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Driving a whopping great SUV down the straight on a race track at more than 200km/h sounds like fun, but it actually feels a bit wrong, like entering a baby elephant in a dog show.
These are strange times, of course, and the Maserati Trofeo Levante is a suitably strange vehicle - stylish, classy, expensively appointed family hauler that also has the heart and soul of a race car.
Indeed, while performance SUVs are an increasingly commonplace vehicle, the Levante - which was actually getting along in the tooth as a model before this significant upgrade - has higher performance credibility than most.
That's because it has a big Ferrari V8 driving all four of its wheels and delivering a properly supercar-like 433kW and 730Nm.
It's not what you might call a typical Maserati buyer's car, but then only those who know what the Trofeo badge stands for - shouty insanity, basically - will be interested in this end of town. It is a lot of car, but is it worth the large load of money on the sticker ($330,000)?
Maserati Levante 2021: Trofeo | |
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Safety rating | — |
Engine Type | 3.8L turbo |
Fuel Type | Premium Unleaded Petrol |
Fuel Efficiency | —L/100km |
Seating | 5 seats |
Price from | $310,310 |
I'm sorry, but $330,000 for an SUV, of any kind? Personally I can't see the value, but then personally, as we'll discuss below in the Design section, I can't see the attraction.
This is one of the most expensive SUVs money can buy, well above things like Range Rover Sport SVR ($239,187) or even Porsche Cayenne Turbo Coupe ($254,000), although a pricier Ferrari one is surely on the way.
You'd want a lot for that, and the way it drives and sounds, thanks to that Ferrari engine, accounts for quite a few dollars.
There's also an undeniably high-quality feel to everything you touch on the car, inside and out, and a vast quantity of carbon fibre everywhere as well.
Other highlights include the 21-inch machine polished wheels, an 8.4-inch touchscreen with Navigation and DAB radio, full matrix LED headlights, and incredible Pieno Fiore natural leather, “the best the world has ever seen”, as Maserati says.
The lovely if firm front seats are heated and ventilated, sporty and 12-way adjustable, with Trofeo logos stitched into the headrests. The rooflining is lovely Alcantara, the steering wheel is sporty and features carbon-fibre shift paddles, ad the stereo system is Harman Kardon Premium and has 14 speakers.
And even the rear seats are heated. It feels expensive, and it should. But still, $330K?
While the other two Maseratis to get the Trofeo treatment - the Ghibli and Quattroporte sedans - are undeniably lovely, the Levante is not quite as pretty.
Admittedly, for an SUV, it looks very good, and the Trofeo touches - that big, nostrilled bonnet, the red gills on the sides, the carbon, the badges - really do lift its game to another level.
Overall, though, the Levante has just never felt beautiful enough to me to be a Maserati. These guys really do style well, as you'd expect from a premium Italian brand, but making an SUV sexy is beyond even them.
I'll grant you, it does look good from front on, but at the rear they just seem to have run out of ideas.
Credit is due for feeling properly special inside, however.
If you've got to move five people in a genuine hurry, the Levante is a pleasant way to go about it.
There's plenty of head and shoulder room, the seats, while firm in the front, are pleasant to the touch and supportive and there's a 580-litre boot with an electric tailgate and split-folding seats.
The boot feels properly spacious, too, with a 12-volt power outlet and four tie-down points. You won't, however, find a spare wheel out there, so serious off-roading is out (although it probably was already if you look at those expensive wheels).
There are huge door pockets with room for bottles and two big cup holders in the front. The centre-console bin looks lovely, it's all carbon fibre, but is quite small.
There are also three USB points, one in the front and two in the rear, and Apple CarPlay and Android Auto connectivity.
This will be the last time Maserati gets a proper Ferrari engine like this a 3.8-litre twin-turbo V8 shouty monster, which is good for 433kW and 730Nm.
The future, as is the case everywhere, is going to be more electric and less noisy. For now, anyone who can should enjoy this V8 masterpiece, which drives all four wheels through Maserati's Q4 on-demand all-wheel drive system via a limited-slip rear differential and uses an eight-speed automatic transmission.
Its claimed 0 to 100km/h time is 3.9 seconds, which puts it in what used to be super-car territory, and is still very quick indeed, while top speed is an unimaginable 304km/h.
The official claimed fuel economy for the Maserati Levante Trofeo is 13.5 litres per 100km, but good luck with that.
A more realistic number would probably sit somewhere above 17 litres per 100km, and we would have easily exceeded 20 litres while driving it like lunatics around a track.
But you just paid $330K for an SUV, what do you care about fuel economy?
