Published:
2 January 2024The bald performance figures of the Levante are not to be sniffed at.
The GT Hybrid kicks off the range, albeit above £90,000 these days, and does so as a mild hybrid. That means there's no plugging it in overnight to whisper silently from home the next day; its belt-integrated starter-generator recovers energy under braking and deceleration to charge a boot-mounted battery.
Its 325bhp peak and 6.0sec 0-62mph time place it roughly where the entry V6 used to sit, while the more potent, 424bhp V6-powered Modena sits around £20,000 higher and cuts the 0-62mph time to 5.2sec while emitting a more scintillating sound.
That said, we’re yet to sample the entry car, and its lighter engine ought to sharpen initial cornering response.
Purists with deep pockets would likely beeline straight for the V8, though, a 572bhp 3.8-litre twin-turbo unit derived from Ferrari. Having put in several years’ service in the Levante Trofeo, it now bows out in V8 Ultima special-edition form. There’s no extra performance, but fancier trim and plaques abound. It hits 62mph in less than 4.0sec and sounds rather brilliant, if not quite as soulful as the naturally aspirated V8s of Maseratis old.
The Levante feels very much the bona fide performance SUV from the driver’s seat – once you’ve probed all the way to the end of the car’s long-travel accelerator pedal, that is. That it launches from standing without the aggressive savagery of its in-house rival, the V6 Alfa Romeo Stelvio Quadrifoglio, is entirely in keeping with the Levante’s more rounded, sophisticated character; the Maserati feels so much smoother and more serene even at full chat than the Alfa.
