Arrivederci Roma, Ciao Amalfi: Why the new £200k ‘everyday Ferrari’ supercar is right on the button

Hats off to Ferrari whose stunning new 200mph Amalfi sports car I’ve just been driving at its international launch.

It takes a big company – especially one with such a proud Italian heritage – to admit that it got something fundamentally wrong. But it proved that it was prepared to listen to its critics and customers, swallow hard, and spend the money to put it right.

That’s a tribute to the new £200,000-plus Amalfi coupe – named after the beautiful Italian coastal resort and dubbed ‘an everyday Ferrari’ – which I have been driving in Portugal.

The Amalfi ‘two-plus’ supercar sports car replaces its outgoing Roma sibling, launched just five years ago, which was designed to evoke the spirit of a new ‘La Dolce Vita’ – the good or ‘sweet’ life – and which was swiftly dubbed the ‘Aston Martini’ because of styling similarities to an Aston Martin.

But many customers hated Ferrari’s decision on the Roma to ditch physical buttons in favour of touch commands on screen and on the steering wheel. And they said so loudly to Ferrari bosses.

So it’s been goodbye or ‘Arrivederci, Roma’ and hello or ‘Ciao’ to the new Amalfi, its replacement.

The new Amalfi, they said, is an ‘evolution’ of the Roma. 

It exudes an understated elegance with a more minimalist and streamlined look, most noticeably at the front. 

Ferrari say every exterior panel is new. It also features a smart hi tech interior.

Out on the launch you couldn’t fault Ferrari for the wide variety of mountainous roads on offer to put the new Amalfi through its paces in Portugal’s Algarve region. 

The weather was challenging too. For ahead of my early morning start there was an overnight deluge which required putting the car’s drive setting into ‘wet’ mode to ensure sufficient grip on slippery serpentine roads, some of which were rougher and more potholed than ours.

Taming 640 horses 

There’s a lot of pulling-power to master in the damp.

Powered by a mighty 640 horse-power 3.9 litre twin-turbo V8 petrol engine the new Amalfi accelerates from rest to 0 62mph in just 3.3 seconds. 

That’s an increase of 20hp and 0.1 seconds faster than the outgoing Roma it replaces. Acceleration to 124mph takes just 9 seconds and top speed is given officially as 198.4mph. So it’s no slouch.

But even in the wet on twisty mountain roads it proved exceptionally grippy. 

Then, as the clouds began to lift and the sun warmed the tarmac, I moved up to comfort and then sport modes, flitting up and down the steering wheel gear paddles on the 8-speed automatic dual clutch F1 gearbox with manual override. 

Track mode with most of the driver aid features off I left to the professionals.

Despite its supercar credentials and performance potential, the new Amalfi has the ambience of a powerful but manageable sports car. 

It’s an ‘everyday Ferrari’ as one of the executives put it to me. It’s not aimed at petrolheads or wannabee F1 racing drivers. 

The target audience is people who appreciate automotive excellence and performance, but who also want a car they can drive relatively easily every day without stressing.

The Amalfi’s manners are impeccable. But the power is there when you need it. Or want it.

But Ferrari emphasises it is not just about power and speed, but about increased throttle and gear responsiveness (especially in the key third and fourth gear change) and aerodynamic performance, and versatile sports car driveability. 

And on that they seem to have delivered. 

Catch it right – dropping down a few gears and then letting rip – and you can enjoy a distinctive Ferrari soundtrack from the exhaust pipes.

Brake-by-wire gives a proportionate response when you hit the anchors.

An active rear wing adds to the aerodynamic downforce to keep the new car grounded at speed, while the braking by wire system brings it to a stop from 62mph in 30.8m and from 124mph in 119.5mph.

A Ferrari family car? Surely not… 

Alongside the new steering wheel with more buttons is a 10.25 inch digital dashboard.

There is only room for small children in the back. But has Isofix fittings for child-seats.

And I love the bespoke slot in the centre console for chunky Ferrari-badged key fob.

The new Amalfi steering wheel, equipped with physical buttons, marks a return to tactile controls.

The reinstatement of the iconic start button on the lower left side of the steering wheel re-establishes an immediate connection between driver and car from the moment of ignition.

Controls on the steering wheel’s left spoke manage Advanced Driver Assistance Systems or ADAS controls, adaptive cruise control, phone, and voice commands. 

Those on the right side are the selectors for display views, windscreen wipers, and indicators. 

Welcome back buttons! 

On the reverse of the steering wheel, two rotary dials can be twirled by your fingers to manage volume and station selections.

Ferrari bosses admitted that in launching the new Amalfi they had bowed to criticism – most notably from their rich customers – who found the touch-screen and haptic or near-touch sliders on the Roma model infuriating. 

The performance car-maker had gone ‘too far’ in replacing physical knobs and buttons, they conceded.

Feedback came ‘very loudly from our clients’.

Another key mistake on the Roma was removing and replacing the ‘iconic’ Ferrari ‘Start-Stop’ button on the steering wheel to fire up the car with a digital touchscreen button on the dashboard. So now Ferrari has brought back the physical start button too.

Indeed, so concerned was Ferrari that it is now also offering existing Roma customers the option of a replacement steering wheel with physical buttons too, though this doesn’t include the engine start button.

The u-turn marks another victory for all motorists fed up with the motor industry’s infatuation with distracting screen commands at the expense of physical buttons. Studies show that many touchscreens are distracting and car-giants like Volkswagen -with the Golf – have been criticised for an overemphasis on digital commands.

Vain Ferrari owners won’t be happy about this… 

One detail I did notice. There’s no vanity mirror on the driver’s side drop-down sun blind – only on the passenger’s side. Is that an Italian male macho thing? Or an assumption only women passengers will need one – to do their make-up? Or a belief that mainly men will drive this car?

Ferrari has never had a driver’s vanity mirror in the sun visor, I was told. 

Women drivers would use the main interior rear view mirror for such activities (though only when parked up, obviously).

Is there perhaps, in the absence of a driver’s vanity mirror, an assumption at Ferrari that only women are vain?

That, I can assure you, is far from the case. I don’t myself wear make-up up. 

But the two ‘everyday’ cars currently parked in my driveway – a Vauxhall Grandland and a Honda CRV – BOTH have illuminated mirrors inside the driver’s sun visor as well as the passenger’s.

Surely it’s time that even drivers of an ‘everyday Ferrari’ are entitled to reflect on and celebrate a little of their own vanity too?

When can I [dream to] buy one? 

Order books for Amalfi are open now with first deliveries (left hand drive) from the start of 2026 and first UK deliveries from spring.

But while the new Amalfi may pass the driving test as an ‘everyday Ferrari’, its prices are far from everyday – starting from £202,459. And that’s before you start adding all those tantalisingly tempting ‘extras’ that send the final price stratospheric.

The options list seems endless but includes: £8,316 for special colours; £7,501 for a lifter with magneride dual ode suspension; £7,837 for a glossy carbon fibre rear diffuser; £3,359 for carbon fibre outer mirrors; £5,039 for an interior carbon fibre instrument cluster; £5,598 for a two-tone leather interior plus £3,302 for Daytona style seats. 

You could treat yourself to two bespoke weekend bags at £5,262. And ‘Scuderia Ferrari’ shields on fenders will set you back £1,231.

A cabriolet version of the new Amalfi with a fabric retractable roof is expected to follow but no official announcement has been made yet. The previous Roma coupe and cabriolet were unveiled simultaneously.