Maserati MC20 vs Maserati Granturismo

What's the difference?

With a 320km/h-plus top speed and the ability to get from rest to 100km/h in under three seconds, there’s no doubting the MC20 meets or exceeds its performance brief. But when you’re paying these prices, there must be more than just the measurable stuff going on.

And there is. The MC20 brings a big dollop of purity to the ranks of current supercars, doing away with all-wheel drive and hybrid tech and relying instead on and old-school approach in terms of handling and overall feel.

Anybody who wants to argue that call has plenty of alternatives to the MC20 from other manufacturers, and for some of us, that less-is-more thing will ring true.

Note: CarsGuide attended this event as a guest of the manufacturer, with meals provided.

There’s a famous line in a Hollywood movie that somebody’s ego is writing cheques their body can’t cash.

In the GranTurismo’s case, its agility, performance, ride, handling and overall refinement means it absolutely delivers on the promise of the stunning styling.

Of course, this review is a first taster only, even if it is on one of the most challenging race circuits we know. And, as such, we cannot wait to finally drive the GranTurismo outside on Australian public roads.

Which, by the way, will be all the more beautiful because of it.

Perhaps the most striking thing about the MC20’s design is that it’s so restrained. You won’t find wings, vents, fins and diffusers all over the car, but rather an overall shape that creates downforce, rather than that job falling to tacked on additions.

And, like any modern supercar worth its salt, the MC20 is based around a carbon-fibre tub for rigidity and low weight. From that tub structure are hung aluminium front and rear subframes which, in turn, mount the suspension and other mechanical bits.

The wind tunnel still got a huge workout in the car’s development, of course, but the aim was to integrate the downforce-inducing elements rather than having them demanding your optical attention.

As a result, the whole car is an upside-down wing, if you want to simplify it. But a very pretty upside-down wing.

This gives the MC20 a smooth, sleek look that stands it apart from the rent-a-racer crowd and supports the theory that sometimes, less is, indeed, more.

Some of the detailing is lovely, too. The vents cut into the Perspex rear windscreen form Maserati’s trademark trident shape, there’s lots of visible carbon-fibre inside the door jambs, there’s lashings of Alcantara inside and the two-tone body kit breaks up the shape perfectly.

Elements we’re not so sure about include the 'Park' button mounted way down low under the dashboard, and the swing-up, scissor-type doors, which, if your more than about 180cm tall, still require you to duck under them.

On the upside, the carbon-and-leather steering wheel with its integrated controls is gorgeous to hold and gaze at.

With a long bonnet and centralised, cab-backward silhouette, the new GranTurismo is built on a highly-modified version of the Stellantis Group’s Giorgio platform, which debuted with the BMW 3 Series-sized Alfa Romeo Giulia sedan back in 2016 and also underpins the Stelvio SUV. 

In this application, it has been redesigned as a modular architecture to accommodate, among other things, electrification. The resulting Folgore (Lightning) electric vehicle version will arrive in Australia during 2025.

Compared to before, the design is all-new, with a body that is slightly longer and wider than before; it features over 65 per cent aluminium, weight distribution is 52/48 per cent up front/rear, and the aerodynamics are honed to maximise efficiency, especially for the Folgore. The latter’s drag coefficiency of 0.26 – 0.02 better than the Modena/Trofeo.

Here are the key dimensions: 4959mm long (+78mm), 1957mm wide (+42mm), 1353mm tall (same as before) and 2929mm wheelbase (-20mm).

Maserati claims it invented the grand tourer with its post-war A6 1500 coupe of 1947. Since then, a variety of timeless designs have been released, with beauty always being the priority… and the GranTurismo nails it.

Although the MC20 has a front and rear luggage compartment, they’re both small enough to be pretty much useless. This is a shame, because as a long-weekend getaway car, the Maserati otherwise makes a strong case for itself.

The other area that suffers for the car’s art is the interior practicality. While the driving position is great and the pedals and wheel relationship is spot on, when it comes to storing anything, you’re on your own. Best the MC20 can offer is a single cupholder at the rear of the central tunnel.

The mid-engined layout also means there’s precious little vision through the back window. To counter that, Maserati has fitted the MC20 with an interior rear-view mirror that can act as a conventional mirror (you can still see only the engine) or as a screen for the rear-mounted camera.

The catch is the image projected to the 'mirror' lacks depth of field and forces the driver to refocus on the image rather than simply glance at it.

Long, low and wide. These are prerequisite proportions for a traditional grand touring 2+2 coupe, and with them come traditional packaging compromises.

