With its flashy Italian design, heart-pounding performance and motorsports heritage, Ferraris may seem like the ultimate choice for a heavy adrenaline rush.

However in real life, normal people don’t need that rush or eye-popping performance all the time, and many look for other things, too when buying an exotic car – ride comfort, for example.

And I ain’t kidding when I say there’s a comfortable Ferrari around – it’s called the Portofino.

The successor to the much liked (and hated) California T that many say isn’t a true Ferrari, the Portofino, which will be officially launched in Thailand later this year with a starting price of about Bt20 million, comes with a large number of improvements that die-hard Ferrari fans will be happy about.

Named after a small port city in Italy, the Portofino, a two-box fastback, is the entry-level Ferrari fitted with a V8 engine. But it’s not a two-seater like you’d expect, and comes with two doggy seats at the rear for kids or small adults (apart from dogs, of course).

The Portofino also comes with a powered retractable hardtop that instantly turns it into a luxury convertible. Step into the cockpit and you’re greeted by a rich mixture of leather and high-quality materials, in addition to attractive Ferrari styling.

But what will surprise you further is the ease of getting in and out. Forget the traditional “butt-in-first” technique of getting into a Ferrari – with the Portofino, it’s as easy as getting into a normal coupe. In fact, getting in and out is easier than for everyday cars like the Mazda MX-5 or a Mercedes-Benz SLC. There’s plenty of space as well, enough for two large-sized front occupants to get abundant headroom, shoulder room and legroom.

It’s also stylish and fully-equipped inside, with a 10.2-inch touchscreen display, new multi-function steering wheel with incorporated turning light buttons (no combination stalk), and even a passenger display that shows driving info such as vehicle speed, engine speed and driving mode (a good way to entertain your passenger). However, for a car that costs this much, it’s surprising that the power window on the passenger side is one-touch automatic only for down, not up (not sure how much money is saved there).

The first test drive event of the Portofino was held earlier this year in Europe, and Cavallino Motors, the official Ferrari importer for Thailand, made sure Thai media were invited. In fact, over the years, Cavallino has been increasing the number of invites, a move highly welcomed by the Thai automotive media.

A second event was held for the Portofino in Dubai earlier this month, a regional event to which I was invited along with another Thai journalist.

With racing tracks being available in Dubai (as well as Abu Dhabi), I was expecting some driving events there. It’s a Ferrari after all, right?

The Portofino is powered by an award-winning lag-free turbocharged engine carried over from the Cali T that generates as much as 600 horsepower at 7,500rpm and a whopping 760Nm of torque right from 3,000rpm. Acceleration from 0-100km/h takes 3.5 seconds, 0-200km/h in 10.8 seconds – and Ferrari claims the top speed is over 320km/h.

Even though my request for the event details went unanswered until a few days before the trip, I had high hopes of the experience in Dubai. It’s a Ferrari event. They are motorsports people. They understand what driving is about. They know what to do.

I was wrong.

It was a huge disappointment to find out that the five multi-coloured Portofino cars in the media drive event would be crawling after a Maserati Quattroporte lead car, whose only purpose in life was to keep all drivers safe from any kind of accident, big or small, throughout the entire day. There were no circuits or tracks included in the day’s programme, and the highest speed limit on the Dubai highway is 120km/h.

Inviting an auto journalist to drive a 320km/h car in a 120km/h environment in a caravan is close to an insult. And worse is that the caravan was moving much slower than the rest of the traffic. Even trucks were overtaking the Portofinos (check out the video). It started to resemble a public relations photo-shoot stint rather than a proper test-drive event.

I was so upset that I told the fellow Thai journalist that he can drive for the whole day, I’d just be a passenger. But after the first stop, he convinced me to drive a little and I finally agreed.

After 15 minutes of averaging about 60km/h from the first stop (which didn’t have a toilet), we reached a gas station for relief, and that’s when I returned the key to my buddy.

“You can continue, I’m done with this… ,” I mumbled.

Later in the day, when the group stopped for lunch, I had another offer to take a spin with the Portofino in the driveway of a high-end desert resort. I was told that a Ferrari photographer would help take pictures and video, but I also turned that down.

