Quick Spin Of Maserati’s SUV Levante S 2017
Like a heap of you, I spent the weekend patrolling suburbia in a white SUV. In contrast to lots of you, mine had Ferrari-built engine. It went one thing like this: i would innocuously pull up to a stoplight in the 2017 Maserati Levante S. Punch up sport mode.
The bass comes on. Suddenly my white refrigerator of a retriever haulier appears like one thing else. The light turns. I nail the gas can be halfway. The low rumble turns to a growl. Like a real, legit growl. It sounds good. Not Camry V6 good, however menacing like an Italian sports car.
Full-throated and angry. It gets louder. For a moment i feel some dude on motorbike is being obnoxious nearby. that is my car, I realize. Cover blown, I accelerate through the light, merging gracefully ahead of the slower vehicles dutifully cued up.
Then I reach over and grab a warm bread stick that is resting on top of a pizza and blithely enjoy some open space on the road. That neatly sums up the twin personalities of the Levante. You can marshal all of the horsepower of sixteen World Championships from the Prancing Horse. Or steer one-handed while you cruise suburbia. Your choice.
Key Points
- The downside: predictably, the Levante is thirsty, slurping a quarter of a tank during relatively shortly runs around city, inline with its 14-mpg rating in the town. The highway is marginally better, getting nineteen mpg, although with the 21.1-gallon tank, the you may theoretically get 338 miles of range.
- So yeah, the Maserati-designed Ferrari-built twin-turbo V6 is pretty nice. It makes the Levante feel special, more so than a BMW X5 or X6 or Mercedes GLE or GLE coupe. That is the essence of Italian cars: the engine. Blasting around metropolitan Detroit with this 424-horsepower arsenal below the hood could be a riot.
- The idyllic cabin will a solid job of keeping the outside world at bay. The interior is quiet at cruising speeds, broken up only by the engine’s bark. i am quite comfortable. The rich brown leather was supple yet supportive , and i quickly notice a commanding view of the road. It’s cool how the door pulls are neatly blended into the trim. climbing in back, I notice plenty of leg- and headroom. I am stunned at how spacious it’s back there for my average-size frame. Golf clubs fit easily, too. There’s also lots of space in the cargo hold, that swallows a half-dozen grocery bags, no problem.
- The Levante appearance the part. With portholes, a long, crumpled hood, bulging fenders, and attractive head-and taillights, it conveys the looks of Italian sport and luxury. The chrome door handles and trim tastily add some bling to the planning. My favorite part? The shark-tooth grille. With tall vertical lines and a monstrous maser crest, the Levante nearly sneers at you.
- Maserati uses a version of the fiat Chrysler Uconnect system, that is one of the better units in the industry. The touchscreen works well. It’s reasonably intuitive, and it is also colourful. Aesthetics matter. This is a much better use of corporate tech than the infotainment in the Alfa Romeo Giulia. Rather than using the FCA system, Alfa went its own way, and after a weekend in that attractive sedan, I still had no clue how to operate the head unit.
Maserati’s SUV Levante S Performance
So overall i like the Levante, especially in high-powered S trim. However it does take a little of brain re-calibration. It’s like somebody took the Maserati ingredients, put them into an SUV cookie cutter, baked them for forty five minutes, and boom: Italian SUV. Generally, i feel it is a respectable execution that lives up to the notion of Maserati. If Porsche will do it…
Speaking of that, i would say a Cayenne is more fun to drive than the Levante, however the maser rates ahead of the Germans on the driving excitement scale. I can not wait to drive the Lamborghini urus. Bentley and Rolls-Royce have or are making crossovers. Inevitably, i feel Ferrari can have to follow suit, in its own method and at its own pace. maybe by 2025.
To Maserati’s credit, it is the 1st Italian brand to make an SUV in modern world (Yes, i am aware of the Rambo Lambo LM002 from a generation agone.). The Levante summons all of the history and performance of Maserati into an elegant, although sometimes immoderate SUV package. I still stood out when passing through a tony neighborhood where cars like the Audi R8 were casually parked at the curb.
The engine, the styling, the luxurious interior – by and large Maserati got it right with the Levante. The Italians will make an SUV that is credible, without selling their sports-car soul.
