Mercedes-Benz E53 vs Maserati Granturismo

What's the difference?

The Mercedes-AMG E53 Hybrid 4Matic+ is a superb blend of high-tech hybrid muscle and cossetting top-end luxury. Value is competitive, it looks (and feels) the business, despite the conventional sedan configuration it’s surprisingly practical (except for the modest boot), fuel-efficiency is a key benefit and safety is stellar. The ownership proposition is okay for the category but that’s not top of mind when an enticing series of corners ranges into view. It’s an impressive package.

Note: CarsGuide attended this event as a guest of the manufacturer, with travel, accommodation and 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.

At first glance the E53 passes as a flash-looking Mercedes-Benz E-Class running 20-inch rims, especially in the launch car’s rich ‘Patagonia Red’ finish.

But then, there’s something about the AMG sedan’s stance that sets it apart. Which makes sense because the front fenders are wider by 11mm on both sides (compared to the E-Class) to make room for a wider front track (increased by just over 30mm over the previous-generation E53).

Wheelbase has also increased by just over 20mm to almost 3.0m and the car’s more aggressive nose treatment enhances the distinctive look.

There’s the AMG-specific radiator trim with ‘Panamericana’-style vertical slats, the sleek dual-section headlights and a large lower inlet that directs air to an additional front intercooler as well as an external opening for a wheel-arch cooler.

In profile there’s barely a hard edge to be seen, although character lines in the bonnet and along the car’s flanks contribute to a taut surface treatment.

At the rear, horizontally-connected LED tail-lights feature a stylised Mercedes three-pointed star signature, then a rear apron housing a diffuser and twin double tailpipe ‘trims’ and a bootlid spoiler on the left and right round off a beautifully proportioned design.

Climbing inside means a trip to screen city with an upright digital display in front of the driver flanked by a large central screen to the left and an additional panel for the front passenger beyond that. It’s a lot.

But once you’re on top of all the glass surfaces, details like open pore grey ashwood trim on the lower console come into focus, as do the brushed metal accents, beautifully sculpted ‘Performance’ front sports seats (optionally fitted to our launch drive example), racy stainless steel pedal covers and the five spoke AMG performance steering wheel with configurable rotary buttons.

It’s a supremely luxurious and comfortable interior. 

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.

At over 4.9m long, close to 2.1m wide and a little under 1.5m tall, with a 2961mm wheelbase, the new E53 is a substantial car and feels it on the inside.

Plenty of breathing space for the driver and front passenger thanks in part to the away slope of the screen-dominated dash.

Generous storage, too, with large door bins including enough space for big bottles, a deep lidded box between the seats (which doubles as a centre armrest), a generous glove box and two cupholders under a sliding top at the front of the centre console. 

Hit the second row, and sitting behind the driver’s seat, set for my 183cm position, I have plenty of head and legroom, with enough shoulder space for three adults on short journeys. A trio of up to mid-teenage kids will be fine for a road trip.

Storage is pretty handy as well with hefty door bins and two pop-out cupholders in the fold-down centre armrest. No map pockets on the back of the (optional) Performance front seats, though.

Four-zone climate control means there’s individual temperature control for each side of the back seat, with adjustable vents at the back of the front centre console and trailing edge of the B-pillars. Very civilised.

Power and connectivity runs to three USB-C outlets and a wireless device charging pad in the front.

Thanks to the traction battery under its floor, boot volume is restricted to 370 litres (compared to 540L in the conventional E-Class sedan), although there are bag hooks, tie-down anchors and the 60/40 split-folding rear seat is able to liberate more space.

No spare tyre of any description, just a repair/inflator kit, which might make sense for automotive designers and engineers trying to maximise space and reduce weight, but doesn’t make sense for an owner stranded on the side of the road with an unrepairable puncture.

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.

The E53 is powered by a 3.0-litre, turbo-petrol, in-line six-cylinder engine working in concert with an electric motor housed within the car’s nine-speed (torque-converter) automatic transmission. 

Drive goes to all four wheels via an electro-mechanically controlled clutch distributing power between the front and rear axles.

Engine performance is up by around 10kW compared to the previous E53 thanks to software upgrades, a new twin-scroll turbo with higher boost pressure (1.5 bar vs 1.1 bar) as well as additional front and wheel-arch intercoolers. 

