Ferrari Introduces New V8 Roma Spider Soft Top

It might sound a little odd to describe a Ferrari as entry-level, but that’s what the new Ferrari Roma Spider is being touted as being in some quarters. While pricing will still be expected to be in excess of £160,000, we must remind ourselves that this is the first Ferrari soft top since the now long gone F430 Spider, which ceased to be in 2010. 

The 2-door Ferrari Roma coupé is a V8 powered grand tourer that we first saw in 2020 and which received generally enthusiastic reviews, with much praise was heaped on to the aesthetics and lines of the new Ferrari. It’s a looker for sure.

So, what is Ferrari giving us with the new Roma Spider 2+2? The obvious thing to note is that the Roma Spider looks near perfect as a windswept soft top – it seems like a natural progression for this vehicle line for Ferrari. Of course, extra rigidity has been added to compensate for part of the Roma structure being removed, and there has been some remodelling at the rear of the sports car to incorporate the roof tech.

As would be expected, what goes into giving the Roma Spider its extra stiffness, along with the new patented wind deflection incorporated into the seat headrests and the retractable roof mechanism, does of course add additional weight – a further 84kg in fact. But that matters not; to get a new front-engined Ferrari with a genuine soft top is something that really should be appreciated. In 1969 Ferrari gave us the Daytona 365 GTS4, a version of the which was produced as a GTS4 Spyder soft top. It’s likely that there were only 122 GTS4 Spyder convertible models ever produced, so the fact that we now have this new soft top is worthy of note.

Ferrari has thought long and hard about the soft top roof for the Roma Spider, impressively managing to give it similar acoustic sound proofing qualities to the standard coupé version’s solid roof. The retractable roof can also be opened in just 13.5 seconds up to speeds of 37mph, making it perfect for British summers.

Power comes from Ferrari’s twin-turbo 3.9-litre V8 engine offering up 612bhp and 760Nm of torque – this is the same tried and trusted power configuration that sits in the existing Roma Spider coupé. Roma Spider speeds can be achieved up to 199mph thanks to that patented wind deflector system reducing speed-induced turbulence. The wind deflector can be switched into action at speeds up to 106mph by a simple button situated on the central tunnel which activates the defectors which rotate into position behind the driver and passenger seats – not to be attempted should there be rear passengers squeezed into the Roma Spider’s 2+2 seating. There’s quite a bit of science behind how the system works and how Ferrari has controlled the wind flow, so I’d recommend perusing the Ferrari website for more technical details on how Ferrari’s boffins have managed to tame the wind at speed if this sort of thing interests you.

Further tweaks to improve airflow include a curved roofline and an active rear spoiler. All in all, Ferrari has managed to produce a roofless Roma that can get from 0-62mph in just 3.4 seconds – which is, impressively, the same as the hard-top coupé.

If you are familiar with the standard Roma coupé, then you will be familiar with the interior of the Roma Spider, as nothing much has changed here. Everything seems to sit where it should, and the handy 8.4-inch display sits symmetrically between the driver and passenger cockpits allowing a more engaging passenger experience.

All in all, The Roma Spider is an exciting development from Ferrari, and while we do not know for sure what the pricing will be, we do know it’s a Ferrari, so I doubt there will be too many surprises on that front.

Images: ferrari.com