New Ferrari 849 Testarossa Spider review: king of the convertibles

Verdict

With no discernible drop-off in the coupe’s outrageous performance, driveability or usability combined with the bonus of more exhilarating, open-air motoring, the Ferrari 849 Testarossa is even more joyous in Spider form. True, the looks – which are perhaps more dramatic in this drop-top – might not suit all tastes. But while there is a real sense of occasion with the Spider, it’s still a supercar you can genuinely use every day.  

Tenerife offers an incredibly immediate contrast of climate – sunny and hot to the south, while the north is foggy and wet. Coincidentally, this kind of split identity can also be found in the Ferrari 849 Testarossa Spider we’ve come here to drive. 

It’s a plug-in hybrid with 15 miles of electric range (which you can very quickly top up on the move) to ensure you don’t disturb the quieter regions of the island – plus 1,035bhp for when you do want to stir them. And that’s all before you give the locals an eyeful of the Testarossa’s astonishing design. 

After that brief geography lesson, it’s time for a bit of history, because the Testarossa name is one of the most significant in Ferrari’s back catalogue and bringing it back is a rather bold move. The original Testarossa was never sold as a drop-top, ignoring what the 1986 Outrun video game would have you believe, and indeed the gorgeous one-of-one Testarossa Spider, built for Gianni Agnelli’s 20th anniversary as Fiat chairman. 

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While broadening the new 849 Testarossa’s appeal with a Spider seems like a step into the unknown, what Ferrari has actually done is to take the old SF90 Spider and heavily revise it. The company has improved on pretty much every aspect of that car to create the new range-topping model in Ferrari’s sports car line-up. 

We’ve tried the 849 Testarossa hard-top already and Ferrari claims that the Spider’s capabilities are just as impressive. Starting with the roof itself, the folding mechanism can open and close in just 14 seconds at speeds of up to 45km/h (28mph). The positioning of the roof when it’s stowed behind the cabin doesn’t upset the Testarossa's design, and when it’s up, there’s as much space as in the coupe too. Whether you see this as a bonus entirely depends on whether you think the details inspired by the seventies 512 racecar combine with the brutish, squared-off stance to give a good look on the new Testarossa. 

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Where the old SF90 Spider struggled was airflow, and Ferrari has worked its latest aerodynamic wizardry into the 849 Testarossa Spider. At higher speeds you’d experience a fair amount of buffeting in the SF90 Spider, even though the opening above your head was more like a targa than a full-on drop-top cabriolet. To counteract this, the 849 Testarossa Spider has ducts behind the top of the headrests, channeling air behind the seats and down towards the centre console. Feeling it gust along the centre console is an amazing thing and you can tell it helps to stop wind getting trapped in the cabin at higher speed. 

Compared to the coupe, the Spider also has an electronic rear window that you can slide down to hear that engine’s soundtrack all the more clearly. 

And what an engine it is. Of that 1,035bhp total output, 819bhp comes from the twin-turbocharged four-litre V8, while the rest comes from the three electric motors - two at the front, one at the back. The displacement and flat-plane layout of the V8 are unchanged over the SF90’s engine, but the unit has been massively redesigned for the 849 Testarossa, gaining new cylinder heads and intakes, plus larger turbos from the F80 with a quicker response and improved cooling. 

Most importantly for the Spider, Ferrari says the 849 Testrossa sounds better than the SF90 too. Once you’ve had your fill of electric-only running in ‘eDrive’ or Hybrid mode, you can switch to Performance or Qualifying, which causes the V8 to awaken with a guttural bark from an exhaust that is 20 per cent wider in places without gaining any extra weight. 

As we head out on to some of Tenerife's more open, free-flowing roads, the right pedal of the Testarossa becomes especially inviting – as do the immensely satisfying carbon-fibre manual gearshift paddles.

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We have Apple CarPlay set up in the driver’s binnacle, which means there’s no rev counter on display - a fault of Apple rather than Ferrari, according to the Italian company. No matter - the shift lights on top of the perfectly sized steering wheel are still there to guide you, although you’re not reliant on them after a few shifts because the unfiltered engine noise in the Spider means you’re acutely aware of the 8,200rpm (200rpm higher than in the SF90) red line. 

The Testarossa’s performance is even more eye-widening when the roof is down. With the tactile manettino switch in Sport and the eManettino in Performance, the throttle pedal response is lighting quick. However, it’s not a simple on or off choice, because you can still enjoy the Testarossa on half or quarter throttle without feeling like you’re missing out on the colossal power the Ferrari has in reserve. 

Between the corners can be a blur when you’re really gunning the Spider, but the composure it has when you do approach a bend is simply sensational. It starts with the brakes, which are managed by Ferrari’s latest brake-by-wire system. The surface area of the discs you see through the five-spoke wheels is borderline ridiculous, and with more cooling than in the SF90, we found that plenty of punishing braking didn’t affect the stopping power or the tremendously pliant brake pedal feel.

The confidence the Testarossa gives you in scrubbing off speed is then matched by the steering. It’s alert without being too hyperreactive to the road surface, and ultra-precise, while the levels of front-end grip are staggering; if you do misjudge your entry to a corner, there’s never a sense of dread about having to bring the 849 back into line. When you’re merely pottering about, the big Ferrari is no chore either, although we found the turning circle was quite laughably large. 

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. 

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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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