The engine alone produces 330kW/560Nm while the permanently excited synchronous motor chips in with a solid 120kW/480Nm for overall outputs of 450kW/750Nm.

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).

The E53’s official combined cycle (urban/extra-urban) fuel figure is 1.7L/100km, a spectacularly frugal number for such a high-performance machine. But it’s worth noting it’s predicated on the drive battery being constantly and completely recharged.

Speaking of which, the 28.6kWh, 400-volt traction battery is housed at the rear of the car under the boot floor. It delivers a claimed EV-only range of up to 100km, although that will diminish dramatically if you decide to push up towards the car’s pure-electric top speed of 140km/h.

Important to note the battery’s 21kWh ‘day-to-day’ capacity, designed to keep charge in reserve for any required ‘high-performance boosts’.

An 11kW AC charger is onboard with regenerative braking also harvesting energy, the car automatically selecting the level of recuperation power in line with traffic conditions.

In pure EV mode you can also manually adjust regen through four levels via the steering wheel-mounted transmission shift paddles. 

Auto stop/start for the engine is standard and 98 RON premium unleaded is recommended, although 95 RON is okay at a pinch.

The E53’s official fuel consumption figure and 50-litre tank capacity translate to a range approaching 3000km! But to bring that down to earth somewhat, on the launch drive program, covering urban and mostly highway running, we saw a (dash indicated) average of 6.4L/100km, which equates to a more realistic, but still lengthy, 780km between fills.

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!

If you’re lining up for a Mercedes-AMG you want an optimal blend of luxury and performance and the E53 Hybrid 4Matic+ nails that delicate balance.

With 450kW (that’s 612hp!) and 750Nm under your right foot, engaging ‘Race Start’, pushing the accelerator to the floor and letting the car do its thing will result in 0-100km/h acceleration in 3.8 seconds. The fat band of mid-range torque is so satisfying to lean into.

Induction, engine and exhaust sounds combine to produce a suitably gruff soundtrack with the hybrid powertrain operating seamlessly. Hit your preferred track day or tempt legal fate and you can explore the car’s claimed (governed) maximum velocity of 280km/h. 

The nine-speed auto is slick and manual changes using the wheel mounted paddles are rapid.  In normal conditions the AWD system is biased to the rear and an electric rear locking diff helps keep things under control if you decide to get the bit between your teeth on a twisting drive.

A chunky brace links the front suspension strut mounts and the car feels predictable and stable in enthusiastic cornering. Rubber is Michelin Pilot Sport 4S (245/35 fr / 275/30 rr) which grips with satisfying determination but does make its rumbling presence felt on anything approaching a coarse chip surface (despite the car’s standard acoustic glass).

Speed-sensitive power-steering delivers accuracy and good road feel without any jitters, the standard active rear-axle steering playing its part. The ‘turning point’ is 100km/h with the rear wheels subtly turning in the opposite direction to the fronts up to that speed and in the same direction beyond it.

‘AMG Ride Control’ combines steel spring suspension (strut front, multi-link rear) with adaptive adjustable damping for the choice of ‘Comfort’, ‘Sport’ and ‘Sport+’ settings. Comfort is the pick for B-road running on typically uneven surfaces. The optional ‘Performance’ sports front seats are comfortable and grippy in equal measure. 

Braking is by ventilated composite rotors all around, with beefy four-piston fixed calipers up front. An electro-mechanical brake booster is designed to combine electrical recuperation with the hydraulic brake for more frequent and efficient energy harvesting over a longer period of time. The pedal feels firm and progressive with smooth initial bite. 

All around vision is good for a conventional sedan with a quality reversing camera, 360-degree overhead view and front and rear parking sensors helping massively with parking duties. That said, a 12.5m turning circle isn’t tiny.

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.

The Mercedes-AMG E53 Hybrid 4Matic+ is covered by a five-year/unlimited km warranty with the high-voltage battery covered for eight years/160,000km. Those terms match the key players in the premium and luxury parts of the market.

Mercedes-Benz ‘Road Care’ assistance is included for the duration of the main vehicle warranty. 

Maintenance is recommended every 12 months/25,000km, with service plans offered across three- ($4110), four- ($5410) and five-year ($7570) periods. That’s an average of around $1350 for the first two and $1500 for the last one. That added powertrain complexity obviously has an impact in the workshop.

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.