The 2024 Ferrari Purosangue is a Different Kind of Exotic SUV

Welcome to Car and Driver. I'm Ezra Dyer and I just got back from driving the new Ferrari Puro Sangue in snowy Italy. It was inevitable that Ferrari would eventually cook up an SUV, but Ferrari being Ferrari, they did things a little bit differently. While nearly every other high-powered SUV uses a twin-turbo V8, Ferrari gave the Puro Sangue a 6.5 liter naturally aspirated V12 that makes 715 horsepower. Where other SUVs use conventional torque converter transmissions and all-wheel drive, the Puro Sangue is an 8-speed dual-clutch transaxle at the rear and a separate 2-speed transmission with torque vectoring for the front end. See how the front wheels aren't turning while I do this very scientific donut? Its suspension is active, using powerful electric motors at each corner to keep the body level. It has four-wheel steering. It has hidden aero-ducts in the bodywork to reduce drag. And its rear doors are a little different than you'll find on a garden-variety Lamborghini Urus. The back seats are heated, ventilated, and will give you a nice massage. And those power-operated rear doors are the kind of feature you can include when price and weight are in the bottom 10% of your priorities. All of this exotic hardware allowed Ferrari to deliver the best of both worlds in a lot of ways. That multi-matic active suspension delivers a smooth ride along with impeccable body control. The four-wheel steering enables crazy-quick reflexes along with solid straight-line stability. The V12 brings power along with… horrible fuel economy. Okay, maybe that one isn't the best of both worlds, but just listen to it. The best seat is obviously the driver's, although Ferrari may have finally reached the physical limit for the number of controls that it can fit on a steering wheel. There are even buttons on the back of it. And there's nothing much on the dash besides a touch-sensitive climate control knob that was frustrating to operate at cruising speeds, let alone the claimed top speed, which is more than 193 miles per hour. But if you can afford a Puro Sangue, we're pretty sure you won't be disappointed. On that front, you'll need over $400,000, which sounds about right for the Ferrari of SUVs.