With a near 3.0-metre wheelbase, there’s tonnes of room for legs, shoulders and even heads if you’re willing to sit nice and low, though the lush ambience is more cosy than coastal because of the accompanying broad centre console.

The dual central screens look like an open tablet, and it’s perfectly sized and easy to use. Same goes for much of the controls, while the driving position is, thankfully, first class. Just like the fit and finish.

Beating Mitsubishi’s TR Magna to the punch by decades, there’s an analogue clock perched above the centre vent outlets, which is digitalised and contains performance telemetry as per Porsche’s equivalent.

Vision is a little limited by the fat pillars and upswept window line but the big screens help. Storage is okay, and access to the rear is only for the very young, very fit or very limber.

Two more seats out back provide snug comfort, but the GranTurismo really is all about the ones up front. Overall, the cabin design’s restrained modernity matches the exterior’s styling philosophy down to a tee.

Further back, the boot lid opens electrically because why not, revealing 310 litres of cargo space. The rear seat doesn’t fold, but there is a ski-hatch into the cabin for broomsticks and some such.

Speaking of flying high, let’s take a look at the other side of the GranTurismo.

Beauty like this does not come cheap. What Italian supercar does?

The Modena is the base grade, kicking off from an Australian luxury-tax addled $375,000, before on-road costs, while there’s also the top-of-the-line Trofeo, from $450,000.

This puts the GranTurismo smack-bang in the middle of several other high-end 2+2 sports coupes besides the 911 and Conti GT, such as the Aston Martin Vantage, BMW M8 Competition and Mercedes-AMG GT.

Clearly, privilege brings the luxury of variety.

Now, as you’d probably expect, the GranTurismo is a pretty lavishly presented and equipped proposition.

Yet it’s the sheer modernity of the Torinese icon that might catch you by surprise – until you learn there’s also a cutting-edge and completely electric Folgore version also coming to Australia sometime mid-next year.

There’s a sense of that thinking with a pair of sizeable digital display screens – one ahead of the driver and a 12.3-inch touchscreen to the centre, sat above a smaller, 8.8-inch climate control display like an open tablet.

You’ll also find sumptuous leather, a 360-degree camera view, a head-up display, a digital rear-view mirror, high-end premium audio with 14 speakers and an Android-based multimedia set-up offering Alexa assistance, ‘Hey, Maserati’ voice-control and even a Wi-Fi hotspot.

It’s the repurposing of the traditional analogue clock perched up on top of the dash as both an analogue-look timepiece and performance telemetry screen that best juxtaposes the classic with the contemporary.

That, and the long list of adaptive driver-assist safety systems, which will be spelled out in more detail in the safety section below, as well as the standard air suspension and adaptive dampers. All underline the GranTurismo’s security, luxury and comfort yang to its supercar-performance yin.

Still, regardless of how many more features or more performance the Maserati’s competitors may have over it, the GranTurismo possesses one luxury no other quite manages as naturally and that’s supermodel looks.

Previous generations of Maseratis borrowed Ferrari (both brands were once part of the extended Fiat Chrysler family) technology for their drivelines in a deal that allowed both brands to share the cost of development.

And since having a Ferrari-built engine in your car was never seen as a sale hindrance, it was a sweet deal for Maserati. But when Ferrari was spun off and became a publicly-owned company in 2016, Maserati’s supply of engines dried up.

The solution was to take engine design in-house and the twin-turbocharged 3.0-litre V6 in the MC20 is one of the first fruits of that.

While it’s undoubtedly a high-tech powerplant, in other respects it’s fairly conventional. Maserati, for instance, has a long history with the V6 layout, and there’s no hybrid element to the driveline. Nor is there a hybrid option.

Maserati claims the V6 is the world’s most powerful six-cylinder production-car engine and, with no less than 463kW at 7500rpm and 730Nm between 3000 and 5500rpm, that’s a credible statement.

Technical details that you won’t see on most road cars include a dry-sump lubrication system (where the engine oil lives in a remote tank rather than the hot sump of the engine itself) and a sophisticated fuel injection system with two injectors per cylinder.

The real trick, however, is an ignition system with two spark plugs per cylinder. There are also effectively two combustion chambers, the first ensuring multiple flame fronts to achieve a more complete burn of the fuel in the main combustion chamber.

The rest of the driveline is similarly aimed at the purists out there; the transmission is an eight-speed dual-clutch, driving not all four wheels, but only the rears through a mechanical limited-slip differential.

Selectable drive modes from GT (the default setting) through to 'Wet', 'Sport', 'Corsa' (Track) and 'ESC Off' tailor the shift points, throttle sensitivity and suspension behaviour, but still allow for full engine power.

So, no more Ferrari-sourced V8, eh?