No matter how disappointed I was with the way the event was organised, I discovered that the Portofino really does shine in one department just as it was intended to – comfort.

The Portofino’s adaptive damper system does wonders keeping the occupants comfortable by ironing out all the road vibrations, and with the super-slow cruising on the way back, I soon fell asleep. It was a good sleep, with a nice, ergonomic position offered by the comfy passenger seat, and with a peaceful atmosphere (the engine speed was under 3,000rpm all the way).

While the driving event didn’t allow drivers to experience and understand much about the Portofino’s performance and characteristics, this entry-level Ferrari has what it takes to attract new customers to the brand who are looking no only for performance, but for the whole package including luxury, versatility and comfort.

Ferrari Portofino specs

Engine: V8 turbocharged

Displacement: 3,855cc

Bore and stroke: 86.5×82.0mm

Compression ratio: 9.45:1

Max power: 600hp/7,500rpm

Max torque: 760Nm/3,000-5,250rpm

Transmission: 7-speed DCT

Ratios: n/a

Final drive ratio: n/a

0-100kmh:  3.5secs

0-200km/h: 10.8secs

Top speed: above 320km/h

Average fuel economy: 9.3km/litre

Average CO2: 245g/km

Suspension (f/r): double wishbone/multi-link

Steering: electrically powered rack-and-pinion

Turning circle: n/a

Brakes (f/r): vented disc/vented disc

Dimensions (mm)

Length: 4,586

Width: 1,938

Height: 1,318

Wheelbase: 2,670

Track (f/r): 1,633/1,635

Weight: 1,664kgs

Wheels: 20-inch alloy

Tyres: 245/35 ZR20 (front), 285/35 ZR20 (rear)

Fuel tank capacity: 80 litres

Price: starting at approx. Bt20 million

Official importer: Cavallino Motors Co Ltd

Currently, the company is operating charge stations in several tourist destinations in Petchaburi and Prachubkirikhan, he said.

BMW said the three sites were in downtown Bangkok at CentralWorld, Gaysorn Village and SO Sofitel Bangkok, in addition to the first two at Crystal Design Centre and Terminal 21.

Christian Wiedmann, president of BMW in Thailand, said: “BMW Group Thailand and ChargeNow partners are committed to drive Thailand towards a full-fledged electric society. We now plan to work closely with ChargeNow and our authorised BMW dealers to install 100 charging stations across the country to facilitate and simplify the charging process and eventually pave the way to a sustainable low-carbon environment.”

The charging process uses the Greenlots app for smartphones, including the location and status of each charging station, status notifications during charging and access to ChargeNow account settings such as adding or removing a vehicle from the account.

Apart from the installation of charging stations for up to six electric and plugin-hybrid vehicles at CentralWorld, ChargeNow stations are also planned at 12 more Central Group properties, including CentralPlaza, CentralFestival and Robinson malls.

Chanchai Trakarnudomsuk, president of Mazda Sales, said the Thai auto industry showed signs of recovery during the last fiscal year. “If we consider sales from April 2017 to March 2018, Mazda has moved ahead as planned, and we were able to achieve sales of 56,379 units, the highest in five years, with growth of 31 per cent. Meanwhile, Mazda’s market share has risen to 6.3 per cent, the highest since the company started doing business in Thailand.”

Thai executives at Mazda were also being promoted to lead all departments, ranging from corporate planning, corporate operations, accounting and finance, sales, marketing, after sales, parts and logistics, the firm said.

New management at Mazda Sales includes president Chanchai Trakarnudomsuk, vice presidents Atsushi Yasumoto and Pascal Sreshthaputra, in charge of customer relations.

Thee Permpongpanth is running government and marketing, Dr Panat Boonkham, customer services, Sommai Sae Ung, national sales, and Suwanee Chutiratanaroaj, corporate operations.

Cheerapa Sepswasdi is the parts and logistics chief and Kenji Sato runs sales planning.

The record quarter helped Ford continue to outpace the overall industry, driving its market share up 1.1 per cent from the same period last year to 7.3 per cent, the company said.

