Let’s talk supercars, more specifically Italian supercars. Traditionally, these look bonkers and have beautifully styled bodies and are powered by a beast of an engine. Very much what you’d do to convince yourself into investing in that hand-made Italian pair of shoes you’ve been looking at whilst clutching your wallet. Brands like Ferrari and Lamborghini come to mind when talking about such cars. But today, we at Route Hunters are excited to talk about the brand new MC20 from Maserati. Its the first mid-engine Maserati in 15 years, with the last car being the MC12 Stradale. That Enzo-based hypercar went out of production in 2005.
Which is why Maserati’s are usually considered the grown up Ferrari, they usually share many things like engines, suspension and gearboxes. But this MC20 is a different type of beast not just on the surface but pretty much every single part of it is brand new and we’ll dive into why we think this car sets itself apart in the supercar arena.
The Engine.
Hidden in the engine bay rests an all-new 3.0L twin-turbocharged V-6 engine aptly named the Nettuno. This engine puts out 630bhp and 730Nm. It utilizes a twin combustion chamber system borrowed from Formula 1 race cars and is paired to an eight-speed automatic transmission. Maserati claims a 0-to-62-mph time of less than 3.0 seconds and a top speed of over 200 mph. In addition to the gasoline-powered model, Maserati also says an all-electric variant of the MC20 with all-wheel drive will hit the market in short order and will be the Italian luxury brand’s first foray into electrification.
The Design.
Personally I find the MC20 at absolute looker, the lines it possesses looks almost unreal, courtesy of it’s brand new ultra-light carbon fibre monocoque chassis which isn’t just extremely rigid but weighs less than 100kg. This brings the total body weight of the car below 1,500 kilograms which isn’t common for modern road-going supercars due to safety restrictions, electronics and the likes. This is something people will notice on the road and something you’ll turn back to look at every chance you get.
Heritage.
This word gets thrown around a lot in the Italian supercar world, with brands like Ferrari and Lamborghini having age long rivalries much like Manchester United and the rest of the free world. Maserati is no stranger to this, having been a rival to Ferrari, being bought and sold to Ferrari, taken away from Ferrari and so on and so forth. Now they’ve made this MC20 completely in their home base of Modena, Italy and it certainly shows that they intend to take their share of the ever-dwindling supercar market. The heavy stuff aside, it’s certainly a looker isn’t it?
Why a Maserati?
Now for the avid supercar buyer, what would make you pick this MC20 over say the Ferrari 488 GTB or the Lamborghini Huracan? Both the other cars are well known and easily recognisable. But in our opinion, the MC20 is one of those, if you know you know kind of cars. The company has a rich history in racing and developing interesting cars, they are styled in an unmistakable fashion and they’re not shy when it comes to the performance game, such as the Maserati MC12 and the Maserati Gran Turismo. In a swimming pool of Red Ponies and Yellow Cows, this Silver Trident actually stands out.
What does this mean for the Supercar segment?
With the brilliant new engine, chassis design as well as Maserati’s first new model race car since the Gran Turismo in 2007 which ended in 2019, this shows that supercar automakers are still vying for supremacy in the shrinking supercar market. Also by introducing electrification and amazing innovations like the twin combustion chamber utilised in F1 cars, this would help the combustion engine evolve and adapt to become more efficient and when electrification eventually comes, we’ll be lucky enough to have cars that look like this, sound like this and drive like this as opposed to toaster ovens on wheels.
We’re super psyched that cars like these are still being made and can’t wait to hopefully see them on Malaysian roads. What do you think about the all-new Maserati MC20 , would you get this over a Ferrari or a Lamborghini, perhaps there is another worthy contender you’d like to throw in? Let us know in the comments and do like, share and subscribe as we continue to bring you more content, Route Hunters style.
By Joshua John
