Three years ago, Ferrari replaced the
California T with the Portofino, a 2+2 open-top GT with a front mid-engine and
rear-wheel drive layout, and now it seems natural that this model will receive
a mid-life cycle refresh.
The facelifted iteration should bring the
usual revised front and rear ends, but the prototype spotted testing recently
had neither, save for what seems to be a new diffuser, despite the vinyl
stickers covering the whole exterior.
One possibility could be the rumored more
powerful version of the Portofino, understood to add 20 HP to the 592 HP
3.9-liter twin-turbocharged V8, which would make it as powerful as the Roma. An
eight-speed dual-clutch transmission also appears to be on the cards, with an
extra gear over the current Portofino, and besides being a tad faster, it will
allegedly be more efficient too, returning 16/23/19 mpg (14.7/10.2/12.4 l/100
km) in city/highway/combined. The second, and most likely, possibility is that
this an early test mule for the updated Portofino that has yet to receive the
new bumpers and lighting units, alongside other possible upgrades.
In any case, we should find out in a few
months what the Prancing Horse has in store for the Portofino. In the meantime,
the current model has 592 HP at 7,500 rpm and 760
Nm of torque from 3,000 to 5,250 rpm. It sprints to 100 km/h in just
3.5 seconds, to 200 km/h in 10.8 seconds and hits a top speed in
excess of 320 km/h.
