1999 Mitsubishi Eclipse Spyder Gs Convertible 2-door 2.4l on 2040-cars

Auto blog

2017 Maserati Levante First Drive

You can argue all you want about whether or not certain companies should build crossovers. That's what the comments section is for. We'd argue that Maserati should have done it a long time ago, having shown its first crossover concept back in 2011 and only delivering on it now. Porsche blazed that trail with the Cayenne and others have followed suit since, racking up big sales. It's a little odd, then, that after waiting so long to get in the game, the Levante came together in just 22 months. Blame nationalism. The original plan was for the Levante to be based on and built in Detroit alongside the Jeep Grand Cherokee. That changed when Sergio Marchionne decided, in his dictatorial way, that all Maseratis and Alfa Romeos would be designed, engineered, and manufactured in Italy. So the team hit reset, borrowed the Ghibli platform, and went about creating a not-quite-a-crossover, taller-than-a-wagon hatchback with air suspension. Just shy of two years later, we're driving the Levante. In Italy, naturally. The dimensions and stance are what set the Levante apart from the abundance of luxury performance crossovers and emphasize its Italianness. It's longer, wider, and lower than a Porsche Cayenne or the Grand Cherokee it was nearly spawned from. The hood looks impossibly long in person because it is really long. The front end takes inspiration from the Alfieri concept, and there's a refreshing lack of mesh or filler between the grille's thin vertical slats. It can stand to be so open because there is a set of active grille shutters just behind to manage airflow. What would be usable cargo space on a blockier crossover is sacrificed by a rakish hatch, which looks pretty and we're told routes air in a particularly aerodynamic-friendly fashion. Instead of building the boxy version first, Maserati took the gamble and went straight to the fashionable coupe-ish shape. That foresight paid off, as it seems the coupe-like SUV trend is here to stay. For all the scrambling that must have gone on to produce this new model so quickly, it doesn't present like a rush job. Sure, most of the engineering was already done for the Ghibli and Quattroporte, but the Levante actually feels like a more complete effort than those cars. The attention to detail is most felt in the cabin, where the latest corporate infotainment system has been neatly integrated into familiar surroundings.

2014 Maserati Ghibli S Q4 [w/video]

For one reason or another, this is a car people stare at. They might be drawn to its curvaceous shape riding on immense wheels. They could be intrigued by its gaping, blacked-out grille which houses an equally outsized trident logo, or doing quick calculations about the last time they saw a car wearing the name Maserati. It may be its sports-car-like proportions mixed with achingly long, four-door bodywork that draws their eye.
Or, and I urge you to consider this theory carefully, the people taking notice of this Maserati Ghibli S Q4 might simply be newly alert after hearing the sound of its exhaust ricocheting off any solid thing nearby as I drive past grinning like a certified asshat. Did you hear an Italianate engine song careening through your Ann Arbor, MI neighborhood, in the black of the early morning, just a few weeks previous? Sorry, guy, that was probably me.
I spent a week hammering this all-wheel-drive Ghibli as hard as I dared in the last truly miserable stretch of the God Awful Winter of 2014. I can honestly say that I enjoyed myself, shocked at both the frank way this new challenger luxury car went down the road as well as the attention it garnered in the process.

Maserati details the new, 630-hp V6 that will power its mid-engined MC20 coupe

Maserati is done leaning on former sister company Ferrari for technical support. It has unveiled the six-cylinder engine it designed and will build in-house to power the MC20 supercar that's scheduled to make its debut later in 2020. Ferrari's willingness to develop and/or build engines for Maserati shrank significantly when it split from former parent company Fiat-Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) in early 2016 and became independent. Insiders knew the division would be spun off, so they began designing Maserati's new engine (which is called Nettuno) in 2015 and accelerated the process in 2017. It's a 90-degree, 3.0-liter V6 with a dry sump and a twin-spark, pre-chamber ignition system rooted in racing. In this application, it's twin-turbocharged (the turbos are mounted on the outside of the engine rather than in the middle of it) and it's equipped with both direct and indirect fuel injection.  All told, the 485-pound Nettuno engine develops 630 horsepower at 7,500 rpm and 538 pound-feet of torque between 3,000 and 5,500 rpm. It continues revving to a redline of 8,000 rpm.  Matteo Valentini, Maserati's chief engineer, explained the Nettuno engine will ultimately power the company's entire range of vehicles, though he stopped short of naming the specific models that will use it after the MC20. He added the six-cylinder will "bring Maserati back into the world of racing," meaning its output will likely grow in the not-too-distant future. We'll learn more about the engine when the MC20 makes its debut September 9. What remains to be seen is whether Maserati will replace the V8 available in the Levante and the Quattroporte, or if it will surf the downsizing wave sweeping across the industry. Developed jointly with Ferrari in the early 2010s, that engine makes 590 horsepower when it's bolted in the Levante Trofeo's bay, meaning its output is eclipsed by the Nettuno V6's. Both engines are built around a 90-degree architecture, so the 3.0-liter V6 could turn into a 4.0-liter V8 if it's modular enough to gain a pair of cylinders — and if Maserati sees a market for another eight-cylinder. Featured Gallery Maserati Nettuno 3.0-liter V6 engine Maserati Coupe Performance