Maserati MC20 Coupe (2020 - ) review

Rubbish, but that’s why your second car would be a Ford Fiesta. This is for thrills, and they come at a cost in terms of insurance and fuel. If you want 630 horsepower, racing car styling, expensive paint and carbon fibre adornments you’ll have to pay for it in several different directions. The official fuel consumption figure for mixed driving conditions is 24mpg, but we’d call that optimistic. Expect mid-teens. CO2 emissions are 262g/km so VED/road tax and Benefit In Kind will also hit you, as will servicing. As for actual cost our test car had £65,000 of options added, so be careful what boxes you tick. The additional carbon trim alone costs about the same as a brand-new Golf R, the exterior package coming in at nearly £35,000 while the interior one is over £6,000. To avoid scraping these expensive embellishments on every speed bump you encounter we’d suggest the £3,250 nose lift function is an essential extra you also need to factor in.

The MC20 is built on fresh foundations, already prepared for electrification and launching with a new engine straight out of Maserati’s innovation centre, so everything is rather untried and untested. Thankfully, Maseratis feel much better put together these days, with no glaring panel gaps, bubbling paint or poor-quality fittings inside. Its customer care is far better, too. The brand has staked its reputation on this car, which wears a ‘Made in Modena’ badge with pride while channelling know-how from motorsport. We’d be surprised if there were any obvious weaknesses to trouble you, especially as most owners will use their car sparingly.

It’s a very low, very fast car with all the power going to the rear wheels. If you plant the throttle in a corner or on a roundabout you will encounter various shades of fear as the tyres scrabble for grip, especially if you drive in Corsa or the totally unforgiving ‘ESC off’ modes. Fair to say, these are intended more for track use, not the road. Configuring an MC20 in a bright colour is a good idea for extra visibility, which is also needed because the view rearwards is almost non-existent, so you’ll be relying on other road users seeing you much of the time. Given all that the best safety feature in the MC20 is a camera-generated view in the rear-view mirror, something Jaguar and Land Rover already uses as a convenience feature but is a necessity on a car like this. You get front and side airbags, a tyre-pressure monitoring system, an anti-lock braking system and, importantly for a car like this, an anti-lift sensor and GPS tracking system.

The MC20 is a far cry from Italian supercars of even a decade ago. It feels more like a relaxed GT in many respects, with wide, power-adjustable seats and plenty of leg- and headroom. As above, rear visibility is poor but front and side are pretty good. There is the right balance of sound insulation between hearing the engine at play and not feeling exhausted after travelling for two hours in the car, and the steering is light enough around town. While the suspension is stiff enough for supercar performance, it doesn’t leave you Googling chiropractors, either. Just watch out for potholes, and pay extra for the nose lift to get your over speed humps and up steep drives. Storage is another matter, though. The rear boot is just wide and deep enough for a couple of supermarket bags of shopping, while the front storage space consists of a shelf. Inside, there isn’t really anywhere to put belongings. A charging tray will take your phone and your keys will fit in the little tray between occupants. And that’s about it.

Thankfully, Maserati has taken advantage of a proven infotainment system shared with partner brands from within the wider Fiat and Jeep group it is part of. The screen is big and the graphics bright and clear, while smartphone integration is standard for both Apple and Android users. You can charge compatible devices wirelessly, or plug in via the physical USB port as you prefer. There’s also Google Assistant and Maserati’s own Connect app, which gives you over-the-air software updates and diagnostics. You can hook up to your Alexa at home, and get stolen-vehicle assistance, should you ever (hopefully not) need it. There’s dual temperature controls, a cup holder, a glove box and an audio system with six speakers that is horribly tinny even with the bass turned up. Hopefully you’ll be more interested in listening to the engine anyway.

This is the MC20’s raison d’etre, and it doesn’t waste time getting straight to the point. Behind the seats, nestling under a slatted window, is a clever 3.0-litre V6 with twin turbochargers. It produces 630 horsepower, which is transmitted to the rear wheels via fast-shifting, eight-speed dual-clutch automatic gearbox for 0-62mph in just 2.9 seconds and a top speed of just over 200mph. In the default GT mode it feels and sounds brilliant - properly big, bold and brash with a soundtrack of engine noise and whooshing turbos. Turn the dial to Sport mode and the physics sock you in the stomach, the gearchanges faster, the response even more urgent and the exhaust valves opening sooner for even more noise. Corsa is the same but even more so while ‘ECT off’ is best left alone unless your surname is Hamilton. This is all very impressive but the genius of this car is how it performs on the High Street at 20mph, not 200. Push the start button on the steering wheel, select Drive, gently nudge the throttle pedal and steer. Bingo, you’re driving a purebred Italian supercar. Fair to say it does require a slightly more delicate right foot than a Fiesta, but that’s about it. Oh, and it’s quite wide, especially with those fancy, outward opening doors that require quite a bit of space between you and whatever you’re parked next to. But we’re nit-picking. This is one hell of a car. Thank you, Maserati.