Maserati’s all-new MC20 super-sports car finally hits the road in Australia. James samples Modena’s grand tourer at Gippsland’s Grand Ridge.
- Stunning design
- New twin-turbo V6 offers plenty of performance thrills
- Excellent balance of sports fighter and grand tourer
- Interior is upmarket but perhapss a little staid
- Lack of assistance technology in standard trim
- Is a $400k car really a $700k car?
Introduction
It may come as a bit of a surprise, but Maserati has not traditionally been a big sports car company.
In the Italian marque’s 107-year history, only a handful of road-going models have been undeniably ‘sporty’, and by a handful, I’m thinking three or four (Bora, Merak, MC12, maybe Shamal?).
Over the years, the majority of cars to wear the famed Trident badge have been better suited to stylish long-range mile-eating than they have been at clipping apexes. This is not a bad trait to have, but not something a manufacturer who started out building racing cars seems content with anymore.
Something needed to change, and by way of the all-new MC20, something has.
The 2022 Maserati MC20 is undeniably a sports car. In fact, we’d go as far as to say it is a super sports car.
Priced from $438,000 before options and on-road costs, the MC20 is perhaps best considered as an Italian McLaren, seamlessly balancing technology and performance with style and luxury.
And yes, that price makes it the most expensive Maserati ever sold in Australia, and yes again, that price will climb rapidly when you start ticking options. Our test car has around $200k of additional components, making this one a $700k exercise once you roll out of the dealership.
Before you pipe up and suggest this going to be a problem, all the initial allocation of vehicles for Australia has already been sold, and if you want one, the waitlist is already out to 2024.
Designed and developed entirely in-house by Maserati, the MC20 represents a clean-sheet look at what the Trident can stand for as we move into the next era of motoring.
There’s a new mid-mounted 3.0-litre twin-turbo V6, a carbon-fibre tub, and an aerodynamic profile that keeps the car glued to the ground without any fussy wings or messy fins.
From conception, it was developed with a coupe, roadster and electric variant in mind, as a future-proof fresh start for one of motoring’s most storied names.
The result is a car which is both beautiful and light, powerful and clever.
The Maserati MC20 is the most sports-oriented Maserati in almost two decades (the Ferrari Enzo based MC12 was revealed in 2004) and opens the door for a new type of buyer who is looking for the equivalent ‘go’ to match their ‘show’.
| Key details | 2022 Maserati MC20 |
| Price (MSRP) | $438,000 |
| Colour of test car | Giallo Genio (yellow) |
| Options | Alcantara and carbon interior ($26,163) Carbon brakes ($28,961) Exterior carbon pack ($92,806) Contrast stitch/chevron ($2,962) Yellow brake callipers ($2,962) Trident stitching ($2,304) Heated seats ($1,481) Carbon engine cover ($13,164) Black roof ($10,202) Lifter ($8,721) Black 20″ Birdcage wheels ($2,962) |
| Price as tested | $656,851 |
| Rivals | McLaren Artura | Lamborghini Huracan | Ferrari F8 |
Style and Design
The MC20 is unquestionably a stunning looking car.
It was designed in-house by Maserati and refined in consultation with the Italian racecar design and construction company, Dellara. In fact, Maserati notes that more than one thousand airflow simulations were conducted and over two thousand hours were spent in the Dellara wind tunnel to refine the car’s aerodynamic profile.
There are no wings, fins or other adornments. The carbon fibre body flows elegantly from the Trident-crested ovoid grille, over curves and through channels, to the Lexan rear engine cover and its neat Trident motif, and Kamm-tail rear end.
All your exotic essentials are present too.
Along with the carbon-fibre tub and panels, you score swing-up ‘butterfly’ doors, an optional hydraulic lifter for the nose, plus a useless front storage compartment and an essentially pointless boot (47L front, 101L rear).
The car runs staggered, 9-inch front and 11-inch rear, 20-inch wheels, and for context is shorter (4469mm v 4533mm) but wider (1965mm v 1852mm) than a 992-generation Porsche 911.
And, at 1221mm tall, you could stack two MC20s on top of each other and still be shorter than a mid-roof Renault Master!
As a buyer, you may choose from six colours (Bianco Audace – white, Giallo Genio – yellow, Rosso Vincente – red, Blu Infinito – blue, Nero Enigma – black, or Grigio Mistero – grey) or even commission a paint-to-sample hue (at a cost), should you wish to limit the chances of parking next to an identical car at the supermarket.
Our Giallo Genio car features a blue pearl flake embedded within the yellow, which makes it equally stunning as it is hard to photograph!
From here, you can add carbon fibre elements, a contrasting turret or different wheels to further personalise your MC20.
This will all cost you, but that’s all part of the super-sports car ownership journey.