“We’ve gotten off to a fantastic start this year, and the segment-defining Ranger continues to drive our overall performance and its own steady segment share gains,” said Yukontorn Wisadkosin, president of Ford Asean.

The Ranger delivered a record quarterly performance with first quarter sales rising 34 per cent year-over-year to 14,199 vehicles. The quarter helped Ranger add 2.5 per cent to its segment share versus the same period last year to a best-ever 13.8 per cent.

The Everest mid-sized SUV delivered its best-ever quarterly performance with sales rising 43 per cent year-over-year to 2,530 vehicles. The Everest’s record quarter allowed it to capture 16.5 per cent of its segment share, up 4.4 per cent from the same period last year.

Toyota is hoping to successfully break into the compact SUV market in Thailand with the awesome-looking C-HR crossover.

The C-HR made its debut at the Motor Expo last year and attracted over 3,000 interested customers. This is a major model from Toyota, with total sales hitting over 280,000 units in 51 countries in 2017, while also being one of the top five best-selling vehicles in Europe last year.

The C-HR is based on Toyota’s new TNGA (Toyota New Global Architecture) that gives it a totally new character when compared to older generations.

The C-HR is priced from Bt979,000 for the entry-level 1.8-litre model, to Bt1.159 million for the HV Hi flagship hybrid model featured this week.

In terms of design, the C-HR really stands out with its futuristic exterior styling that evokes concept vehicles seen at motor shows. The interior design is equally stylish, but the quality of the materials and the final touches aren’t best-in-class, trailing behind rivals such as the Honda HR-V and Mazda CX-3.

Meanwhile, the C-HR features Toyota’s 4th-gen hybrid system that is smaller but still capable of storing more electricity with better heat dispersion, durability and fuel economy.

A 1.8-litre Atkinson-cycle engine rated at 98hp is mated to a 72-hp electric motor to deliver a combined 122 horsepower.

Toyota claims that fuel economy has been improved dramatically with the new system, at 24.4km/litre average. The nickel metal hydride battery pack (rather than the more expensive lithium-ion battery used by other hybrid manufacturers) is stored under the rear-seat cushion to give more luggage space. Unfortunately the C-HR isn’t available with a plugin version (as yet) and, although there’s an EV button, you’re not going to get very far on pure electric power alone. The 10 kilometres offered would be good enough for “we’re out of bread” trips.

There have been many media test drive events for the C-HR since its official launch in Thailand, but mine was held in Chiang Mai just last week. Chiang Mai is a great place to drive and experience the major improvements that come with the TNGA platform. The low centre of gravity, high body rigidity and precise steering, along with no-nonsense body control, provides C-HR drivers with a pretty high level of driving enjoyment when travelling the winding mountain roads heading up to Chiang Mai’s Samoeng district.

Those driving the C-HR for the first time will be impressed with the new handling character offered by the TNGA platform. The ride feels much more solid that previous Toyota models, and the beefy steering adds to the fun. The front strut and rear double wishbone suspension (the latter not common for a Toyota) provides good road-holding, with 215/60 tyres offering good cornering grip as well.

The hybrid powertrain with e-CVT (Continuously Variable Transmission) provides quick response and reasonably good acceleration – 0-100kph takes roughly 11 seconds and the top speed is about 170kph.

Good features

There’s an EV button right below the gearshift lever – when engaged it offers up to 10 kilometres of pure electric drive. Once the battery runs out, the E85-compatible engine automatically restarts and continues to propel the C-HR.

The C-HR also comes with a good array of features. For safety, there’s a full TSS (Toyota Safety System) package consisting of a pre-collision system that warns the driver of a possible collision, dynamic radar cruise control that maintains the correct distance between you and the vehicle in front, and lane departure alert with a slight steering assist that warns rather than startles you.

Another highlight in the C-HR is Toyota T-Connect Telematics that connects to smartphones and even the Apple watch, in addition to offering travel information, navigation system, 24-hour operator emergency service, vehicle locator (in case of theft), and wifi hotspot. The C-HR gets full LED adaptive headlamps, sequential LED turning lights, LED welcome lamps at the sideview mirrors, smart entry, auto brake hold function, dual-zone climate control, split-foldable rear seat backrest (luggage area is not one of its strengths) and powered windows with anti-pinch function on all four doors (all auto for both up and down, too).

