MASERATI MC20 - Italian Trident's newest Sports Car
Italy has the most outrageous automobile companies which are known to make quirky cars with the sole purpose of speed, their unusual and impractical design combined with a really loud engine is what makes them distinct. Modena city in Italy is home to 2 of the world's largest and meanest automobile companies - Ferrari and Maserati and today we are going to talk about Maserati's latest offering, the MC20. Maserati's last sports car was the Gran Tourismo which lasted for more than a decade, in the meantime the brand focused on Compact SUVs and luxury sedans and after a very long wait, they announced the MC20 sports car in 2020. MC stands for Maserati Corsa or Maserati Racing, earlier the MC12 was named as Maserati Racing and the 12 represented its V12 engine, well the MC20 does not have 20 cylinders but it symbolizes the year of its launch. Maserati is bringing the MC20 to India with the top spec variant at ₹3.65crore, they have started accepting orders and deliveries will start mid-2023. The Italian trident plans to come back into the Supercar rank through the MC20 and so the hopes are real high.
Engine and Engineering
Maserati built its own engine this time without taking help from Ferrari. The MC20 has a 3L Twin-Turbocharged Rear Wheel Drive V6 engine that produces 621bhp and 730nm of torque at 3000RPM with 8-speed DCT resulting in 0-100km/h in 2.9secs with a top speed of 325km/h. Mechanical Limited Slip Differential is standard but we can opt for the Electronic as an option. The MC20 with its powerful mid-engine setup feels more of a race car than a GT car. These numbers are higher than the Mclaren Artura but less than the bully in business, Ferrari and Lamborghini. Maserati calls this engine as Nettuno or Neptune after the Roman God of water, as a matter of fact the modified Trident logo is also a tribute to the Roman God. This Neptune engine is inspired from a F1 engine increasing the combustion by 15% and yet qualifying the emission norms. Even though the engine is inspired from Formula1 engine but it still lacks that loud burst of exhaust notes that are very common in the naturally aspirated Lamborghini and Porsche. The race car maker Dallara made the complete carbon fiber chassis to help reduce weight of the MC20, the brand also claims that the weight of the car is less than 1500kg. 4 Driving modes are available - Wet, GT or the normal mode, Sport and the Corsa (Track mode), a cool looking gear knob to select the drive modes with a button in the middle to choose a softer suspension during sports or corsa mode.
Design
Brands like Ferrari and Lamborghini have kept the same silhouette for all of their cars and for quite some time now and this is getting really boring in terms of the exterior. Maserati on the other hand brought a fresh design on the table and it makes the MC20 even more special. Single frame front grill is a revised version of the grill offered in MC12 and the Gran Tourismo, it also flaunts the stylish Maserati Trident logo which looks absolutely breathtaking. The Lexan engine cover also has a trident design which is good attention to detail. The overall exterior of the MC20 is very minimalist, no extra cuts and creases, no sharp edges, just simple flow of smooth lines with a sloping roofline. Although the design is very minimalist, yet the MC20 is an aerodynamic masterpiece with Gloss Black Side Air vents complimenting the smooth lines. This mid-engine beauty has sleek but wide tail lights, ravishing Butterfly doors and a rear diffuser, the MC20 does not have a spoiler but the boot edge has been lifted by very low angle making it impossible to see at a first glance. Available in 6 colors - Nero Enigma, Rosso Vincente, Grigio Mistro, Giallo Genio, Bianco Audace and Blu Infinito. Stunning 20-inch alloy wheels, the side view mirror is borrowed from Ferrari so this is same mirror used in Ferrari 458, 488 and the F8.
The butterfly doors are electronic so you don't need to pull or push the doors to open, while sitting inside the car as well there is no door handle, just an electronic button. Now a very interesting question pops up that what to do if the battery dies, well fortunately Maserati has thought about the situation and added a door fail safe in form of a leather wrapped loop on both doors to pull for opening the doors from the inside. Continuing on the doors, there are no door pockets or any form of storage area as it is not practical to store something onto doors that open vertically. The idea of minimalistic design is carried in the interior as well, nothing fancy or bizarre that one expects from any other screaming Italian car. Both the Infotainment System and Instrument Cluster are 10.25-inches with a very clear display resolution, the design for the instrument cluster changes when the mode is changed to Sports or Corsa mode. There are no dedicated buttons for air conditioner settings, instead one has to use to the touch screen infotainment system to navigate the fan and the temperature, this is futuristic but not at all practical. Drive mode selector and the entire center tunnel is wrapped in carbon fibre, the volume adjustment knob and the control for power windows is placed near the hand rest making it very inconvenient. You cannot see through the rear window thanks to the sloping roof, but Maserati has thought about this and installed a camera that displays directly on the rear view mirror. The gear shift paddles are fixed on the steering column so it is more convenient.
Features
Coming to the features of the MC20, the 10.25-inches infotainment screen is the same that is also offered in Fiat 500, it supports Android Auto, Apple Carplay and Alexa Voice Recognition but the 6 standard speakers offered are not very good, thankfully Maserati also offers optional 12 speaker Sonus Faber High Premium sound system. Continuing with the options, Maserati also offers Carbon Ceramic Brakes which are a must in a sports car. Wireless phone charging and a nose lift feature which is necessary nowadays.
Conclusion
The MC20 is a refreshingly new sports car in the market where Ferraris and Lamborghinis are getting stale. The F1 inspired engine produces massive numbers, the F8 Tributo has 90 more horsepower but it comes with same 0-100kmh and not to forget the Ferrari is way expensive. Yes, the MC20 has some cons too in the shape of touch screen air conditioner settings and not so good exhaust note but we should focus on the bigger picture. In 2023, a top open version called the MC20 Ceilo is scheduled to launch and the hard top variant is coming to India, facing a tough competition with the recently welcomed Mclaren. Maserati has gone leaps and bounds in order to reclaim its fame as a sports car brand, the long wait after the Gran Tourismo has paid off and the sports car with the trident is worthy enough to stand alongside cars like the Mclaren, Porsche and even Ferrari.