For virtual buyers (like me), you can build your own using the Maserati Configurator. I’ve gone for a red-over-blue specification with a black turret, carbon kit and yellow callipers. And yes, it sounds sketchy, but with a car this pretty, it just works.
Inside
If the MC20 has a weakness in its implementation, it’s the ‘office’.
Don’t get me wrong, the process of stepping in and down to the power-adjustable Sabelt seats, that provide excellent support and freedom of movement, is always a special experience.
Impressively for an Italian car, there is enough room for a taller (and perhaps wider) driver to fit comfortably. And little inconveniences like a mid-mounted engine and its shapely angled cover are dispatched by using a camera-driven rear view mirror which is often unnervingly sharp to look at.
The presentation and material use in the two-seat interior is top-notch, there is Alcantara, leather and carbon fibre everywhere you look, but where the exterior speaks to Maserati’s history of designing beautiful cars, the cabin feels somewhat generic.
Maserati notes that much of this simplicity is there to limit distraction for the driver, and while that makes sense, I guess I was looking for a little more Maserati in my Maserati.
Simply put, it’s all very nice, but not particularly unique. If you covered the Trident on the steering wheel, I’d wager you’d have no idea what car this is.
There are some lovely elements, like the twice-stitched knee pads and hand-made door-pulls, and as with other cars in the Maserati range, I love the huge alloy shift paddles, but with our car’s black leather option, it feels just a little bit cold.
This is perhaps exaggerated by the pair of 10.25-inch LCD screens that handle the driver’s instruments as well as infotainment and climate control functions.
As the lesser of two evils, the instrument display is clear and easy to read while on the move, but with limited information presented, I feel that perhaps something more dramatic like an analogue tachometer flanked by digital readouts, like in a Ferrari, would have been more in tune with the MC20’s positioning.
The infotainment unit too, again does exactly what is asked of it, but is mounted to, rather than in or on, the dashboard in a way that makes it look like an afterthought.
I know that a multi-function screen needs to feature in a modern car, it’s just that here I would have preferred a more elegant implementation solution.
There’s a large drive-mode dial on the central tunnel, apparently inspired by a chronograph watch, which to me, seems a bit naff.
Again, it’s lovely to touch, is easy to use, and does exactly what it is supposed to… but after turning through WET, GT, SPORT and CORSA, I half expected to find RINSE and SPIN.
And no, there’s not a lot of cabin storage, so travel light in knowing that your country estate has a duplicate of everything you own anyway, or simply have your entourage and luggage arrive a day ahead.
| Key Details | 2022 Maserati MC20 |
| Seats | Two |
| Boot volume | 47L front / 101L rear |
| Length | 4469mm |
| Width | 1965mm |
| Height | 1221mm |
| Wheelbase | 2700mm |
Infotainment and Connectivity
The 10.25-inch infotainment screen has support for wireless Apple CarPlay and there is a wireless charge pad, so your fuss-free technical essentials are sorted.
The car’s native infotainment system is easy to operate, and well-featured (with DAB radio and integrated navigation), but I’d be lying if I said I explored it to the nth degree in my short time with the car.
Phone calls were made, some Pink Floyd was played, and that’s about it.
Worth noting that if music is your thing, you can option a 12-speaker Sonus-Faber sound system for an extra $10k.
As noted earlier, the driver has important but minimal information configuration options displayed, and typically of the category, there’s no alphabet soup of assistance acronyms on offer. Here, it’s just you, the car, and the road.
Safety & Technology
There is no ANCAP or equivalent European (EuroNCAP) crash test or safety rating for the Maserati MC20.
There is, however, a $2797 option to add blind-spot and rear cross-traffic detection to the MC20 which I feel is a bit cheeky. Rear and rear-quarter vision isn’t great in a car like this, and it’s not like these systems are hand-soldered and programmed by Italian artisans.
It’s not a hill I’ll die on, but I do feel at this level that this equipment should be integrated into the basic vehicle specification.
| 2022 Maserati MC20 | |
| ANCAP rating | Not tested |
Value for Money
For me say that because our $438,000 car becomes a near-$700,000 one very quickly (that $92,806 carbon exterior package has a lot to answer for) suggests the MC20 isn’t a strong player in the value stakes.
However, a Lamborghini Huracan Evo starts from $459,441 (before options and on-road costs) and has even more personalisation choices with which to up your invoice, as does a $449,550 McLaren Artura and $484,888 Ferrari F8 Tributo.
Plus, given the scarcity of the MC20 in Australia and the current behaviour of our car market, your car – even if it is red with a blue interior – will probably appreciate in value.