Meanwhile, the warranty for the C-HR is five years/150,000km while the Hybrid Package warranty covers 10 years for the battery and five years for hybrid components. For customers who worry about the resale value of hybrid vehicles, Toyota offers GFV (Guarantee Future Value) within the first five years at Toyota Sure used car centres in the country.

In conclusion, I would say that although the C-HR is not perfect, the improvements that can be seen are remarkable, particularly for a brand like Toyota that can sometimes find it hard to make everyone happy due to the large number of customers around the world.

The C-HR is a great example of how Toyota is making its products more attractive and more complete. Being the only hybrid model in its segment is another bonus, although a plugin hybrid version would be more up to date in the fast-changing world of automobiles.

Toyota C-HR HV Hi specs

Engine: 4-cylinder DOHC 16-valve

Displacement: 1,798cc

Bore and stroke: 80.5×88.3mm

Compression ratio: 13.0:1

Max power: 98ps/5,200rpm

Max torque: 142Nm/3,600rpm

Electric motor: 600V permanent magnet synchronous

Max power: 53kW

Max torque: 163Nm

Combined max power (engine+motor): 122ps

Combined max torque: n/a

Battery: nickel metal hydride

Modules: 28

Voltage: 201.6V

Capacity: 6.5Ah

Transmission: e-CVT

Ratios: n/a

Final drive ratio: 3.218

0-100kmh: approx. 11 seconds

Top speed: approx. 170 km/h

Average fuel economy: 24.4km/litre

Average CO2: 100g/km

Suspension (f/r): McPherson strut, stabiliser/double wishbone, stabiliser

Steering: electrically-powered rack-and-pinion

Turning circle: 10.4m

Brakes (f/r): vented disc/disc

Dimensions (mm)

Length: 4,360

Width: 1,795

Height: 1,565

Wheelbase: 2,640

Track (f/r): /1,550/1,570

Weight: approx. 1,455kgs

Wheels: 17-in alloy

Tyres: 215/60R17

Fuel tank capacity: 43 litres

Price: Bt1.159 million

Distributor: Toyota Motor (Thailand) Co Ltd

According to organiser Grand Prix International, more than 5,900 orders were also placed for motorcycles.

In total, as many as 1.62 million visitors came to the event, which kicked off on March 29.

Jaturont Komolmis, the company’s chief operating officer, said auto sales at the show had risen by 18 per cent this year, while motorcycle sales had doubled from the previous year.

“We had a large number of visitors and many electric-vehicle brands made their debuts this year,” he said.

Toyota was the top auto-seller at the show with 5,689 orders, followed by Honda with 5,133, Mazda with 5,021, Isuzu with 3,920 and Mercedes-Benz with 2,297.

In the motorcycle department, Honda was the top brand with 2,628 orders placed, followed by Yamaha with 737 and Kawasaki with 554.

The ZS comes with the world’s first Thai-language voice-control technology and allows users to connect to the Internet as well as locate the vehicle in case of theft.

Prices range from Bt679,000 to Bt789,000.

MG Sales Thailand plans to sell 12,000 units of the ZS annually.

The concept, named Oxygene, features living moss growing within the sidewall.

The open structure and the tyre’s “smart tread” design absorb and circulate moisture and water from the road surface, allowing photosynthesis to occur and therefore releasing oxygen into the air.

“With more than two-thirds of the world population expected to live in cities by 2050, the demands on transport networks in urban environments will increase substantially,” said Chris Delaney, president of Goodyear Europe for the Middle East and Africa.

“Smarter, greener infrastructure and transport will be crucial in addressing the most pressing challenges of urban mobility and development.”

Inspired by the principles of the circular economy, with emphasis on reducing material waste, emissions, and energy loss, Goodyear’s Oxygene concept is designed to integrate seamlessly into future cityscapes.

“Oxygene is meant to challenge our thinking and help drive the debate around smart, safe and sustainable future mobility,” Delaney said. “By contributing in this way to cleaner air generation, the tire could help enhance quality of life and health for city-dwellers.”