Ferrari Amalfi Review: Your First Ferrari Should Be This One

Let's address the elephant in the room: Nobody buys a Ferrari because it makes sense.

Yet, if there were ever a Ferrari that came perilously close to being sensible, this would be it.

Meet the new Ferrari Amalfi - the successor to the Roma, and arguably the most important Ferrari currently rolling out of Maranello's gates.

Not because it is the fastest, or the loudest. The Amalfi matters because it represents the first rung on Ferrari's ladder; the gateway into a world that has adorned bedroom walls, inspired childhood dreams and occasionally caused otherwise rational adults to make wildly irrational financial decisions.

The Roma was already a brilliant starting point. Elegant, understated by Ferrari standards, and remarkably usable. But Ferrari's engineers have taken that formula and refined it with almost obsessive attention to detail; more power and technology, better ergonomics. Oh, and sharper dynamics.

The result feels less like a facelift and more like a… maturation.

In Singapore, where a Certificate of Entitlement alone costs more than some family cars overseas, that matters immensely. Buyers here don't want a weekend toy that spends six days parked under a dust cover - they want a Ferrari they can actually use.

The Amalfi is exactly that.

The Inside Story

Step inside and the Amalfi feels thoroughly contemporary.

The digital displays are crisp and intuitive. The infotainment system finally feels aligned with modern expectations; wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto are standard, as they should be in 2026.

Most significantly, Ferrari has listened: Physical controls return to the steering wheel, including the iconic starter button. A small change perhaps, but one owners will appreciate every single day.

The available driver assistance systems further broaden the Amalfi's appeal: Adaptive cruise control, lane-keeping functions and various safety technologies may not be why you buy a Ferrari, but in an era where Chinese manufacturers arrive armed with specification sheets longer than restaurant menus, these features have become increasingly important.

Thankfully, Ferrari understands that; and at the same time, they haven't allowed technology to overwhelm the driving experience.

Under The Hood

Let's get to the important bit.

Nestled beneath that impossibly long bonnet is Ferrari's latest evolution of its celebrated F154 twin-turbocharged V8. Displacing 3.9-litres and producing 631 bhp at 7,500 rpm, it is one of those engines that makes you question whether electrification is truly humanity's destiny.

The numbers are appropriately absurd: 0-100 km/h in 3.3 seconds. Then, 0-200 km/h in 9.0 seconds. Top speed north of 320 km/h. On Singapore roads, that effectively means you'll reach legal speeds faster than you sneeze, before you've even completed second gear.

What impresses, however, isn't merely the velocity - it is the manner in which the Amalfi accumulates speed. There is a relentless quality to its acceleration; a sort of mechanical ferocity that feels inexhaustible. The engine surges forward with increasing urgency, gathering momentum in one seamless, intoxicating wave until common sense, traffic conditions or the looming threat of demerit points intervenes.

Ferrari's engineers have further refined turbo response and engine management, making the V8 feel remarkably immediate. Throttle inputs are met with almost instantaneous reactions, giving the Amalfi an alertness that belies its grand touring brief.

And then there is the soundtrack. No, it won't sound like a naturally aspirated Ferrari V12 from a bygone era (truthfully, nothing ever will). But it still sounds magnificent - rich, and authentically mechanical. Just expensive engineering operating at its absolute limit.

Ferrari's eight-speed dual-clutch transmission remains one of the industry's benchmark gearboxes. Come to think of it, the speed of its shifts borders on the supernatural…

Upshifts arrive with such immediacy that the engine barely has time to inhale before another ratio engages. Downshifts are accompanied by crisp throttle blips that transform even the most mundane drive on a track day.

What continues to impress is how adaptable the gearbox feels. Driven gently, it fades into the background entirely; seamless, unobtrusive and refined. Drive it hard, and it suddenly becomes an accomplice to your, ahem, mischief.

Ride & Handling

Here's the part nobody talks about enough: The Amalfi is an astonishingly comfortable car.

For decades, sports car ownership involved accepting a degree of physical punishment; you tolerated it because the performance justified the discomfort.

I am happy to report the Amalfi simply doesn't subscribe to that philosophy. In Comfort mode, the adaptive suspension settles into a remarkably compliant rhythm. Expansion joints, road imperfections and Singapore's occasionally creative road maintenance programmes are dispatched with impressive sophistication.

And no, it doesn't float like a luxury saloon. Nor should it.

But it absorbs enough of the harshness that you could comfortably commute daily without requiring a physiotherapist afterwards.

This is perhaps the Amalfi's greatest trick - it possesses extraordinary performance without constantly reminding you about it.

Then you rotate the manettino to Sport. Everything changes: Throttle response sharpens, gearshifts become more aggressive, the dampers tense ever so slightly.

The entire car suddenly feels as though it has spotted a prey - this was the mode I found myself returning to repeatedly. Particularly when a sweeping sequence of bends appeared ahead.

Turn-in is immediate, front-end grip feels inexhaustible. The chassis remains beautifully balanced, rotating progressively and predictably; you can carry utterly ridiculous speeds into corners with supreme confidence.

And when you inevitably arrive carrying slightly too much enthusiasm, the brakes are there to rescue your reputation. Pedal feel is progressive, reassuring and remarkably natural; more importantly, stopping power arrives exactly when requested, with none of the ambiguity that occasionally plagues electronic braking systems. It simply works.

OneShift readers know I have a particular appreciation for steering. After all, it is the primary conversation between car and driver; get it wrong and the relationship falls apart.

Ferrari hasn't got it wrong. The steering is taut, precise and wonderfully linear - there is an immediacy to the responses that encourages confidence from the very first corner. Yet, it never feels burdensome - if your spouse decides to borrow the Amalfi for lunch, complaints about heavy steering are unlikely to feature in the post-drive debrief.

Which, if I’m being honest, is very modern Ferrari…

In A Nutshell

The Amalfi is not the most extreme Ferrari, and it isn't trying to be. Instead, it might be the most complete Ferrari currently available - fast enough to thrill, refined enough to relax, comfortable enough to use daily and just special enough that every glance over your shoulder after parking still feels mandatory.

Most importantly, it lowers the barriers to Ferrari ownership without diluting what makes a Ferrari… special.

For many buyers, this will be their first new Ferrari.

After spending time behind the wheel, I find it difficult to imagine a better place to begin, because the Amalfi doesn't merely introduce you to the Ferrari experience; it convinces you that you've been missing out all along.

Photos by Azfar Hashim (@azfar.talks).

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