Renault Arkana vs Maserati Levante

What's the difference?

The Renault Arkana Esprit Alpine mild-hybrid combines some serious design flair with a reasonable amount of practicality for a smaller family, but it’s hard to ignore the lack of improvement in efficiency following the addition of the mild-hybrid system. That said, it still succeeds on some fronts. It just does it quietly.

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.

I’d describe the Arkana as muscular and sporty, with its strong body lines, twin exhausts and 19-inch alloys. The Satin Grey matt paintwork only enhances this grunty exterior styling.

From the outside, the biggest differences between this and its mid-spec sibling come down to the darker accents across the body and grille, along with the Alpine badging. And while that pronounced rear-end won’t be to everyone’s taste, it certainly gives the Arkana a defined personality on the road.

The Esprit Alpine shines inside the cabin, with synthetic leather and synthetic suede liberally used throughout, while contrasting blue stitching on the seats and blue seatbelts highlight Renault’s Formula 1 ‘Alpine’ racing roots.

There’s some real flair inside that this segment can sometimes lack, and I love how many physical controls there are, from the traditional gear shifter and rotary sunroof dial to the satisfyingly clicky buttons. It’s very ASMR-coded.

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.

The front is roomy enough that you don’t feel penned in, and the seats hug you nicely into place. The armrest sits a little too high for me, but I like that it slides forwards. The heated function is welcome, and the seats remain supportive on a longer trip.

Storage is best up front, with a couple of cupholders, plus decent space and drink bottle holders in each door bin. The glove box is quite deep, although I reckon you’ll pop a rib if you’re on the shorter side trying to access it from the driver’s seat!

In front of the gear-selector is where all of the charging options are and its easy to have them all in one place, with two USB-A ports, a 12-volt socket and a wireless charging pad, although it’s easy for your phone to slide off while you’re driving. For a flagship grade, it's a little disappointing we're not seeing any faster USB-C ports.

At 9.3 inches, the multimedia display isn’t the largest, but it looks more considered than the usual ‘tablet-stuck-on-the-dash’ styling we’re seeing lately. Overall, the touchscreen is responsive and the system is simple to use. The wireless Apple CarPlay also starts up quickly and maintains a reliable connection.

One small gripe is that the volume controls are tucked away on an easy-to-miss stalk that sits behind the steering wheel. I wish they were on the steering wheel itself... because you forget they’re there.

The back seat is a little awkward to access as an adult, with a relatively small door aperture that makes it easy to knock your head on the way in. There’s also not a stack of legroom behind my driving position, and I’m only 168cm. It should suit two kids reasonably well, although my nine-year old notes the armrest sits too high and the seats are quite firm.

Amenities are decent, with two USB-A ports, map pockets and multiple drink holders.

There are two ISOFIX child-seat mounts and three top-tether anchor points, but two seats will fill this space best. You’ll also need to be careful of knocking your head when buckling any tots in.

The boot is the standout, with up to 485L of capacity when all seats are in use and that can jump up to 1268L when the rear row is folded flat.

Its capacity is more than some mid-sized SUVs, and it's handy that you can adjust the floor to two positions. It’s been more than enough for all of my family’s errands this week.

This grade also gets a powered tailgate and a temporary spare tyre.

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.

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?

The Esprit Alpine is now a mild-hybrid, combining a 1.3-litre four-cylinder turbo-petrol engine with a 12-volt hybrid system to produce up to 116kW of power and 270Nm of torque. But that’s only 1.0kW and 8.0Nm more than the previous iteration, and it doesn’t improve overall fuel efficiency, so the benefits of the new system are limited on paper.

The idea behind the mild-hybrid system is to improve power delivery off the mark, but a firmer commitment to a proper hybrid powertrain would have done more to improve the Arkana’s efficiency and competitiveness in this increasingly electrified segment.

It’s front-wheel drive and uses a seven-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission, which can seem a little unsure of itself at lower speeds but settles into its rhythm and feels more confident on the open road.

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.

Despite now being a mild-hybrid, its combined fuel consumption remains unchanged at 5.9L/100km. With its 50-litre fuel tank, that gives it a theoretical driving range of up to 847km, which is still a pretty great result for a family SUV.

My real-world result came in at 6.7L/100km after a mix of highway and urban driving, which is a respectable result and not too far off the official figure.

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?

The Arkana can access a decent amount of power once you’re up to speed, but it can feel underwhelming off the mark. It’s also surprisingly easy to lose a little traction when you need to accelerate quickly from a stop.

That said, once you’re up to speed on the open road, it’s more than capable of keeping up with traffic or overtaking when needed.

The suspension is on the firmer side, so you do feel some of the smaller bumps through the cabin, but otherwise I like the handling.

There’s not much body roll through corners and the steering feels responsive, making the Arkana reasonably enjoyable to drive.

The cabin is relatively quiet, although some road noise creeps in on the highway. There are three drive modes that are easy to cycle through, and Sport mode offers slightly sharper gear shifts at lower speeds, which helps give the powertrain a little more urgency.

Visibility is good from my driving position, with a fairly commanding view of the road through the front and sides.

The Arkana isn’t too difficult to park given it’s not a particularly large car, but the 360-degree camera system is underwhelming compared with some of its rivals. My husband reckoned he’d seen better graphics in 8-bit Tetris…

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...

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.

The Arkana is offered with Renault’s five-year, unlimited-kilometre warranty, which is now considered a below-average term for the class, although you do get five years of complimentary roadside assistance.

Servicing intervals are well spaced at every 12 months or 30,000km, which is great if you do heavy kays each year.

Renault also has an assured pricing structure for its scheduled services, with the Arkana averaging around $477 per service across its first five workshop visits, although the fourth is notably more expensive at $859.

Renault currently has 52 locations listed across Australia, although that figure includes some service and parts-only locations, so the network isn’t quite as extensive as some of the mainstream brands.

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."