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Maserati Levante Trofeo | Test Drive
Do not think – not even for a moment – of getting used to the noise you get in Corsa mode, but the beauty is not only its ability to make point A and point B incredibly close, but instead make the curves an experience to swallow in one single breath.
Words Alessandro Marrone / Photos S. Lomax
I had almost forgot the pleasure given by an early morning mountain pass, when the faint light of dawn has not yet exploded high in the sky. Those scents, that cool breeze carried by a wind that ran all night and above all the silence. It is like being in a place where the only sounds you hear are the leaves rustling, the flowing of some streams and the calls of the marmots, ready to welcome another day after their long winter sleep. High-altitude drives took longer than usual this year, with temperatures and rainfall leading to a late seasonal reopening, increasing our trepidation while planning our days together with one of those cars that have the increasingly rare ability to bewitch your heart.
The Trofeo collection, as Maserati wanted to present the most performance-focused range available for Ghibli, Quattroporte and Levante, is the quintessence of a brand that has written indelible pages in the world of racing and road legal sports cars. The Modena house, after having significantly increased its sales in recent years, is in that well-deserved position in which it can expand its offer, not only introducing the first hybrid engines, but satisfying the needs of those old-fashioned enthusiasts like you and us, those who cannot help but hear the violent bark of an engine full of horsepower and torque echoing in the air. We will cross the hill making an exaggerated turmoil, leaving marks on the asphalt and taking everything that a day in close contact with the road can offer.
To enter the Trofeo world, we chose the Levante, which is the proposal that many might consider the most irrational – after all we are talking about an SUV of over 2 tons that thanks to a 580 horsepower V8 twin-turbo hides a Ferrari character – but which on a wider scale represents the essence of a perfect flagship model in a segment that no one overlooks, see Porsche, Lamborghini, Aston Martin and Bentley. With the necessary differences, given that being a Maserati this should not only deal with the driving factor, but also maintain an aesthetic elegance and on board comfort worthy of the trident on display in the middle of the huge front grille. Among the many innovations brought by the Trofeo vitamin treatment we have a new front bumper with more marked air intakes, active front grilles to facilitate cooling of the radiators and vents on the engine hood, boasting an overall cx of 0.33. The double pair of tailpipes is then the mouth of Hell, from where the brute power of this Levante finds its way out of Hades.
In the passenger compartment, however, the care for assembly and the desire to keep close a fundamental link with an analog world increasingly at risk of extinction remain almost unchanged. This can be seen from the instrumentation in front of the driver, which in addition to the digital central portion, still maintains speedometer and rev counter with needles. Instead, the on-board system is updated, with a more responsive and precise sat-navigator and a fresher interface, which however takes care not to overwhelm the Maserati user who may have owned the previous model. That said, what really matters and what makes this Levante more special than the others is housed under the hood, a mammoth twin-turbo V8 with 580 horsepower and 730 Nm of torque combined with an 8-speed automatic gearbox. Among the substantial interventions on this engine we have new pistons and connecting rods, a new shaft and new valves, together with new impellers for the turbos and a revised AWD transmission housing, happened thanks to the increase in size of the engine itself.
How does all of this translate? In the simplest and most ancient way in the world: with a huge smile that draws on your face the very moment you are pushed to the seat by sinking your right foot on the gas. Do not think – not even for a moment – of getting used to the noise you get in Corsa mode, but the beauty is not only its ability to make point A and point B incredibly close, but instead make the curves an experience to swallow in one single breath. In fact, the transmission demonstrates that it favors the rear axle, thus making the Levante more agile when on the go and more fun when it senses that the tail is about to widen. The following moment, still hard on the throttle, the huge tires mounted on 21-inch wheels bite the asphalt and make you splash towards the next corner. The dance of the wind is now unstoppable and in the meantime I retrace a road that I madly love because it is able to offer an infinite variety of curves, all accompanied by a postcard background.
The Colle della Lombarda has just been reopened, there is not a living soul around. All you can hear is the rabid bark of one of the fiercest V8s out there, swallowing revs as much as possible until the needle reaches 7,000 and then the next gear is fired, without the slightest uncertainty, but with a stroke of violence that in the blink of an eye takes you to speeds that you absolutely do not want to maintain approaching a very tight hairpin bend. Literally jumping on the brake pedal and without regretting the lack of carbon-ceramic discs, the self-locking differential dialogues perfectly for an overly optimistic corner exit. Looking for the right gear courtesy of the huge carbon fiber paddles is one of the many delightful situations in which you find yourself once aboard this Trofeo (or any Maserati, among the most abundant in terms of paddles – ed) and while the 3.8 cc is always ready to slaughter some tarmac, with a 0-100 kph of just 4.1 seconds and a top speed of almost 300 per hour, the driving experience of the Trofeo really comes to life.
It is easy – almost obvious – to be fascinated by an engine of this type, by the sound emitted with wide open valves and by a muscular look that makes the silhouette of the Levante even more sinuous and streamlined. These are situations in which we often end up also because of primal excitation, in the pit of curves and switchbacks offered by a mountain pass seemingly all for ourselves. In the case of the Levante there is more, because the incredible dynamic evolution brought by the “Trofeo Collection” takes it from the array of excellent performance and luxury SUVs and places it right next to the fabulous (super) sports cars the world of us enthusiasts cannot give up to. Blessed are these cars, as crazy as they are able to pinch those strings that make us feel alive, turning what already is a great SUV as a diesel or 6-cylinder, into something more. Like the Alfa Romeo Stelvio Quadrifoglio, it manages to transmigrate beyond the boundaries dictated by size and weight and become a sports car that you will never be able to shake from your mind.
While the climb continues incessantly, making the analysis of the average fuel consumption – which the manufacturer estimates at about 13 l / 100 km – superfluous, holding the Trident soon takes on another flavor, where there is no longer just respect for an illustrious past, but also a lot of admiration for a present that has nothing to envy to its competitors, thus ensuring an incredibly interesting future. I do not miss the opportunity for a launch control and while I let the pit of decibels invade the cockpit, bouncing off the mountains of the pass, I realize that I am behind the wheel of one of those cars that mark an era, uniting the dots of driving enthusiasts to those looking for a car with generous dimensions and perfectly capable of taking you on holidays, without leaving fun bits at home. Because you never know which curves might be around the corner and if so it is always better to have the G.O.A.T. at your disposal.
The Levante Trofeo starts at around € 160,000, practically double the entry level equipped with the 3-liter V6, but in fact it really offers double the goodies. Indeed, they should not even be compared, because the Trofeo is something that goes beyond simple cataloging and I do not think it makes sense to reduce everything to numbers, which by the way are excellent, no surprise about that, right? What the Trofeo range manages to do, in this case with the SUV, is to bring out the most glorious side of the brand and expertly instill it in a model that maintains its versatility, now ready to bring out the more arrogant and engaging side, ideal for everyday life as well as for pure fun you need when chasing a curvy road in search of happiness on asphalt.
MASERATI LEVANTE TROFEO
Engine V8 cylinder, 3.799 cc Power 580 hp @ 6.250 rpm Torque 730 Nm @ 2.500-5.000 rpm
Traction All-Wheel-Drive Transmission 8-Speed Automatic Gearbox Weight 2.170 kg
0-100 kph 4,1 sec Top Speed 299 kph Price €160.000
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