SimplyAbuDhabi XXXIII

2 2 5 S I M P LY A B U DH A B I cent adding that they even occasionally use the tiny back seats. These people as you can guess are not your typical Ferrari owners. So, around town it has to behave like one of these, and at first i was worried as i immediately noticed its over-assisted electric power steering as i left the showroom. yet after a few minutes of acclimatising, i saw that while it was light at low speed, it wasn’t vague but quite direct like the 488. Add to this the great visibility and easy manoeuvrability and i could see how this could convince bentley or Aston Martin owners to jump over to Ferrari for the first time. The folding metal roof drops in 14 seconds and it feels almost as stiff regardless of whether it’s in place or tucked away in the top half of the boot. if it is folded into the boot, you can forget about virtually any luggage space as that’s now the home for the roof and not much else. For those who are familiar with Ferraris and try the Portofino, it’s a strange sensation at first to be seated in an upright car while staring at the same gauges and steering wheel with its Manettino switches that you find on the likes of its 488 and 812 supercars. Punch the throttle and while you hear a small turbine whistle with the roof down, there’s virtually no turbo lag and instead you are rewarded with more urge without having to knock it back a gear or over rev the engine. Again, if you’re someone who has owned Ferraris, the engine noises coming from in front of you and not over your left shoulder is another quirk you inadvertently notice when you take off from the lights. The Portofino is not as brutal or as fast in its gear changes as other Ferraris, especially in their full-on sport modes but it’s definitely more sporting than its German or british GT competitors. Portofino has found that happy balance of tapping into this new sector without losing the qualities that draw you to the brand in the first place. From 80kmh the Portofino simply rockets away with that distinctive flat-plane crank growl you only get from a V8 Ferrari and when you