Test Maserati MC20: finally another sports car that scares Porsche

Maserati, the brand that became big with beautiful sports cars, had not had a striking coupé in its range for years. But all is forgiven and forgotten now that the MC20 is here. Maserati appears to be pretending no electrification is happening. The MC20 is a pure sports car, which is threatened with extinction due to the increasingly strict environmental requirements. But that's appearance...

Maserati with gullwing doors

Maserati was once a big name in racing. The brand built its first race car almost 100 years ago to shake up motorsport, which went very well with the famous Tipo 26, among others. The MC20 is just in time to polish its reputation.

It features a mid-engine, as sports car purists like to see. The dimensions are perfect, the restrained design without flashy spoilers and wings does not detract from the performance. The only form of extravagance that the designers allowed themselves are the gull-wing doors.

V6 with two turbos

A carbon fiber monocoque is hidden under the yellow paint, even more exciting is the Nettuno V6 with two turbos and dry sump lubrication. It is the first engine developed by Maserati in more than twenty years. Everyone can admire the six-cylinder, it is under a glass cover. The technicians opted for Formula 1 technology, with a double spark plug pre-chamber combustion system. Thanks to the double injection and the dual combustion, an enormous torque is already built up at very low revs.

“The design without flashy spoilers and wings doesn't detract from the performance.”

Top speed: 330 km

Some numbers: 630 horsepower at 7500 rpm, 730 Nm torque at 3000 rpm, weight under 1500 kilos, and an eight-speed dual-clutch transmission that shifts lightning fast and imperceptibly. Less than three seconds pass before three digits appear on the digital instrumentation. If you keep the accelerator on the shelf, the display will work overtime. It only gets rest at 330 km/h.

Five driving programs

The MC20 has two characters: on the road it is a gran turismo, on the track an uncompromising super sports car. It has no less than five driving programs, which slowly increase in sportiness and are adjustable via a rotary knob on the center tunnel. In Sport and Corsa you can see if your driving skills can match the reserves of the MC20, where you can choose ESP Off if you really want to challenge yourself and the MC20.

If you feel like you know the character of the car inside out, it will give you a stroke in the Track program. The adaptive chassis loses its last comfort reserves, the steering reacts ultra-sensitively and the electronics keep an unseen eye on things like a secret agent in plain clothes. A Maserati as an explosive, intuitive driving machine, we have only dreamed of that for twenty years.

Electric Maserati MC20

Is Maserati naive, crazy or contrarian by coming up with a sports car where the word electric seems taboo? That was not that bad. In addition to an open version, a fully electric MC20 is also planned (end of 2022), with a top speed of more than 300 km/h and a range of more than 400 kilometers. With this, the Italians show that they are indeed prepared for a future with plugs. If we had enough money, we would buy all three versions of the MC20.

And the price of the Maserati MC20?

The price is only known excluding taxes. Then you pay 176,740 euros. But who really wants one, will not lie awake at night with an amount well over two tons ...

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