Yet, it’s not just a sexy body that Maserati has mastered, because this particular 2992cc 3.0L twin-turbo V6 is pretty-much exactly the same engine as you’ll find in the company’s MC20 supercar, give or take a bunch of outputs.

Called the Nettuno, it isn’t quite in the performance league of the GT’s mid-engined two-seater sibling, but with 365kW of power and 600Nm of torque in the Modena and 45kW/50Nm more in the Trofeo, it’s a spine-tingling symphony of speed and total jailbait… especially given the latter’s 320km/h maximum velocity.

That’s 18km/h quicker than the standard tune, and the Trofeo also shaves 0.4 seconds off the 0-100km/h sprint time at just 3.5s flat.

Either engine, though, feels terrifically quick and smooth and no doubt that’s aided by what must be one of the world’s greatest automatic transmissions in the eight-speed ZF unit. It sends drive to all four wheels.

Given the length, girth and opulence, a kerb weight of just 1795kg is outstanding, allowing a power-to-weight ratio of 203kW per tonne in the Modena and a knockout 228kW/tonne in the Trofeo.

To help keep all that in check, the GranTurismo also deploys double wishbones up front, a multi-link independent rear suspension set-up, along with the aforementioned air suspension – which is a nice nod to history as French carmaker Citroen used to own Maserati.

Anyway, the active suspension works in tandem with the four self-explanatory driving models fitted – 'Comfort', the default 'GT', 'Sport' and 'Corsa' (track).

Fuel economy is probably not going to be top of mind for most MC20 buyers, but the official combined figure of 11.6 litres per 100km is still pretty greedy by 2022 standards.

Balanced against the available performance, however, and an engine making more than 600 old-fashioned horsepower with that combined fuel-economy number is still cause to reflect on modern technology and efficiency.

The MC20 has a 60-litre fuel tank, making it a handy cross-country car for weekends away.

You know, for a super coupe that can easily exceed 300km/h, the GranTurismo is pleasingly efficient, with a combined cycle average figure of 10.2L/100km.

Top that 70L tank with premium unleaded petrol, and you might even average over 680km between refills if you can restrain yourself from poking the bear under the bonnet.

How? Clean aero efficiency, along with that predominantly aluminium body that helps keep the weight down to under an impressive 1.8 tonnes.

Which all bodes really well for 2025’s Folgore EV version, which can also hit 100 in 2.7s on the way to 325km/h. Bring that on!

Here’s where your half-a-million bucks has gone.

The MC20’s acceleration is absolutely shattering and is all the more amazing for the fact the car uses neither all-wheel drive grip nor hybrid torque to achieve its sprinting abilities.

While the V6 is not the most sonorous of powerplants, it does manage to sound high-end and pretty sophisticated and it’s never as shouty as some of its opposition which seem to confuse decibels with kiloWatts.

While the sheer thrust confirms the existence of two turbochargers, the lack of lag (or throttle delay) and the ability to charge into the rev limiter in the lower gears does not.

Even though power peaks at 6500rpm (as with many a modern turbo motor) the MC20 will happily smash on to the redline at 8000rpm; sometimes too happily if you don’t have your finger over the upshift paddle. As with other good modern turbocharged units, this one doesn’t actually feel overtly turbocharged.

The transmission shifts relatively smoothly in GT mode, but as you crank up the mode selector to Sport, the shifts become very fast with an accompanying jolt through the backrest as each gear clicks home. The shifting process is fairly foolproof, although you do get full over-ride, so you need to pay attention.

Both the cars we were able to sample at Philip Island were sporting the optional carbon-ceramic braking package, and one was also fitted with the optional 'birdcage' alloy wheels which are lighter.

Each of them needed a firm shove on the pedal to slow things down, but it’s true the lighter wheels seem to be worth their almost-$3000 ask as that car required less leg-pressure for the same result.

The lack of a hybrid element to the driveline, as well as the rear-drive layout, suggests a degree of purity of purpose in the car’s design. And that’s backed up by its behaviour in the first corner.

Fundamentally, instead of just hurling it at an apex and allowing the electronics to sort it all out for you, the Maserati requires a more 'classical' technique if it’s to really shine.

It doesn’t, for instance, reward trail-braking (where you continue to brake once you’ve turned into a corner) and would much prefer you get your braking over and done with before applying any meaningful steering lock.

Ignore this, and the rear weight bias of the mid-engined layout can see the car try to yaw, with the rear end becoming light and the vehicle over-rotating (which is a spin, to you and I).

Similarly, getting on the power before you’ve actually got the MC20 turned, can unload the front end and send the front wheels ploughing (ploughing is an exaggeration, but at the speeds we’re dealing with here, even a small degree is a big deal) towards the outside of the turn.

