2023 Maserati GranTurismo Review: An Unexpected Shock of Lightning

"Life's Been Good" should be the motto of anyone flush enough for a GranTurismo; whether in the Folgore's all-electric tri-motor, 750-horsepower, 995 pound-foot guise, or as a Trofeo with its masterly Nettuno V-6 engine.

Joe Walsh's Maserati couldn't have done 185. But the grizzled guitarist would surely lose his license in the 2024 Maserati GranTurismo Folgore: The first EV from any high-end Italian brand tops out at 202 mph, and dusts past 60 mph in 2.6 seconds.

Waltzing the electric GT Folgore around the Vallelunga circuit near Rome, and the twin-turbo, 542-hp GT Trofeo across the countryside, I discover a Maserati – really two Maseratis – full of surprises. The bar may well be as low as the GT's Trident-adorned snout, but this is the best, most fully realized Maserati yet. In style and performance, this GranTurismo flows like rare Barolo. Both the hybrid and electric powertrains are winners, and unlike any Aston Martin or Bentley.

Most unexpected, from a brand backed by EV laggard Stellantis, the Folgore stakes a shocking claim: this is the new champion for steering feel in an EV. Most EVs are bunched along a spectrum of "numb," with the Porsche Taycan at least verging on "normal." For the Folgore — the name is Italian for "lightning" — track laps and critical back-to-backs with gas-fired versions showed an alertness, lightness and natural loading that will warm every driver's heart and hands. Or it's not so surprising: The Maserati is an expensive Italian car that feels like one. The (relatively) live-wire steering bodes well for electric Alfa Romeos coming from Maserati's cugino in the Stellantis famiglia.

Yes, gasoline GranTurismos steer and handle even better, but that traces to their weighing about 1,000 fewer pounds.

With SUVs ruling even ultra-luxury ranks, this GranTurismo is an anachronism; a gentlemanly Italian two-door with only enough space for four adults. Even brands like BMW barely move high-end coupes that were once the symbol of grown-up taste and sophistication. Mercedes and Jaguar have given up entirely. As Maserati executives underscored, their brand has transitioned to being a purveyor of mainly SUVS and supercars — including the Grecale SUV and MC20 Cielo that was also offered for sample – making this GT sound like a pretty placeholder. Endangered species or not, beauty never goes out of style. So, the GT inherits hubba-hubba curves from the Alfieri, the showstopping coupe Maserati first teased in 2014 but couldn't carry over the production finish line.

Looks and performance are solidly rooted in an advanced architecture, tech and packaging. Gasoline and electric versions were developed simultaneously, and Maserati will adjust production mix at will on a single assembly line in Turin. For the Folgore, a T-shaped, 92.5 kilowatt-hour battery (using pouch cells from LG Chem) runs down the car's aluminum-intensive spine, keeping center-of-gravity low and inboard. Versus most EVs, including a Tesla Model S, there are no skateboard-style batteries below passenger seats. And yet Maserati claims the GT rides lower than any production EV. An 800-volt architecture allows DC charging at up to 270 kilowatts, up there with the best. Maserati throws in a Level 2 wall box for home charging at up to 11 kilowatts, perfect for those six-car garages. Maserati is talking a 450-kilometer range on Europe's WLPT cycle, which should work out to a roughly 260-mile range under the EPA's more-realistic estimates. That would beat a Porsche Taycan or Audi e-Tron GT.

To Americans who can barely peer over the massive, plasticized prows of pickups, the GranTurismo's front end is an out-of-time wonder. Its undersea snout is low enough to hoover plankton off the pavement. The so-called "cofango," which combines Italian words for "hood" and "fender," melds those components in a skinned aluminum clamshell with more than three square meters of surface area and integrates the brand's signature porthole vents. The sensuous height posed a major engineering challenge, including to meet pedestrian-safety and low-speed collision regs. The design demanded a V-6 (and front electric motor) compact enough to sit entirely behind the front axle, with a front differential running straight to wheels and standard AWD. Maserati designers said fitting a V-8 would have required a much-taller hood, spoiling the classic silhouette. A weight distribution of 52 front/48 rear applies to both gasoline and electric models.

