2023 Ferrari Roma Spider review: First international drive

There hasn’t been a soft-top Ferrari for more than 20 years and, if you exclude mid-engined models, it’s been more than half a century since the prancing horse released a convertible that wasn’t a retractable hard-top. So the new Ferrari Roma Spider is a bit of a big deal.

But while it takes the Roma coupe as its basis, there’s more than enough to put the pair of fraternal twins in completely different paddocks.

For a start, the Spider’s chassis is not just a version of the coupe’s with a bit of ironwork welded in to compensate for the lack of tensioned roof. Its underpinnings were designed at the start of the project alongside the coupe and are significantly different.

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Ferrari describes the Spider as a two-plus, stopping short of actually detailing what the plus is. It sure as hell isn’t an extra adult or two with rear ‘seats’ that are as practical as a Porsche 911’s.

There are, however, Isofix anchors for two child seats and heaps of space for bags – which you’ll need because the boot is a tight 255 litres and shrinks further when the roof opens.

The rest of the interior is opulently impressive though. Individual cockpits and a dashboard display for the passenger make both occupants feel equally important, solid-state touch-sensitive switches abound – along with the subtle engine start button on the slender steering wheel – while the styling is classic Italian style.

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Rather than a horrid fly net positioned behind the occupants' heads or a silly pop-up spoiler a la Mercedes E-Class convertible, Ferrari’s solution to cabin buffeting is elegant and ingenious.

At the push of a button, a flap fills the rear seat void and clever aero channels air down through a slot, not only drastically reducing wind in the interior space but also effectively holding cooled air from the dashboard vents with the occupants – very welcome on a 35-degree Sardinian day.

If it’s still too hot, the fabric roof operates at up to 60km/h and is open or closed in 13.5 seconds. Once closed, the five-layer construction is brilliantly effective at banishing road noise and keeping the cabin temperature stable.

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To have a drop-top Ferrari closed up on a perfect Italian late summer’s day is a crime and reduces your exposure to the utterly glorious noise produced by the Roma’s 90-degree, flat-plane crank, twin-turbo V8.

With 456kW and 760Nm, the Spider has the same output as the coupe including a 0-100km/h acceleration claim which is unchanged at 3.4s despite the Spider carrying an additional 84kg of weight.

Power reserves and acceleration are seemingly endless and the Spider lunges forward with incredible throttle and turbo response, made accessible by outstanding traction. Only once did the stability control light flash – surprising considering the fantastic ribbon of road slithering through hazy mountains – thanks in part to Ferrari’s sixth-gen side slip control.

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The Spider’s chassis continues the masterful engineering theme. Not only does the nose turn in with wonderful crispness and feedback, there’s a suppleness to the suspension with excellent body control in fast corners yet an unbelievably good primary ride too.

Here’s the highlight though; an electric bypass valve system enables exhaust volume to increase proportional to wind noise and speed to ensure the demonic bark from four unsilenced tailpipes is always at its best – loud.

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An eight-speed dual-clutch auto is shared with the SF90 (plus a reverse gear), as is the brutal but sophisticated personality of the V8. The process of yanking another gear and hearing the quad pipes echo from mountainsides is utterly intoxicating and addictive.

Perhaps the only small blot on the Spider’s scorecard is the price. At $520,300 before on-road charges and options, the soft-top version is about $110,000 more than the coupe. Which is a lot. But while compromise always comes at a cost, it’s clear that uncompromised costs a little more.