2022 Ferrari Purosangue spied – new details emerge of V12 SUV
Ferrari's Purosangue SUV has been spied yet again, revealing more of its secrets
The Ferrari Purosangue has been spied testing once again, but this time up close up and personal. While this prototype might still utilise a chopped up Levante body, there are more details emerging from the camouflage, including what look like different headlights (this time units borrowed from the Roma) and a massive 23-inch wheel and tyre package with a set of carbon ceramic brakes peeking out from behind.
While the prototype doesn't give any more of its styling secrets away, its proportions do tell us this will not be a particularly upright high-riding SUV, but something lower and wider. The prototype’s body shell has a few crucial differences to a Levante, starting with the body’s lower position over the axles, which will inform a lower and leaner look than we've seen on the chunky Maserati. The wheel arches are also significantly wider, facilitating the larger wheels and tyres.
> Next Ferrari hypercar spied in development
The likelihood of the Purosangue’s more ground-hugging nature is further reinforced by the grille’s placement right at the base of the prototype’s front fascia. Having the key intake so close to the ground will likely lead to a lower bonnet line, and therefore beltline, than is portrayed on this prototype.
Video of the Purosangue testing at the Fiorano test track has also emerged with the unmistakable sound of Ferrari’s Tipo V12 engine bellowing from its exhausts, giving us yet more insight into the fact it will definitely feature the 6.5-litre V12 engine, and in all likelihood a dual-clutch transmission. Official information of a possible hybrid system, or the option of the smaller twin-turbo V8 remains thin, however.
Ferrari has confirmed that the Purosangue’s chassis will be built from Ferrari’s highly flexible aluminium matrix platform. Despite sharing elements from the new Roma, though, it’s proportions otherwise look relatively normal, lacking the exaggerated dash-to-axle ratio that usually typifies Ferrari’s front-engine model range. This would lead us to believe that the engine’s placement will be further forward than in Ferrari’s existing GT models, suggesting the Purosangue will have a more traditional powertrain configuration than something like the more technically complicated dual-transmission layout of that GTC4 Lusso.
Ferrari has been typically coy about other specifics, too, not confirming anything other than a forecasted 2022 launch. The name, Purosangue, is also a working title for the project, meaning it’ll likely pick up a new moniker. With a seemingly boundless appetite for large expensive SUVs at the top of the marketplace, Ferrari’s decision to join this lucrative marketplace was an inevitable one. What form of SUV it actually reveals in 2022 remains the more pertinent question, but one we’re now starting to get a picture of.
