MC HAMMER (some text hidden) --NONE--

By Jonathan Crouch

Maserati returns to the supercar sector with the MC20. Jonathan Crouch takes a look.

Ten Second Reviewword count: 43

The MC20 is everything you might want a Maserati sports car to be - fast, grand and gorgeous. Everything's been developed from scratch, including the engine, and there's a choice of coupe or convertible body styles. Both with plenty of 'want one' factor.

Backgroundword count: 135

A Maserati supercar. It's been a while since we had one of those. In fact, it's been a while since we had a new Maserati sports car of any kind, but this model, the MC20, puts that right, the first mid-engined Maserati in a generation. Let's start with the name. 'MC' stands for 'Maserati' and 'Corsa' ['racing']; '20' designates the year of model unveiling. And it had better be good, not only because it costs the best part of £200,000 but because the rivals it must beat are of very high quality indeed - McLaren's Artura, Lamborghini's Huracan and the Ferrari 296 GTB. Maserati though, is setting its sights high now that it's freed from the shackles of previous partner Ferrari and owned by the Stellantis Group. Just how high we're about to find out.

Driving Experienceword count: 215

There's a satisfying exhaust crackle when you prod the steering wheel-mounted starter button. Maserati engines are no longer sourced from previous partner Ferrari. This one, the twin turbocharged 3.0-litre V6 known as the 'Netuno' ('Neptune') was entirely developed in-house and puts out 630hp to the rear wheels via an 8-speed auto gearbox borrowed from the current Chevrolet Corvette. You select gears via either shift paddles on the steering wheel or by a button on the centre console. A rotary controller offers four drive modes - 'GT', 'Sport', 'Corsa' [the race mode] and 'Wet'. Two levels of damper stiffness feature in each of the drive modes. And a mechanical limited slip differential helps traction through the turns. Helped by launch control, the MC20 is brutally quick off the line, dispatching 62mph in just 2.9 seconds. 124mph passes in just 9 seconds on the way to a top speed of 203mph. Which is all very supercar like, but Maserati says that its also developed this car for everyday driving and the quality of ride really reflects that; you can enjoy this Maserati as much on a long distance GT trip as on your favourite winding back road. The brakes are impressive too, combining 330mm (front) and 350mm (rear) carbon ceramic discs with (respectively) 6-piston and 4-piston calipers.

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