Maserati Levante vs Range Rover Sport

What's the difference?

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)?

The current Range Rover Sport arrived in 2022, the third-generation version of what has been a super-successful model line for Land Rover, combining sleek looks with top-shelf luxury and a wide range of power and model grade options.

On test here is the P460e Dynamic HSE, a petrol-electric plug-in hybrid sitting in the thick of the upper-luxury five-seat SUV market.

We spent a week behind the wheel to see if it has what it takes to put its nose in front of an impressive bunch of European, more specifically, German rivals.