Maserati MC20 supercar with stunning looks and 621 horsepower revealed

There is a fine line between a brand with a strong heritage and one that is perhaps becoming a bit stuffy. Lately, Maserati has come dangerously close to that last category, but today, with this car, all that could change. Making its debut on Wednesday, the 2021 Maserati MC20 is the Italian automaker’s first new supercar in 16 years, a very important injection of modernity for a company in desperate need of something new and fresh.

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Concept

The MC20 is something very different from The 2004 Ferrari Enzo MC12. Much more demure, to begin with. Designed and manufactured in-house, it has a modern and understated supercar look that we really like. The MC20 is arguably a bit of a no-brainer, especially compared to the MC12, but there’s also something vaguely futuristic about it, with just that open nose giving a link to other Maseratis on the road – well, that and the cheeky severed trident. on the rear trunk lid (which isn’t our favorite style cue, if we’re honest). The MC20 is also very different from the GranTurismo Coupe, which was larger and looked like a grand tourer.

The MC20 is a combination of artistic design and aerodynamic sensibility, and Maserati carefully color-coded these different elements. The parts of the car that are white? That’s where the designers made the final decision. The darkest parts of the bottom? All driven by efficiency and performance. That white, incidentally, is called Bianco Audace, or “white boldness”, which Maserati says was designed to “evoke the brilliance of quarry marble, struck by the light of a Mediterranean sunset.”

The car’s body is simple and clean, with no giant wing hanging out of the rear or a splitter sticking out of the front. The vents and inlets are kept to a minimum, with the most aggressive visual component, the rear diffuser, wrapped in raw carbon fiber.

All of that wraps around a custom carbon monocoque cockpit developed with race car chassis expert Dallara. Interestingly, the chassis was designed to support three versions. The first is the coupe you see here, while next comes a Spider flavor with a retractable hardtop. The third version will be electric, leaving room for the batteries in the same basic design, and only the design of the carbon filaments will change. However, there is no ETA in that.

Power

The starting coupe will have a 3.0-liter V6 with 90-degree twin-turbo and 621 horsepower. Maserati says this engine, called the Nettuno, is brand new, and we can’t help but think that the engineers were targeting that power figure. That’s exactly the same power output as the MC12, although it took twice the number of cylinders and displacement to pull it off. While forced induction is the main driver of that increase in relative production, the company also credits what it calls the Maserati Twin Combustion. It is a kind of pre-combustion chamber that helps a more efficient combustion within the engine.

Power reaches the rear wheels via an eight-speed dual-clutch transmission and a mechanically locking rear differential. The weight of the entire package is 3,306 pounds, which, according to Maserati, gives it the best power-to-weight ratio in its class. What class is it? McLaren 570GT. Strong competition, to say the least.

The suspension is a front and rear double wishbone setup, with a semi-virtual steering design designed to reduce scrub angle and increase steering feel and response. The brakes are Brembo carbon ceramic units with six pistons at the front and four at the rear.

Inside

The interior of the MC20, accessed through doors that open the right way, achieves a mix between race-focused minimalism and the needs of everyday motorsport. This is best seen on the steering wheel, which according to the marketing release features “essential only” buttons and controls. Somehow launch control and cruise control make the cut. The mode dial, however, is relegated to the center console.

The dual 10-inch displays serve as a gauge cluster and infotainment system, powered by Android Automotive, as in the new Pole Star 2. This software will give you easy access to all your smart home needs while providing a clean and simple user interface, here renamed the Maserati Touch Control Plus MIA. MIA, by the way, is Maserati’s Smart Assistant. Yes, another smart assistant for your modern world.

Maserati promises almost 5.3 cubic feet of storage in both a trunk and a frunk. That’s small, but a big step up from the MC12, which didn’t even have a trunk. It’s also another sign that the MC20 is a very different car, something designed for everyday use, something that will be just as good for driving on the road as it is on the track.

And the track is a key component here, with the release of the MC20 promising that the car will “take Maserati back into the racing world.” It’s great news for sure, but it looks like we’ll have to wait a bit longer for the details of where and when. Equally, we’re in the dark about how much this beauty will cost or when lucky trident fans might bring one home. We certainly hope to see a few more of these than on the MC12. Maserati only built 50 of them for the road.