On that score, cry a quick tear for the naturally aspirated Ferrari-Maserati V-8 that powered the last-gen GT. Then take consolation from the brand's Nettuno V-6. This version of the MC20 Cielo's engine keeps its F1-based pre-chamber combustion tech, but in detuned, wet-sump form. Still, the Nettuno's 3.0-liter outputs — 483 horses in the base GT Modena, and 542 in the GT Trofeo — stomp all over the V-8's 454 horses. The torque gain is even larger at 442 or 479 pound-feet, versus 384 with the 4.0-liter V-8. Acceleration from 0-60 mph improves to 3.7 seconds in the Modena, with a 188-mph top end, or a blistering 3.3 seconds in the Trofeo and a 198-mph peak velocity. That's four mph shy of the Folgore's peak, though to ponder how quickly its battery bleeds out at those velocities is daunting.

In mellower modes, the plug-in version leans on front-driven wheels to save energy, but will add increasing levels of shove from dual electric rear motors, also mounted inboard to aid balance. Rated at 300 kilowatts each, those three radial motors could actually spool up 1,200 horsepower, but are limited to 750 wheel horsepower by overall battery capacity. Compact silicon-carbide inverters are derived from Formula E tech.

Get this: At a claimed 4,972 pounds, Maserati's electric Folgore weighs about 200 fewer pounds than a gasoline Continental GT. Yet the Maserati carves out a roughly Porsche Taycan-size back seat and more cargo space. Six-foot adults can find reasonable succor in back, albeit with heads tucked in the cavity between back glass and headliner. That four-seat capacity is still a big practical edge over Bentley Continentals and Aston DBs, whose back seats are hostile to human life.

Choose the Nettuno V-6, and weight drops to a sprightly (by today's elephantine standards) 3,949 pounds, roughly 1,200 fewer pounds than the Bentley, and 1,000 fewer than a porky Audi RS7. That curb weight trims about 220 pounds from the previous V-8 GT, putting this V-6 Trofeo on par with a BMW M3 Competition xDrive, but with 39 more horses.

Snugged into the GT Folgore's sculptural seats — swaddled in puffy leather that recalls Moncler ski wear — I dial up Corsa mode via a Porsche-like steering-wheel dial, and cannonade onto the track. With that silly 995 pound-feet of torque, the Maserati will match a Corvette Z06 to 60 mph, before giving ground to that lighter two-seater. The 650-hp Continental GT Speed is known to blaze. But the GT Folgore is nearly a second quicker to 60 mph, with zero tailpipe emissions and roughly one-third the Bentley's energy consumption. A Maserati-estimated 8.8-second squirt to 200 kph (or 124 mph) is 0.8-seconds quicker than a Taycan Turbo S, and nearly five seconds faster than Bentley's mightiest coupe. What is Italian for "game over?"

Where Bentleys hustle passengers in velvet-ribbed isolation, the Maser feels a solid match for Aston DB11- and DBS-style engagement. To drive that home, a confident Maserati put only the electric version on track. Independent rear motors can vector 100-percent of their torque to either wheel, a magic trick for rotating this stretched coupe through Vallenlunga's hairpins — and exiting with hair-on-fire force and AWD control that recalls a Porsche 911 Turbo. A firm, natural-feeling brake pedal regenerates electric power at up to 0.5 g's of deceleration, then smoothly segues to mechanical stoppers, decorated with calipers in a choice of seven colors.

