Maserati MC20 2025 review – a modern-age supercar with an old-school heart

Maserati stormed back onto the supercar scene in impressive style with the MC20. It's never easy to compete at this very pinnacle of the sports car world, but when it's a manufacturer's first mid-engined (series-production) model in nearly 40 years, the task might have seemed nearly impossible. But it's a challenge the storied Italian marque grabbed with both hands with the MC20, nailing it straight out of the blocks. We love the Maserati MC20 so much, we crowned it our 2022 evo Car of the Year, beating supercar rivals from Ferrari and McLaren in the process. 

At first glance the MC20 is thoroughly modern yet nevertheless conventional – the latter perhaps an unfair term to describe a supercar with a full carbon tub and a hugely powerful twin-turbo V6, but these are the ingredients we’ve come to hope for, if not quite expect, in a mid-engined supercar today – even if many persist with a more conventional aluminium construction. The MC20 is a two-seat, relatively practical machine, with aerodynamics largely generated underneath the car, double wishbone suspension and adaptive damping all-round, and an eight-speed twin-clutch gearbox. Maserati quotes the weight as ‘under 1500kg', but this is a dry figure. We've seen a 1700kg figure on our independent scales, the extra weight justified by fluids and the optional nose-lift system on this UK press car. 

You’ll notice that the styling is more conservative than many, arguably classier, and to these eyes, very seductive when seen in person. The interior is correspondingly simple, without any ostentatious gimmicks, and while the V6 can’t compete with hybrid-boosted rivals for ultimate power, at 626bhp from its 3-litre capacity on ICE credentials alone it’s pumping out over 200bhp per litre, backed up by 538lb ft of torque.

This new 90-degree V6, created in Modena for the MC20 and christened ‘Nettuno’, uses a patented dual combustion chamber per cylinder tech of the type used in F1. A smaller ‘pre-chamber’ aides a more efficient burn in the main combustion chamber, allowing that heady power output from a relatively small displacement engine but with respectable fuel consumption. It’s clear that Maserati is both proud of productionising the technology and of having its own engine in the car after years of using essentially Ferrari engines. 

Once you’ve drunk in the MC20’s shapely form, getting in involves raising the long door out and up (it’s worth making a mental note to be careful in parking spaces and next to petrol pumps, as it opens very wide). The driving position is spot on, and the view out suitably supercar exotic. Visibility rearwards is very marginal, but it doesn’t matter because there is a rear view camera’s output integrated into the mirror, and it works surprisingly well once you get used to refocusing your vision to the screen. The overall impression is of a simple but functional cabin, the large, centrally-mounted driver mode switch the most obviously flamboyant element. It is let down by some cheap-feeling switchgear, however.

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Any notion that the MC20 is going to be as smoothly rounded as a pebble on a beach are shattered when the V6 fires into life. It’s not a typically anodyne V6 burr, but deep chested, snarly and only just on the right side of raucous. Initially, that seems at odds with the rest of the car, because the MC20 is refined and actually quite calm and easy to drive. The ride quality in the default ‘GT’ mode is good at isolating the occupants from the worst of British roads, and the V6 soon settles down into little more than a distant rumble as the box flicks seamlessly up the gears. The steering is light and fast, but you soon learn to trust in its accuracy, and reflect instead on what an appealing way this Maserati would be to travel long distances in. 

It’s this demure personality that makes the MC20’s other, angrier side all the more shocking. In Sport or Corsa modes the V6 finds that thunderous voice again and punches really hard in the mid-range, piling on speed effortlessly; it’s one of those cars where a glance at the speedo always reveals a number greater than you might be expecting. The driving mode wheel has a screen in the middle of it, which gives you access to the damper settings to knock the firmness of the suspension back a notch from the mode you’re in (so from Sport to GT; Corsa to Sport etc). This is a good thing, because the MC20 can feel rough and busy when ramped up to Corsa. The aforementioned GT mode is compliant but lacks control, allowing the MC20 to scrape its belly on bumpy roads at speed, with Sport being a better balance – if a little compromised in terms of stiffness. 

Corsa peels back some of the electronic traction and stability systems, while you can hold the ESC button on the touchscreen to turn everything off. As long as you’re prepared for the V6’s sudden burst of torque that loosens the rear wheels, it’s relatively easy to find yourself playing with the throttle, teasing the MC20 into small slides and generally behaving in a way you’d never imagine in a £200,000 supercar. Be more aggressive and the MC20 still isn’t the spiky, punishing character you might expect it to be – it’s controllable and progressive when it breaks away, and the quick steering means that slides are easily caught.

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The brakes are the weakest element of the package. The pedal doesn’t bite reassuringly and needs a firm press to get through the initial dead spot, which is unnerving in a car this quick. Even after extended time in the car, judging your braking and modulating the pedal into corners isn’t easy, and tempers your commitment on a twisting road. This might have something to do with the tough life of this particular press car, as when we tested an MC20 in early 2022 it came with a more solid, weighty bite point near the top of the pedal’s travel that made it easier to judge small braking inputs.

After a fair amount of seat time the MC20 can’t help but get under your skin. There are rough edges, but it’s unique to drive, loaded with character and old school in feel – unashamedly turbocharged, and quite raw at times. It’s why it won our 2022 Car of the Year test. A few years following its launch, however, rivals have caught up and edged ahead. The latest McLaren Artura in particular feels a generation newer, covering ground with more finesse and compliance while being starkly more communicative through its steering – and quicker. Some sports cars nip at the MC20’s heels too, namely the Aston Martin Vantage. It’s a completely different character; more upright, less laser-guided but raucous and massively exciting when you want it to be.

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Prices and rivals

Going on sale at £190k in 2021, Maserati clearly had plenty of confidence in its new supercar challenger at launch. With a few options some examples left the factory at over a quarter of a million pounds, but the market has had its say, and early cars with just a few thousand miles can now be had for £125k. 

As for rivals, Ferrari’s 296 is now only available in drop-top GTS form, while McLaren’s recently-updated Artura is available in both hard-top and Spider forms. The McLaren is far more accomplished to drive, completely alive with feedback yet covering ground more delicately than the MC20. Less wild perhaps, but much more satisfying. 

In terms of sports cars, the Aston Martin Vantage can’t match the MC20 for star quality or Instagram kudos but its rumbling, muscular character is appealing in its own way. It’s a less vivid car to drive but friendly, exploitable and explosively quick, coming in at £165k. Meanwhile the Mercedes-AMG GT63 S E Performance wins the prize for longest name (and the most power in the class – 805bhp), and though it’s mind-blowingly competent and quick across the ground, it’s missing the drama of the MC20, and the more boisterous Aston. 

Maserati MC20 specs