Ultimately, then, the technique becomes a text-book case of brake, turn and then power out, at which point the MC20 reveals itself to be huge fun and incredibly fast. The only thing to deal with then is the knowledge that whatever happens next is going to happen extremely quickly.

Though it has been modified by what may be an almost unrecognisable amount by Maserati’s engineers, using Stellantis’ Gorgio architecture that first appeared in the magnetic Alfa Romeo Giulia of 2016 and then utterly seduced in the flagship Quadrifoglio version is a great place to start.

Now, we’ve only tested the all-new GranTurismo (GT from here on in) coupe around the fast and challenging Tailem Bend race track near Adelaide, so cannot speak of its behaviour on Australian public roads.

But what we experienced was an incredible and elevating sports car experience. And, yes, that's despite the loss of the magnetic Ferrari-based 4.7-litre V8.

Even with ‘just’ 365kW of power and 600Nm of torque, the base Modena twin-turbo V6 thunders off the line, its superb ZF eight-speed automatic transmission, surely the best of its type in the world, shifting with lightning speed through the ratios as it blitzed past 100, then 150, then 200km/h in mere seconds. Maserati says within 8.8s, in fact.

To help keep all that in check, the GranTurismo deploys double wishbones up front, a multi-link independent rear suspension set-up, along with the aforementioned air suspension – which is a nice nod to history as French carmaker Citroen used to own Maserati.

Anyway, the active suspension works in tandem with the four self-explanatory driving models fitted – 'Comfort', the default 'GT', 'Sport' and 'Corsa' (track).

We were too thrilled to notice whether the loss of the Maserati V8 grumble, because the exhaust howl was exciting enough, along with the sheer ease in which the GT accelerates.

And when we needed to suddenly brake reaching corners that seemed stupidly close until we realised they weren’t, we also were relieved at the Modena’s marvellously effective Brembo brake package.

Now, at under 1900kg, the GT is still a heavy car, but not for a five-by-two metre-long-and-wide 2+2 seater coupe.

Seriously, the cohesion and crispness of the steering, whether in Comfort or three-settings down in shockingly heavier Corsa mode, tingles the senses, seeming far lighter and more agile than the (albeit lithe) luxury coupe styling suggests.

Not Porsche 911 supernatural-alacrity, but beautifully quick and reactive nonetheless. It’s such a buzz.

There’s also a sense of isolation from the air suspension underneath, aided by the trick adaptive dampers doing their bit too to cushion the ride. The vital luxury part of the GT equation is omnipresent in the Maserati coupe.

And this was all just in the Modena. Another few laps in the Trofeo just sharpened the senses and speed and responses, supercharging the experience around Tailem Bend.

What all this left us is a longing for more time behind the wheel. Which hopefully will happen soon, but for now, this is far-and-away the best Maserati I have ever driven. If you can afford one, this is all great news.

Of course, back in the real world on everyday roads, there will surely be criticisms, but for now, around the circuit, the GranTurismo is something very special indeed.

It might shock to learn that supercars like this generally are not crash-tested by EuroNCAP or other such agencies, so there’s no rating.

But most of today’s advanced driver-assist tech is present and active in the GranTurismo along with a super-strong body, massive Brembo brakes and that trick air suspension to help keep everything grounded.

The 'Level 2' tech includes front and rear AEB, blind-spot warning, lane support systems with alerts and intervention, rear cross-traffic alert, driver attention alert and auto high beams. Front, side and rear cameras are also fitted.

Plus, there are six airbags (dual front, dual side and curtain for both rows), along with anti-lock brakes, brake assist, electronic brake-force distribution, electronic stability control, traction control and front/rear parking sensors.

Two ISOFIX restraints and child-seat anchorage points are integrated into the rear pair of seats.

High-end cars often disappoint on the details, and the Maserati is no different here, offering just a three-year factory warranty (albeit with unlimited kilometres).

That trails even the most humble commuter cars these days, and suggests there’s still a degree of indifference from some carmakers. And, possibly, their customers.

There is, however, the option of fixed-price servicing for the MC20 with the first three years’ worth of servicing costing $4000.

Scheduled services are every 15,000km or 12 months, whichever comes first.

Maserati offers a frankly disappointing three-year/unlimited kilometre warranty, which is on the stingier side of things.

Service intervals are also every 12 months or 10,000km.

There is no capped-price servicing, but Maserati offers a pre-paid maintenance program that covers all the inspections and components and consumable replacements.

As the pricing was not finalised at the time of publishing, best to check the company’s website for the latest details.