Without a shadow of a doubt, the new Maserati Grecale is the most important car of the last twenty years of the Trident’s history: if the Levante, presented in 2016, launched the Italian brand in the lucrative large-size sport utility segment, the Grecale has the task of garrisoning it even more from within. Indeed, the latest addition to Maserati will battle in the premium / luxury mid-size SUV category.
4.84 meters long, the Grecale – the name of the intense Mediterranean wind that blows from the north-east – draws its fundamentals from the Alfa Romeo Stelvio, from which it takes up the extremely valuable technical base (complete with quadrilateral and multilink front suspension at rear): the two cars also share the production plant in Cassino, Lazio. The vehicle’s mission is to immediately become the best seller of the Trident, increasing the manufacturer’s sales volumes. Furthermore, the model will completely replace the Ghibli, destined to have no heirs at the end of its production cycle.
This is why the Modenese brand has high hopes in the Grecale and promises that the latter is “the best in its category in terms of interior space, driveability, handling, acceleration (0-100 km / h in 3.8” – for the Trofeo version) , top speed (285 km / h – for the Trofeo version), audio quality, extensive use of materials such as wood, carbon, leathers and the best basic equipment “. The nominated competitors? Porsche Macan and Cayenne.
Inside, the contemporaneity of the project passes through the now classic digital dashboard, flanked by a new 12.3 ” central element, dedicated to infotelematics by Android Auto (also manageable through voice commands), a comfort display smaller 8.8 ”, with accessory controls, and the new digital clock. At the commercial launch, scheduled for the second half of 2022, Grecale will be available in the “PrimaSerie” launch set-up, a limited edition edition featuring interior configurations and exclusive content.
Grecale will then be available in three versions: “GT”, powered by a 2-liter turbo 4-cylinder mild hybrid with 300 HP; “Modena” with the same engine but boosted to 330 HP; and the bursting “Trofeo”, which hides a 530 HP 3-liter twin-turbo V6 under the hood, derived from the Neptune engine of the MC20 super sports car. For all of them, the transmission is entrusted to an 8-speed automatic gearbox, linked to the four-wheel drive.
The air suspensions are standard on Grecale Trofeo, while they are optional on the Mild Hybrid versions: they allow a total excursion of 65 mm, going from a minimum of -35mm in Park mode to a maximum + 30mm in Off Road mode, the most suitable off-road (the other driving modes are Comfort, GT, Sport, Corsa). Furthermore, from 2023, the Grecale range will be completed with the Full Electric edition, which will use 400 Volt technology, will have a 105 kWh capacity battery and a current powertrain capable of unleashing 800 Nm of torque.
