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Review: 2019 Maserati Levante GTS is an SUV filled with a Ferrari V-8 engine that grants on pace

Review: 2019 Maserati Levante GTS is an SUV filled with a Ferrari V-8 engine that grants on pace 1

The ongoing shift to SUVs from sedans and coupes has supplied a problem for storied sports activities vehicle producers like Maserati. SUVs, while practical, tend to address and perform worse than their sedans. To continue to exist in the cutting-edge finicky marketplace, a crossover is nearly a necessary providing.

Maserati uniquely solved their problem: stick a roaring Ferrari V-eight engine beneath the hood, spend a lot of time at the suspension, and desire customers won’t fault you for building a crossover. While it does not have a quality interior, the Levante GTS lives up to the using enjoy that a Maserati badge promises.

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The Good.

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The predominant aspect that separates the GTS from lesser Levantes is the Ferrari-sourced, 550-horsepower V-8 beneath the hood. For even extra cash, you could get the Levante Trofeo, which offers a 590-horsepower tune of the same engine. However, the $136,790 tester we had did not experience adore. It wanted more power.

Aside from the fire-respiratory and sonorous motor, the GTS additionally packs adaptive suspension to make the journey softer or more dynamic on a moment’s word. Couple that with some of the best steerage of any SUV on sale these days, and it’s smooth to discover yourself taking a long way home.

Stomp on the gasoline, and the Levante sprints its manner to 60 in 4 seconds but isn’t almost out of steam. Given sufficient area, the GTS can do a wonderful 181 mph. It’s effortlessly solid at absurd speeds and feels constructed for high-pace cruising.

But at the same time, like other exceptional-riding SUVs, just like the Alfa Romeo Stelvio Quadrifoglio sacrifices avenue manners for a fun revel in, the Levante is flawlessly at ease for metropolis cruising. It handles tough streets nicely, never harshly, with a notably quiet cabin given the motor’s ferocity.

As for a costly proposition, the Levante GTS fares pretty nicely. At the side of its sedan sibling, the Maserati Quattroporte GTS is the most inexpensive way to get s Ferrari engine in a new car. You’ll need to spend over $two hundred,000 to get a Ferrari Portofino, a truthful bit extra than the $119,980 entrance point of the Levante GTS.

It also fares nicely towards its essential rival, the Porsche Cayenne Turbo. It gives extra strength and general device than the Porsche while costing about $five,000 much less.

 The Bad

Sitting in a Levante, it isn’t always difficult to see how they stored that cash. The interior is exceptional enough. However, there are automobiles costing half of as tons that wow you greater.

Part of the problem is the eerie familiarity of some pieces of the cabin, plucked from inexpensive Fiat Chrysler merchandise. The important bits are all bespoke, but I can not shake the sensation that the Alfa Romeo Stelvio Quadrifoglio presented a greater unique interior. For $136,790, our tester has to have felt a greater top rate.

The cost argument is likewise weakened by using a gasoline financial system that we may want to handiest describe as “brutal.” The Levante is rated 14 miles consistent with a gallon in the city and 18 mpg at the dual carriageway; however, spirited using delivered our average to approximately thirteen mpg. It’s what you expect from a Ferrari-powered SUV. However, we think it is really worth noting.

Finally, we wish it had been a piece louder. That may sound antithetical to a luxurious SUV, but the Levante GTS would not have the set-your-ears-on-fireplace exhaust notice you might assume from a Ferrari engine. Even the V-6 Alfa Romeo Stelvio Quadrifoglio was rowdier. Trofeo fashions get a different exhaust setup, but you should not need to cross that far to get a superb-sounding SUV.

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