Ride Along With Ferrari Test Driver and Engineer Raffaele de Simone in the new 611-Horsepower Portofino M

We thought the Ferrari Portofino was pretty nice, but Ferrari engineer Raffaele de Simone wanted to make it better with another 18 horsepower.

Dan Carney, Senior Editor

October 21, 2020

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2021 Ferrari Portofino MFerrari

We enjoyed our drive in the Ferrari Portofino, the company's front-engine 2+2 roadster designed for grand touring rather than for weekends at the track. But despite its somewhat more laid-back mission, Ferrari engineers still thought it could use a bit more vigor, as described by engineer and test driver Raffaele de Simone in this ride-along video in the new Ferrari Portofino M.

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Ferrari engineers replaced the Portofino's camshafts with higher-lift versions for improved cylinder filling. They also added the turbocharger rpm sensor seen previously on the 488 Pista, which we track-tested in the video below. Directly measuring the turbo's speed allows engineers to calibrate the engine with another 5,000 rpm of turbocharger speed because they need to leave a smaller margin of error when directly monitoring the turbo's speed rather than estimating it.

Although the Portofino M is meant more for cruising, Ferrari engineers also added a "Race" setting to its steering-wheel-mounted Manettino mode selector. As de Simone demonstrates in the video, this lets the driver throw the Portofino M around a bit more during track drives.

 

About the Author

Dan Carney

Senior Editor, Design News

Dan’s coverage of the auto industry over three decades has taken him to the racetracks, automotive engineering centers, vehicle simulators, wind tunnels, and crash-test labs of the world.

A member of the North American Car, Truck, and Utility of the Year jury, Dan also contributes car reviews to Popular Science magazine, serves on the International Engine of the Year jury, and has judged the collegiate Formula SAE competition.

Dan is a winner of the International Motor Press Association's Ken Purdy Award for automotive writing, as well as the National Motorsports Press Association's award for magazine writing and the Washington Automotive Press Association's Golden Quill award.

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He has held a Sports Car Club of America racing license since 1991, is an SCCA National race winner, two-time SCCA Runoffs competitor in Formula F, and an Old Dominion Region Driver of the Year award winner. Co-drove a Ford Focus 1.0-liter EcoBoost to 16 Federation Internationale de l’Automobile-accredited world speed records over distances from just under 1km to over 4,104km at the CERAM test circuit in Mortefontaine, France.

He was also a longtime contributor to the Society of Automotive Engineers' Automotive Engineering International magazine.

He specializes in analyzing technical developments, particularly in the areas of motorsports, efficiency, and safety.

He has been published in The New York Times, NBC News, Motor Trend, Popular Mechanics, The Washington Post, Hagerty, AutoTrader.com, Maxim, RaceCar Engineering, AutoWeek, Virginia Living, and others.

Dan has authored books on the Honda S2000 and Dodge Viper sports cars and contributed automotive content to the consumer finance book, Fight For Your Money.

He is a member and past president of the Washington Automotive Press Association and is a member of the Society of Automotive Engineers

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