2011 Maserati Gran Turismo Gtc S Convertible 4.7 *1 Owner 4,600 Miles! Loaded! on 2040-cars

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Maserati GranTurismo Folgore design and key specifications revealed

The next-generation Maserati GranTurismo will spawn an electric, Folgore-badged variant with over 1,200 horsepower. While the coupe hasn't been fully unveiled yet, the Italian company published a video that shows it without camouflage and reveals key specifications. Shot on California's picturesque roads, the five-minute film provides a better look at the second-generation GranTurismo's shapely design. It's characterized by a long hood, a fastback-like roof line, and a relatively short trunk, while its front end borrows a handful of styling cues inaugurated by the MC20 and also seen on the Grecale. The model is instantly recognizable as a member of the Maserati portfolio. We already know that the first series-produced electric Maserati will ship with a three-motor drivetrain rated at about 1,200 horsepower. Design boss Klaus Busse (who is behind the wheel in the video) announced that the GranTurismo Folgore takes 2.6 seconds to reach 60 mph from a stop and reaches a top speed of over 200 mph. He added that the battery pack is housed in the transmission tunnel, a solution which allowed his team to give the car a relatively low profile, but details such as the unit's size and the driving range remain under wraps. Not interested in EVs? Maserati has you covered: it will position the Folgore at the top of the GranTurismo range but it will also offer at least one V6-powered version of the car. We're guessing that the engine will be related to the excellent 3.0-liter Nettuno V6 that powers the MC20. Maserati will release more details about the GranTurismo Folgore in the coming months, and the coupe's unveiling is scheduled for 2023. Related video: This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. Green Maserati Coupe Electric Luxury Performance

2017 Maserati Levante First Drive

You can argue all you want about whether or not certain companies should build crossovers. That's what the comments section is for. We'd argue that Maserati should have done it a long time ago, having shown its first crossover concept back in 2011 and only delivering on it now. Porsche blazed that trail with the Cayenne and others have followed suit since, racking up big sales. It's a little odd, then, that after waiting so long to get in the game, the Levante came together in just 22 months. Blame nationalism. The original plan was for the Levante to be based on and built in Detroit alongside the Jeep Grand Cherokee. That changed when Sergio Marchionne decided, in his dictatorial way, that all Maseratis and Alfa Romeos would be designed, engineered, and manufactured in Italy. So the team hit reset, borrowed the Ghibli platform, and went about creating a not-quite-a-crossover, taller-than-a-wagon hatchback with air suspension. Just shy of two years later, we're driving the Levante. In Italy, naturally. The dimensions and stance are what set the Levante apart from the abundance of luxury performance crossovers and emphasize its Italianness. It's longer, wider, and lower than a Porsche Cayenne or the Grand Cherokee it was nearly spawned from. The hood looks impossibly long in person because it is really long. The front end takes inspiration from the Alfieri concept, and there's a refreshing lack of mesh or filler between the grille's thin vertical slats. It can stand to be so open because there is a set of active grille shutters just behind to manage airflow. What would be usable cargo space on a blockier crossover is sacrificed by a rakish hatch, which looks pretty and we're told routes air in a particularly aerodynamic-friendly fashion. Instead of building the boxy version first, Maserati took the gamble and went straight to the fashionable coupe-ish shape. That foresight paid off, as it seems the coupe-like SUV trend is here to stay. For all the scrambling that must have gone on to produce this new model so quickly, it doesn't present like a rush job. Sure, most of the engineering was already done for the Ghibli and Quattroporte, but the Levante actually feels like a more complete effort than those cars. The attention to detail is most felt in the cabin, where the latest corporate infotainment system has been neatly integrated into familiar surroundings.

Maserati's first electric car won't be a Tesla rival

Italian supercar makers haven't exactly embraced electric vehicles with gusto (the LaFerrari hybrid is about as close as you get), but that should change in the next few years. Ferrari's sibling brand Maserati tells Car and Driver that it's working on an electric vehicle that would be shown before 2020. And unlike other luxury car brands, Maserati doesn't plan on eating Tesla's lunch. It has to produce something "very different" to stand out, the company's Roberto Fedeli says. Think of something more like the GranTurismo coupe (see above) than yet another upscale sedan. Part of the challenge, Fedeli claims, is making a green machine that's exciting to drive. Breakneck acceleration is the only really thrilling aspect of EVs right now, he says – the sheer weight of those lithium-ion batteries dampens the enjoyment on twisty roads. A Maserati would have to be lighter on its feet. Also, the automaker will have to find a way to give its car character without a roaring gas engine under the hood. In that sense, Maserati's 2020 goal is realistic. It may not have much choice but to wait for battery technology to catch up to its ambitions. Related Video: This article by Jon Fingas originally ran on Engadget, the definitive guide to this connected life. News Source: Car and Driver Green Maserati Tesla Coupe Electric Luxury Performance