Maserati’s first-ever SUV looks great on the eyes, but it may not be that exciting to drive for something bearing a Trident badge.
Thanks to Porsche diversifying into SUVs and making good margins out of them, practically all other luxury brands -- even with a sporty heritage -- have followed suit including Bentley and Jaguar. And coming soon will be from Aston Martin and Lamborghini.
A few others have been reluctant to join the crossover fray like Ferrari and McLaren, both of which insist that sports cars are the core of their business with participation in F1 racing to confirm. However, Ferrari’s sister-brand Maserati has just jumped onto the SUV bandwagon with the Levante.
And the first thing so striking about the Levante is its looks. It appears Maserati has done a great job in penning the exterior design to not only look sporty in its own right but also over virtually all of its competition. Racy cues include the gaping front grille with the Trident badge embedded into it, elegant head lamps, chunky rear end incorporating four tail pipes and the brand’s proprietary wheels. In short, it’s one of the best-looking SUVs around at the moment.
Jump inside the Levante and the spirit continues. Our test car, for one, comes with red leather for the seats and door panels, suede roof-linings and metal finish for the pedals and gigantic steering-mounted gear paddle-shifters. It all adds up to a sense of sporty occasion.
But it’s the details that slightly disappoint. The centre console houses a very ordinary-looking gear lever operating an eight-speed torque-converter automatic that doesn’t really look good on the eyes or is nice to hold onto. And the buttons for the various drive modes located next to it have fonts that feel more suited for mass-market cars.
Space-wise, the Levante’s cabin appears average than excellent, despite a wheelbase stretching nudging 3m. It will still take five people with no fuss, though, and the luggage area goes in quite deep and becomes even greater when you fold the rear seats down flat. Unfortunately for that to be done, users must manually use levers located at the side of the seat cushions that also operate the reclining function for the backrests. And we’re talking about a luxury brand that aims to put itself a notch above slightly more mainstream premium nameplates like BMW or Mercedes-Benz.
The first version of the Levante to officially arrive on Thai shores is the Diesel, featuring a 275hp 3.0-litre V6 sourced from VM Motori and additionally used in some Chrysler and Jeep models as a part of the Italian-American alliance known as Fiat Chrysler Automotive.
Diesel V6 suffers from some turbo lag.
Like in rivals using diesel power, the oil-burning Levante manages to meat out performance well to ridiculously high speeds. But while six-pot diesels are great for SUVs, the Levante’s unit has some pronounced downsides which aren’t really supposed to be common anymore in such modern times.
They include lack of engine refinement when pushed, absence of genuine tractability below 2,000rpm and not-so-smooth driveline in slow-moving traffic. As well, the gearbox isn’t that intuitive to use – you can’t shift from some gear positions to another in one go. Make no mistake, though: the Levante is still a reasonably quick SUV.
There’s an adjustable suspension system in the Levante whose various discrepancies can be useful when driving off-road (higher ride height for more ground clearance) and when zooming down an empty piece of motorway (lower stance for enhanced grip). And the good thing is that Levante’s ride still feels comfortable in the raciest mode, which additionally ramps up the volume of the engine and exhaust to almost sound like a V8. Yes, the diesel in default mode sounds industrial and doesn’t suit a car wearing a Trident badge.
Ride is mostly comfortable.
Like the suspension, the steering feels more about driving comfort than outright fun. You can feel the sheer width of the vehicle around town, as well as some body movements over uneven surfaces. But the Levante is an SUV, after all, and it certainly doesn’t feel car-like to drive like a Ghibli or Quattroporte. This might be forgiving to many people due to how SUVs are used these days, but the Levante is definitely not the best to drive in its class.
What should be interesting to see is whether the V6 petrol versions, which have just been made available in right-hand-drive form, will pop up on the radar screen of the Thai Maserati importer’s office because it can theoretically cure two things the Diesel can’t play along with the brand’s sporty appeal: more engine revs and sweeter sound.
However, Maserati might be quick to point out that the Diesel is the only version so far to emit less than 200g/km enabling it 35% excise tax, 5% less than the petrol variants. But since the Diesel already costs 7.99 million baht at the height of its class with similarly-powered engines, pricing shouldn’t be an issue for Maserati fans who would probably be prepared to give up some driving excitement for more practicality and appeal on the catwalk.
Mind, if you want 20-inch wheels (in place of 19-inchers) and five driver-assist features, you have to fork out another 400k for the GranLusso trim which is something we recommend punters to do. The Levante you see here comes in this spec.
Levante is one of the priciest in its class.
It’s may be a case of “better late than never” for the Levante, but Maserati’s first outing with the SUV isn’t perfect yet. That’s also because several of its comparable rivals like the BMW X6 or Porsche Cayenne are great SUVs to drive -- and their presence help rub it in. And that’s not to mention the smaller and cheaper Jaguar F-Pace and Range Rover Velar that equally score on desirability despite being in a slightly lower strata than the Levante.
In the end, that Trident badge has some talking to do in showrooms.
It feels sumptuously luxury inside except for some details.
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