YOU CAN’T TOUCH THIS
Maserati hasn’t had a mid-engined supercar for two decades. Now, it has one of the best with the MC20
Performance cars in the modern day come in all different shapes and sizes: you’ve got tiny city-hopping hot hatches with crackling turbocharged engines, through to gargantuan SUVs that will hit 100km/h in less than four seconds.
The theme across vehicles like this is that they provide impressive performance, but also have a role to fill in everyday life, so have to make some large compromises.
At the other end of the performance scale are the trackfocused road cars, that make no compromise and offer some of the best thrills short of a Movie World roller coaster.
Maserati’s all-new MC20 is a perfect example of an uncompromised performance car – and we’ve just given it a bash around the Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit in Australia.
Things are changing at Maserati, and the days of the Ferrari-sourced twin-turbo V8 engine found in the Ghibli Trofeo are numbered, but that doesn’t mean internal combustion is dead. This is where the MC20 comes into the picture, with its all-new twin-turbo 3.0-litre V6 engine dubbed Nettuno. This is the engine that we can expect to see in Maserati’s petrolpowered performance cars going forward, and it’s certainly worthy.
Though this 463kW/730Nm engine doesn’t quite possess the same note as a Ferrari V8, it’s a masterpiece. In place of the eightcylinder roar, the addictive sound of the turbos spooling comes from behind the cabin, and makes for a far more “race-car” experience as far as I’m concerned. Torque is strong throughout the rev range, and it works in perfect unison with the eight-speed automatic transmission, which violently slams through gears like Italian supercars of old.
It’s obvious the MC20 is a performance car, but when weight is considered, it’s an even better story. Tipping the scales at less than 1500kg, Maserati claims it has the best power-to-weight ratio in its segment (an impressive bragging right considering Porsche’s new 911 GT3 falls into the same category). This has been achieved through the use of a carbon tub, and a plethora of carbon fibre throughout the car.
It hits 100km/h from a standing start in just 2.88 seconds, topping out at over 326km/h. Hitting 100km/h in less than three seconds is something usually reserved for hypercars and high-performance EVs alike, so doing it in a small performance car is a phenomenal experience.
In a track environment, the MC20 thrives with oodles of power on tap, and race car-like stopping power. The carbon ceramic braking package fitted to our test car is an option, but something well worth considering if track time is a consideration.
Where the MC20 really shines is in the steering department. Maserati uses an electric system called “semi-virtual
steering”, and although the road feedback isn’t amazing, the accuracy is fantastic. It was a point-and-shoot scenario with the chassis’ responsiveness at speed.
On the inside, the MC20 is wellequipped, but definitely leans on its race-car nature over everyday usability.
The butterfly doors look fantastic, but getting in and out of it isn’t something that’s easily done. Once in the car, the seating position is very low, but the electric seats do provide a lot of adjustability.
As a hint to its carbon fibre underpinnings, the lightweight material covers almost every
surface of the test car, and Alcantara covered the rest. An allnew infotainment screen has also been launched in the MC20, and serves as the main control point for the entertainment system as well as the drive modes. Because we were lapping the track, we didn’t get to have a play around with this system, but it looked impressive.
As with so many supercars, visibility is the MC20’s downfall.
The side windows aren’t great, and because of the low seating position, the blind spots are quite bad. Rear visibility is non-existent, but a camera mounted above the rear bumper sends a live feed to a digital rear-view mirror, so it’s not all bad.
As a whole, this new MC20 feels like a massive step in the right direction for Maserati as a performance brand. It’s been a long time between supercars; this MC20 fills that hole and some.
It shouldn’t come as a surprise to hear that Maserati is looking towards an electric future across its range, with the GranTurismo and Grecale both being confirmed to get electric power in the near future.
The MC20 also falls under this banner, and while I don’t hate the idea of a small electric Italian tracklapping supercar, the MC20 won’t be the same without a burly engine spooling away behind the cabin.