engine hypercar which happens to be the most powerful Ferrari supercar to leave the gates of Maranello.
However, the Roma’s 8-speed gearbox is around 6kg lighter than in the SF90 Stradale. Also, the unit is fitted with longer gear ratios and a reverse gear. Of course, the SF90 Stradale is devoid of a reverse gear and uses the rear electric motor for reverse propulsion.
This tells us two things. First, with longer gear ratios the Roma is clearly a GT rather than a full-blown supercar. But since the transmission is lighter despite having its own set of reverse gears, the Roma is equipped for battle against the Porsche 911, Aston Martin Vantage, and even the Mercedes-AMG GT.
It makes a proper noise
Yes, the 2020 Ferrari Roma’s shape is of delicious simplicity. You won’t find ugly vents or ducting on the Roma, but it makes a proper noise like a hardcore track machine. As it turns out, the Roma’s exhaust is tuned to be louder than in the Portofino.
Ferrari went all out in revising the Roma’s soundtrack. It did it by redesigning the exhaust geometry and removing those pesky silencers. This means a louder and throatier exhaust sound. Nice.
The Roma is a GT, but it’s no shrinking violet on a racetrack
Yeah, we knew beforehand the Ferrari Roma is more than just a GT car. You see, it has Ferrari’s patented Manettino steering wheel, but what we didn’t know is it has a five-stage dial with Race mode.
Also, the Roma is equipped with a Ferrari’s Side Slip Control 6.0 system working in conjunction with the vehicle’s E-Diff, SCM-E, F-TRAC, and Ferrari Dynamic Enhancer system. Bewildering acronyms aside, what this means is you can have some proper tail-happy action in the Roma. This also makes the car more predictable and easier to drive for both novice and expert drivers.
The Ferrari Roma’s sophisticated traction control and stability control system is able to apply individual braking at each wheel. It’s basically like having a guiding hand pushing the car over a corner as you drive.
It has a pop-up rear spoiler
You wouldn’t know it from simply gazing at the Roma’s gorgeous rump, huh? Actually, the Roma has a three-stage pop-up rear spoiler. It deploys automatically at speeds above 60 mph to further push the tail to the ground.
In fact, the Roma produces 210-pounds (95 Kg) more downforce at 155 mph than the Portofino convertible. This alone signifies the Roma is a more hardcore machine and is capable of achieving faster lap times around a track.
The 2020 Ferrari Roma is coming with a powerful 3.9-liter twin-turbocharged V8 engine producing 611-horsepower. More than that, we have no doubt the Roma is sure to be a blast to drive.