That left the gasoline Trofeo to alternately sooth and smoke public roads. On a freshly paved section of Autostrada, some spur takes the Trofeo to 150 mph, where it begins to float a touch on a downhill sweeper, yet still feels assured. Rabbit-eared metal paddle shifters smoothly direct the eight-speed automatic transmission, with air springs and adaptive dampers for a double-wishbone front and multi-link rear suspension. Those eight-cylinder Italian chorales are sadly gone, but the Nettuno sounds great in its own way; a chesty baritone cry that recalls a larger engine. After a soupçon of turbo lag, the Trofeo's strongman force and 7,200-rpm redline was pushing the lusty Maserati past every slowpoke in Lazio. A new Android Automotive-based infotainment system fortunately sounds alerts to every speed camera on the Autostrada.

Among six-figure GT's, the Bentley's suite of cabin wonders remains unmatched. But the Maserati looks just-rich-enough for this class, striking a pleasing balance between glamorous tradition and digital progress. Maserati says the cabin's stitched-and-embroidered graphics are inspired by symbols in Michelangelo's Piazza del Campidoglio in nearby Rome. Advancing a few centuries, the Folgore offers a sustainable "Econyl" fabric whose opaque surface recalls a boutique Cousteau bodysuit, made from recovered sea nets.

Certainly, the Maserati's interior ergonomics and interfaces whip the aging, poorly integrated Mercedes tech in Aston DB's. With OTA updates and blazing speeds, the Maserati Intelligent Assistant (yes, "MIA") is a signal advance for the brand. Its "Hey Maserati" voice assistant can integrate with a handsome programmable dashboard clock atop the dash. An enormous head-up display appears on par with BMW's latest. A trio of displays, totaling 33 inches, are divvied between a reconfigurable driver's cluster and a pair of center touchscreens. The lower screen houses (somewhat busy) climate controls. Compared with the overbearing or flat-walled displays of so many modern cars, the GT's angled screens integrate naturally into the dash. Interior design chief Andreas Wuppinger said Maserati was determined to avoid having screens overwhelm the car's grand-touring aesthetic. The one sore thumb is the dashboard's wan black-plastic transmission shift buttons. The vague-feeling switches seem more suited to a window defroster than a key touchpoint in a six-figure car.

Maserati's American arm revealed a $174,000 starting price for the GT Modena, or $205,000 for the Trofeo, both lower than media predictions that suggested closer to $200,000 to start. Maserati hasn't nailed down the Folgore's price, saying only it will start "slightly higher" than the Trofeo.

A GranCabrio convertible is expected next year. Maserati sold about 40,000 GranTurismos and GranCabrios worldwide over an 11-year run that ended in 2019. Maserati would probably be thrilled to sell 4,000 units of the new model annually, in a GT market that's chillier than any time in history.

As with the fun-driving, dearly priced Grecale SUV, Maserati shoppers must make their own judgments on the GranTurismo's value proposition. For the Folgore specifically, even wealthy shoppers may sniff-test a Model S Plaid, Taycan Turbo S or Lucid Air, looking to save roughly $30,000 to $100,000. One word of defense: The Maserati won't beat a Plaid in a straight line. It will make the Tesla look like something squirted from an injection-molding shop in Shanghai, or maybe Texas.

Bentley and Aston have their own issues and rocky histories. But to some brand-conscious millionaires, the Maserati name may not elicit a similar level of gushing. The 108-year-old Maserati has shuffled along and survived, mystifyingly at times, acquired or ditched by distracted corporate owners (Citroen, Fiat, now Stellantis) like some washed-up relief pitcher. Now it's trying to reinvent itself, again.

Fortunately, most of us needn't trouble ourselves worrying about which car the wealthy are hurling money at today. Gas or electric, the Maserati GranTurismo is fast, beautiful, engaging and technically advanced. It's more tasteful, practical and road-trip-friendly than most any supercar. Like high-waisted jeans, this GT is so out-of-fashion that it may be back in fashion.

Now consider Silicon Valley and other one-upping milieus, where flaunting a GT Folgore — double the Tesla/Porsche/Lucid price, but who's counting? — may be the social olive dunk in a $25 hotel martini. For certain buyers, that alone may reward a sip.

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2023 Maserati GranTurismo Review: An Unexpected Shock of Lightning