Maserati's safety offering on the Levante includes six airbags, a reversing camera and 360-degree overhead camera, parking sensors front and rear, adaptive cruise control and Blind Spot Detection, Forward Collision Warning Plus, Pedestrian Detection, Lane Keep Assist, Active Driver Assist and Traffic Sign Recognition.
There is no ANCAP rating for the Levante as it's not been crash tested here.
Basic Warranty
3 years / unlimited km warranty
Maserati offers a three-year, unlimited kilometre warranty, but you can choose to buy 12-month or two-year warranty extensions, and even a sixth or seventh-year drive-train warranty extension.
When much, much cheaper Japanese and Korean cars are offering seven and even 10-year warranties, this is so far off the pace that such a fast vehicle should be embarrassed. And if you're buying something Italian, a better, longer warranty would seem like a must. I'd be negotiating at sale for them to throw the longer warranty offer in.
Maserati says servicing for the Ghibli has a "ball park costing of $2700.00 for the first three years of ownership" with a service schedule of every 20,000km or 12 months (whichever occurs first)
Also, "please note that the above is indicative only of the manufacturers basic routine service maintenance schedule and does not include any consumable items such as tyres, brakes etc or additional dealership charges such as environmental levies etc."
We got to drive all three Trofeo-fettled Maseratis on track at Sydney Motorsport Park, and before that on the road, where the Levante felt very pleasant, and pleasantly expensive at all times.
As you might expect, a vehicle with 433kW is difficult to fully appreciate on public roads, although there was the occasional and exciting change to give it a quick, loud blat between gears.
It only takes hearing that engine note, and feeling that torque surge, a few times to see why someone might fall in love with this car, or at least this engine.
Out on the track, the rear-driven Ghibli and Quattroporte, which share the Levante's engine, were surely the more fun and frenetic things to drive, but there were those who chose the Levante as their best of the three, even for circuit driving.
There's no doubt that its on-demand all-wheel-drive system, which is biased towards the rear but asks the front wheels for help when required, made it feel the most planted, and the safest, through fast and slow bends.
There's a definite sense that its engine is being asked to work the hardest, though, to push all that bulk through the air (although its brakes never seemed to fade, which is impressive with more than two tonnes of SUV to stop).
While the big, deafening V8 is willing and keen to rev all the way to 7000rpm (where it bangs on the redline waiting for your upshift, if you're driving in manual mode - I do like that), it started to make large sucking sounds towards the top of each gear, as if it was desperately trying to get more oxygen in.
It genuinely sounded different to the other two Trofeo cars, which is odd, but perhaps they just weren't as near their limits. That bulk also slowed it slightly in terms of top speed down the straight, but it still exceeded 220km/h with ease.
What should be said is that I was genuinely shocked at how good the Levante Trofeo was around a track. So much so I asked to have a second go, just to make sure I wasn't going mad.
Sure, it makes no sense to me personally, and I don't know why anyone needs an SUV that's good on a track, but if you do, I can recommend the Levante for sure.
That hugely enjoyable engine is just too much fun, although it's even better in a sedan like the Ghibli...
Maseratis are built for a fairly specific niche buyer; someone with a lot of money, someone slightly older and certainly someone who likes the finer things in life and appreciates Italian style, quality and heritage.
They are not, typically, the kind of buyers who want to tear around race tracks like fiends in big, shouty SUVs. But apparently there is a niche within the niche of Maserati fans who do, and they are willing to invest big dollars in vehicles wearing the Trofeo badge, like this Levante.
It might seem a slightly strange creation, a track-mad SUV with a screaming Ferrari engine, but surprisingly, it really does work.
Vehicle | Specs | Price* | |
---|---|---|---|
(base) | 3.0L, PULP, 8 SP AUTO | $117,480 – 135,080 | 2021 Maserati Levante 2021 (base) Pricing and Specs |
Granlusso | 3.0L, PULP, 8 SP AUTO | $136,400 – 156,750 | 2021 Maserati Levante 2021 Granlusso Pricing and Specs |
S | 3.0L, PULP, 8 SP AUTO | $154,770 – 177,870 | 2021 Maserati Levante 2021 S Pricing and Specs |
Gransport | 3.0L, Diesel, 8 SP AUTO | $135,960 – 156,310 | 2021 Maserati Levante 2021 Gransport Pricing and Specs |
Price and features | 6 |
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Design | 7 |
Practicality | 8 |
Under the bonnet | 9 |
Efficiency | 6 |
Safety | 7 |
Ownership | 6 |
Driving | 8 |
$97,800
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