2004 Maserati Combiocorsa Coupe Low Miles on 2040-cars

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Step inside the secret lab creating Maserati's future

MODENA, Italy – Driving Maserati's raucous GranTurismo MC and the effortlessly quick Levante SQ4 back to back feels like traveling through time. Horsepower doesn't go out of style, but a user interface quickly does, and the GranTurismo looks like it's from another era in that respect. Designers, engineers, and executives are busily orchestrating a transformation that will ensure the 105-year old firm's next leap forward is even more dramatic. Autoblog went behind the scenes in Maserati's Innovation Lab – which has never been opened to outsiders before – to find out how the looming metamorphosis will shape Fiat-Chrysler Automobiles' (FCA) flagship brand. Maserati is on the brink of a ground-up redesign that will take it into new segments of the market, and diversify its powertrain palette. We heard the term electrification used on many occasions during our visit, though company officials resorted to automotive omerta when we asked for additional details. An earlier product plan reveals every upcoming addition to its line-up will be available with an electric powertrain, and there will be quite a few cars to electrify. Historically a small, almost niche automaker, Maserati is on track to release five new models between 2020 and 2023, including a second SUV positioned below the aforementioned Levante, plus replacements for most of its current cars. Technology is playing a significant role in Maserati's renaissance. The company's four-year-old Innovation Lab is home to simulators capable of reproducing six months' worth of wear and tear in two weeks. Engineers can dial in a variety of situations, locations, and road conditions, ranging from a winding country road in France to a busy highway in southern California. They can digitally insert potholes, add rain or fog at the push of a button and remove either just as quickly, and put virtual prototypes on a long list of race tracks around the world, including the Nurburgring. Digital wind tunnels help the team test future cars well before they're built. This approach saves time and money, explained Luca Dusini, the man responsible for Maserati's vehicle dynamics testing and simulation. Making every dollar and each minute count is key to pulling off such an ambitious overhaul. 90% of development work is carried out on the various simulators, according to Dusini. This is significant, because Maserati is developing most of the technology it will pack into its future models from scratch.

Maserati MC20 bringing twin-turbo V6 to September debut

There is a touch more information on the pieces going into the Maserati MC20, starting with intel to Car and Driver that the mid-engined coupe will launch with a "new twin-turbo V6 rumored to make more than 600 horsepower." Last time we heard about the flagship coupe created to return Maserati to the race track — and serve as a halo to burnish the entire lineup and drive more impressive global sales — the rumblings predicted a hybrid V6 making 600 hp or thereabouts. Mystery shrouds the engine's displacement, but the stillborn Alfa Romeo 8C and GTV were predicted to get a 3.0-liter twin-turbo V6. When Car magazine asked a Fiat Chrysler engineer if the MC20's engine would take that motor and enlarge it to 3.6 liters, the response was, "Displacement costs only pennies, but pays back big bucks in power and torque."  C/D writes that a hybrid version of the twin-turbo V6 comes later. Car predicts the electronics crank output to roughly 700 horsepower, which can't be a random number since Alfa Romeo touted the now-dead 8C as having "700+ combined horsepower." The naturally aspirated mill and its sequential turbochargers send power exclusively to the rear wheels through a Getrag eight-speed dual-clutch transmission. The hybrid models, perhaps earning the Trofeo name signifying top-tier grunt, go all-wheel drive with "e-modules" on the front axle. Previous scuttlebutt pegged the most intense trim as having three electric motors, which sounds like the setup found in other super coupes like the Acura NSX, placing one e-motor between the engine and transmission, the others on the front axle. The lineup eventually welcomes a battery-electric model, too, as well as a convertible. Rumor has a massaged version of the carbon tub from the Alfa Romeo 4C sitting between the front axle and engine, although longer and wider and sitting on a longer wheelbase.   With the novel coronavirus still upending everything, the MC20 debut has been moved from May to September. C/D figures a starting price of around $160,000 when the model goes on sale in the U.S. next year, after launching in Europe toward the end of 2020. That theoretical price might sound substantial, but it only adds $9,000 to the MSRP of the current GranTurismo Convertible. Car's figure comes in a little higher, at "less than GBP200,000," around $250,000 U.S. Related Video:      

Maserati says no to all-electric future, says U.S. chief

The future internal combustion remains questionable as automakers push for electrification. But not for Maserati, according to a report from Motor Trend on an investor call discussing first-quarter earnings. According to the outlet, FCA CEO Michael Manley and Maserati North America's head honcho, Al Gardner, made it known on the call that Maserati does not have any plans to say goodbye to good 'ol gasoline power. Rather, the company is planning to embrace electrification in different ways, such as hybridization. "This is a brand that needs combustion engines. It needs that raw emotion," Gardner told reporters at the conference. He also noted it's important for the company to get "back to its roots," citing the company's start with race cars before offering consumer vehicles. Maserati's electrification will begin as part of its model line overhaul leading up to 2022 that is also supposed to help reverse Maserati's slumping sales. Gardner noted that a new sports car will mark the start of the revamp, and we expect it will be a production version of the hotly anticipated and very sexy Alfieri Concept car. We may even see the car at Geneva next year. After that will be a new crossover smaller than the Levante, along with hybrid and plug-in hybrid variants with a few select electric vehicles. Maserati won't be the only automaker embracing electrification, as Jaguar, Volkswagen and Porsche are all pushing toward the new powertrain technology. Unlike Maserati, some of these brands are going all-in on electric cars. Volkswagen will release its last new internal combustion engine in 2026. Volvo's Polestar brand will only have pure EVs after the Polestar 1 sports car.