What a time to be alive.
| At a glance | 2022 Maserati MC20 |
| Warranty | Three years / unlimited km |
| Service intervals | 12 months or 15,000km |
Fuel Consumption – brought to you by bp
| Fuel Usage | Fuel Stats |
| Fuel cons. (claimed) | 10.3/100km |
| Fuel type | 98 Octane Petrol |
| Fuel tank size | 60L |
Driving
Beyond the good looks and equipment lists, there are two key elements to the Maserati MC20 which make its arrival all the more important for those behind the wheel.
The newly developed Nettuno V6 engine, which produces 463kW at 7500rpm and 730Nm between 3000 and 5500rpm, is the highest-powered six-cylinder engine in production.
Designed by Maserati, the twin-turbo unit utilises a Formula-1 derived twin-combustion chamber arrangement, which is a first for a road car. This technology operates by igniting the fuel/air mixture in a pre-combustion chamber, which then transfers ignition to the primary chamber through multiple ‘spark’ points, along with a regular spark plug, to create combustion with greater efficiency.
In simple terms, rather than one or two spark plugs in each cylinder triggering combustion, you have ‘many’ spark points which are generated from the pre-combustion ignition.
In even more simple terms, this means the engine operates more efficiently and is able to increase power output without using more fuel.
You don’t notice or care about any of this behind the wheel though.
Fire it up, the ‘everyday’ GT mode is the default, and the initial aggressive bark turns into a combination of hungry induction noises and whistling turbos. A tap on the throttle ups the urgency of both but without any antisocial theatrics from the exhaust.
At urban speeds, the MC20 is docile and easy to deal with. The ride is compliant and, poor quarter vision notwithstanding, the car is light and well behaved.
Dial things up to SPORT or even CORSA, and the world rapidly starts to get far more interesting.
Throttle inputs become sharper, the exhaust valves open earlier (GT @ 5000rpm, SPORT @ 3500rpm, CORSA always) and the rate at which the eight-speed dual-clutch transmission changes ratios become more violent.
The car piles on speed very quickly, and would be far more at home in a less-restrictive environment, especially considering the 0-100km/h dash is dispatched in under three seconds (2.9-sec claimed).
Where I found it most impressive was in terms of mid-range acceleration, as a stab of the throttle at 70 or 80km/h has the car almost lunge forward to triple digits.
Grip from the Bridgestone Potenza Sport rubber (designed specifically for the MC20) is impressive too, with the Sabelt buckets holding you tightly when lateral g-forces increase. There’s enough communication from the rubber to let you know when adhesion is reaching the limit, the car is able to move around on the road while still making you feel in control and comfortable exploring the performance of the car.
As the second key feature of the MC20 is its weight, or more accurately, lack of it.
All that carbon fibre gives the Maserati a tare weight of 1565kg and a power-to-weight ratio of 295.8kW/t. It’s this which allows the car to feel nimble and capable on a twisting rural road.
You can manually soften (or stiffen) the dampers to allow more compliance on undulating blacktop, giving you again more confidence in the car’s ability.
Approach a corner, sharply wash off speed with the big (390mm front, 360mm rear) carbon-ceramic brakes, turn in, balance the throttle, and tap up a gear to blast out the other side. The MC20 feels light and sharp, and most importantly it feels fast.
Where the V6 seemed muted before, comes a sharp howl. It’s no Lamborghini V10 or engineered Ferrari V8, but the mechanical mashup of induction, turbochargers and exhaust noises is rewarding in its own way.
Yes, it could be more exciting, and probably louder, but that would be in contrast to the MC20’s ability to be both a sports car and a grand tourer, just like a Maserati should be.
| Key details | 2022 Maserati MC20 |
| Engine | 3.0-litre twin-turbo V6 |
| Power | 463kW @ 7500rpm |
| Torque | 730Nm @ 3000-5500rpm |
| Drive type | Rear-wheel drive |
| Transmission | Eight-speed dual clutch |
| Power to weight ratio | 295.8kW/t |
| Weight (tare) | 1565kg |
Conclusion
If the 2022 Maserati MC20 is the Trident badge making a statement, then it’s a strong one.
This is a proper sports car in every way. Fast and agile, with the right amount of dynamic ability to put a smile on the face of any driver.
It may not be as ‘pointy’ as one of its Italian brethren, but it feels as though it can be ‘off’ just as well as it can be ‘on’, and that’s a hard balance to manage.
As I said earlier, the MC20 is much more like an Italian McLaren than the not-Ferraris we’ve been used to, and it’s so much better for it. A clean sheet, specifically engineered super sports tourer is what the brand needed as a reinvention booster shot.
What’s more, is even after a long day behind the wheel, I wasn’t tight or stiff in any way. In the MC20 you could, in traditional Maserati fashion, easily chew up long miles in style.
Because even though all this refinement and development, the MC20 is still a Maserati.
The post 2022 Maserati MC20 review appeared first on Drive.
