With its powerful 275 hp diesel engine, its 4×4 drive, and height-adjustable air suspension, the Maserati Levante is a great sports car with good possibilities on tracks
One out of every three cars sold in the Spanish and European market is already an SUV model, so this type of slightly taller vehicle with certain jacket possibilities has ceased to be a fad and has become a reality. Luxury brands have not been able to escape this market trend and the large German manufacturers already achieve up to a third of their sales with models of this type. The last to arrive at this vehicle concept was the Italians, among whom Maserati has joined the highest part of the market .
What this Levante model that we have tested offers is the same vehicle concept, a little off-road and taller, but retaining its product philosophy of making very sporty cars, with a touch on the asphalt that few cars offer on the market. This Levante, despite its larger dimensions, its higher weight, and its higher ground clearance, offers the same sportiness as all the rest of the maserati dealership. The test that we were able to carry out, on a long journey of more than 200 kilometers on the road and with a good stage of driving on tracks, has shown that it is one more Maserati despite all those details that could separate it from the classic concept of sportsmanship.
To avoid having to choose between making a more luxurious and even sportier car or a slightly more country option, in which some luxury finishes are renounced, what the Italian brand has done has been to separate its range into two completely different variants. different, but based on the same mechanics. On the one hand, the GranLusso variant is focused on luxury and exclusivity, while the GranSport is looking for a sportier, somewhat more youthful customer who can sometimes look for a car to go hunting, or to travel to a farm. For this reason, the car that we have tested is this GranSport version, somewhat more jacket.
Despite its size and two tons of weight, it actually uses the platform of the Ghibli, so pure sportiness is always what you are looking for. A-frame that has been suitably adjusted to allow its body to be raised and thereby overcome some obstacles. A key aspect is the electric steering, which offers smoothness when used in the city but at the same time improves the already good steering precision when driving fast with the car. It also serves to improve the sensations of the driver by better filtering the irregularities of the road. And that is the case of rolling on a track is even more enjoyable.
This new Levante also offers interesting driving assistance systems. Now it has a more precise adaptive cruise control, a lane-keeping system, and a blind spot assistant that prevents us from changing lanes when there is a car circulating in that area. A traffic sign reader is also available.
It is a vehicle that, with its diesel engine, a refined 275-horsepower V6, is what we have tested, offers very good behavior, and allows it to drive very fast like any other model in the Maserati range, but at the same time with high consumption but quite reasonable. The driver always has the feeling of having a large reserve of power under the accelerator pedal. And all with maximum security and total control of the situation.
It is therefore a good car to travel, but that offers, when reaching the end of the road, possibilities of use off the asphalt. Undoubtedly, the key to this amazing country-style behavior is the height-adjustable air suspension. This Levante offers no less than six different heights, starting with the lowest for parking, to comfortably enter the vehicle. Then we have two modes for driving fast on the road, Aero1 and Aero 2, and the normal mode. And above the two modes ‘off-road'. The highest one is specially designed to be able to overcome a very complicated obstacle at a very slow speed. In total, no less than an 8.5 cm difference between the lowest height for parking and that of the ‘off-road 2' mode.
This, together with a 4×4 traction system with electronically managed torque distribution, means that this model can if its user really wants to go off-road, overcome complicated areas. In our test on quite complicated roads, with a lot of loose stones and steep slopes, the Levante behaved almost like a good off-roader, although logically without reduction gears.
t also allows for different driving modes in which, along with the operation of the suspension, the change of direction is also adjusted. These modes are four and are selected from a button next to the gear lever. They are Normal, Off-road, Sports, and winter mode.
In its mechanical aspect, the new Levante is offered with three different engines. The starting point, and also the most demanded, is the turbodiesel, with a 275-horsepower V6 engine that stands out for its high torque, its good elasticity, and its more adjusted consumption, with an average value of 7.2 liters. And in gasoline, a 2.9-liter V6 Turbo engine with two power figures, 350 or 430 horsepower. An engine developed and manufactured by Ferrari, without a doubt the icing on an elaborate cake such as the Maserati Levante, whose only drawback is that it has a price that starts at 85,000 euros.
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