Former Stig Ben Collins puts the 2021 Ferrari Roma through its paces on a flooded circuit and pranks his brother-in-law Freddy Bird of ‘Hidden Restaurants’ TV fame in the process.
An elegant coupé from the outside, on the inside Ferrari’s latest Grand Tourer, the Ferrari Roma, benefits from the constant refinement of the breed that sees its engine closer to the driver than ever to earn its description of front / mid-engined. From that position, with the weight more centralised, it gives the driver a better sense of rotation and a more intuitive sense of control. To a point.
Ben Collins shows off the 2021 Ferrari Roma’s dynamics by hurling the Roma sideways through the twists and turns of the high-speed Castle Combe circuit in Wiltshire. In the chicanes Ben Collins has the Ferrari Roma drifting and sliding while the straights provide plenty of opportunity for aquaplane at speeds above 100mph. The sounds of burning rubber, ducks quacking and the yelps of a close friend screaming for mercy make for an amusing sound track. Freddy Bird’s reaction is priceless.
The exhaust tone from the twin turbocharged 3.8 litre V8 is smooth pepper until you reach the raspy tones in the higher ranges. The Ferrari Roma acceleration from 0-60 mph takes just 3.4 seconds and she’ll throw you easily to a hair below 200mph. There’s load of gears which Freddy ignored during his drive but it doesn’t matter what gear you drive in - there’s so much torque from the mighty motor that you could pull away from a stop sign in 8th gear.
Slick styling with an interior that looks like Gucci put his hand to the bridge of the Starship Enterprise. The Roma purrs through bustling streets and country lanes but when you open that tap you’d better bring your A-game to match the performance lurking within.
Basically if James Bond was Italian, this would probably be his ride. Watch the full Ferrari Roma Review video to see more!
Big Thanks to the awesome crew and the great people ‪@CastleCombeCircuitUK‬ for letting us shred the tarmac, and to the www.hareandhoundsbath.com for the chilled vibe & tasty coffees!
Well done Freddy for styling it out - go visit him here littlefrench.co.uk
Shot by some legends:
Dicky Dawson
Christian Elvidge ‪@Motorflix‬
Will Cheek on FPV
Edited by George Lyall