Ferrari SF90 Replacement Spied With Rear Light Bar

Pictured in Maranello, the plug-in hybrid twin-turbo V8 midship seems to be a combination of SF90 XX and 296 stylistic elements. The biggest change over the SF90 is the SF90 XX-inspired rear light bar instead of a quad-lamp setup. The camouflaged prototype sports Michelin tires on double-spoke alloys, which frame carbon-ceramic brakes with dual calipers for each of the rear discs.

Considering that most of the braking is done by the front discs and calipers, the smaller calipers out back are for the parking brake. Although these pictures don't show it, chassis mules of the F173M feature side air intakes that are slightly larger than those of the SF90 Stradale and SF90 Spider.

Said prototype further shows a dual-tipped exhaust system à la the SF90 and SF90 XX. The front and rear aero trickery doesn’t appear to be finalized, whereas the slightly different rear fenders accommodate revised suspension geometry. Instead of a completely new platform, the F173M rides on the rear-biased architecture of the V8-powered SF90, SF90 XX, and V6-powered 296.

A high-voltage sticker can be noticed on the windshield of the F173M, indicating that – unsurprisingly – it's a plug-in hybrid. The 296 is exclusively rear-wheel drive, with its YASA-supplied electric motor assisting the 120-degree V6 on wide-open throttle. In eDrive Mode, speeds of up to 135 kilometers per hour (up to 84 miles per hour) can be achieved on electric muscle only. SF90 models, on the other hand, pack three electric drive units. Reversing is provided by two motors, namely those driving the front wheels. In other words, the SF90 is front-wheel-drive when reversing and in eDrive Mode.

Both the SF90 and SF90 XX level up to eight cylinders arranged in two banks that form a 90-degree V, with said V8 requiring the very same 98 RON gasoline as the far more compact V6 engine. It's a member of the F154 series, which rolled out in 2013 with the Maserati Quattroporte GTS.

The biggest difference between Maserati- and Ferrari-spec F154 engines? That would be crankshaft design, as in cross-plane crank for the House of the Trident and flat-plane crank for the Prancing Horse. The Maranello-based automaker stopped making the cross-plane F154 for Maserati at the end of 2023 in favor of a 3.0L twin-turbocharged V6 known as Nettuno after the Roman god Neptune and a three-motor electric powertrain designated Folgore (i.e., the Italian word for lightning).

Ferrari has an electric vehicle in the works as well, although it should be a completely different animal from the MC20 Folgore and lesser electric vehicles from the Modenese automaker. In any case, internal combustion engines aren't going the way of the dodo anytime soon at Ferrari. Synthetic fuels or not, the Prancing Horse intends to keep its free-breathing V12 alive for as long as possible.

Ferrari also ruled out forced induction for the V12, leaving the aforementioned V8 and the 296's wide-angle V6 as the only turbocharged engines in the lineup. Although the SF90's replacement is rocking eight cylinders, the successor of the LaFerrari will transition to a 3.0-liter TT V6.