FASTLANE
A luxury SUV with a distinctive character and genuine exclusivity.
In Fastlane, we take a look at the exciting Maserati Levante, the legendary Italian manufacturer's first SUV with its luxurious, distinctive character and genuine exclusivity.
In its latest development the legendary Italian manufacturer Maserati has thrust its famous silver trident well and truly into the heart of the luxury SUV market, with its first offering, the evocatively named Maserati Levante.
The Levante is based upon the Kubang concept car that debuted at the 2011 Frankfurt Auto Show. It offers drivers and passengers extremely high levels of comfort, luxury and space, backed by outstanding performance, even in the most extreme of driving conditions.
All models come with an eight-speed gearbox, Maserati's sophisticated intelligent Q4 AWD and a torque vectoring system that ensures a truly exhilarating drive. No small accomplishment perhaps, but as Maserati CEO Harald Wester says, “It should be good, we've been working on it for 13 years.”
PERFORMANCE
The Levante uses a tweaked 3000 cc twin-turbo V-6, lifted from the fabulous Maserati Ghibli saloon. The power unit generates 345 bhp in the base Levante and 424 bhp in the S Model, the latter will propel the vehicle to speeds in excess of 255 kmph. The performance gain over the Ghibli is via enhancements in the software plus a new throaty exhaust with