Is the Amalfi the best road-going Ferrari of 2026?

But it was also flawed. The Roma’s twin turbo V8 was more monotonal than Andy Murray with a hangover. Combine its binary torque splurt with trademark flighty steering and the car was downright sketchy on a greasy road. And you’d be in the hedge quicker than you could say ‘why has the voice control interrupted again’ if you took your eye off what you could see of the road over its ludicrous bonnet power dome to attempt a prod of its disastrously laggy touchscreen. Or the capacitive touch sensitive steering wheel.

Photograph - Olgun Kordal

And Ferrari agrees with all of this. It doesn’t say so, of course, but ask yourself this: if the Roma had been right first time, why would it have just been replaced with a car that takes exactly the same chassis, engine, gearbox and general philosophy, but leaves no stone unturned in making comprehensive changes everywhere you look and touch? It’s not even billed as a ‘Modificata’, which used to be Ferrari speak for a facelift. It’s arrivederci Roma, buongiorno Amalfi.

And it looks like a platypus, or a Prelude, or a Prius according to the internet, which isn’t happy at all about Ferrari’s commitment to rid its cars of anthropomorphised faces. Hence all those black mask ‘visors’ on the F80, 12Cilindri, 849 Testarossa, and the Amalfi’s Purosangue-like lack of ‘eyes’. The piggy headlights are hidden either side of its beaky nose and are actually shaped to ram air into the engine bay, but the smoother, manatee effect isn’t as pretty as the Roma.

The proportions are still classically correct: long bonnet (without the embarrassing bulge) and pert tail, but around the new active rear wing which generates 110kg of downforce for a four per cent increase in drag, it’s got more panel lines than a stained glass window. So, apart from the stunningly intricate milled from solid new wheels, about as successful on the styling front as Lewis’ first season with the Scuderia.

Inside, the Amalfi glints with wins like Ferrari’s endurance team. First, the steering wheel: no longer a barren hellscape of touch sensitive buttons. Physical, mechanical controls make the Amalfi one of the easiest new cars in the world today in which to disable the annoying ADAS nannies. 

The digi-dash is suddenly much less baffling. And starting the more powerful engine – by pressing an anodosed crimson button – now offers more sense of occasion than unlocking your phone.

Ferrari also recognised the Roma’s contrived twin cockpit layout was oppressive and ate into useful space. So it’s opened out the centre console, now split by a low slung, gorgeously tactile slab of aluminium. Where the Roma relied on a Temu iPad with thick bezels and response times even Ferrari’s F1 team radio would consider laggy, the Amalfi borrows the 10.25 inch touchscreen from more expensive Ferraris. 

Yes, we’d prefer physical buttons here too and yes, it’s mounted too low, so prodding about the fiddly interface takes your eyes off the road for longer than ideal. But it’s now at the races – better than Aston’s Vantage infotainment, on par with the AMG GT and on its way to being competitive with a Porsche 911 Turbo’s usability.

Material quality has had an upgrade. Noise too: mainly due to regulations demanding less fruity exhausts, but Ferrari rose to the challenge with equal length exhaust tracts and tuned outlets that give the Amalfi a less resonant drone than the Roma’s and some 458 Italia-esque timbre at the 7,500rpm top end. It feels like the engine could and should rev higher still. It wants to.

Ferrari is already spinning the turbos 7,000rpm faster than the Roma’s – up to 171,000rpm – to kick output from 612 to 631bhp. But this is what’s known in the industry as The Cayman Conundrum. If it was any faster, it would start embarrassing the V12 and mid-engined stuff. The pricier stuff. Amalfi Competizione anyone?

It doesn’t need to be any faster, mind. Zero to 62mph? Three point three seconds. It’ll pass 125mph in nine seconds dead on its way to 200mph. All without any hybrid boost. No wonder the engineers call the Amalfi their ‘back to basics’ car. No rear steer, no super trick aero, no AWD or motorised anti-roll dampers. It’s almost Ferrari’s Mustang: V8, rear drive, yeaa-haa.

Sure, it’s still a spaceship. Wet and Comfort modes are now quieter and the electronics intervene sooner, so it doesn’t scare off new converts. Clever, given it’s got more power than a 458 Speciale or 599 GTB offered not so long ago.

But Sport and Race have gone the other way: sharper, angrier, and smarter Slide Slip Control allows you more sideways Shawshank before the algorithmic Redemption. And thanks to brake-by-wire there is no physical, fluid connection between your foot and the ceramic discs. It’s all ones and zeroes, so the synthesised ‘feel’ stays consistent however hot the brakes are.

But you don’t notice the computers trimming your indiscretions. You just appreciate Ferrari’s £202,459 base car is now easier to operate, better to drive fast, better to drive slowly, nicer to listen to and more expensive to touch. Pity it’s not prettier. But you can’t have everything.

That cavalcade of improvements in the ‘plus’ column is criminally unusual for a new car in 2026. Most stuff is plateauing, or getting more annoying. Heavier, techier, more complicated. Ferrari has had a less is more moment with the Amalfi, and perhaps accidentally replaced the Roma with our new favourite road bound Ferrari after all.

Price: £202,459
Powertrain: 3.9-litre TT V8, 631bhp, 561lb ft
Transmission: 8spd DCT auto, RWD
Performance: 0–62mph in 3.3secs, 199mph
Weight: 1,470kg dry