Written by Murray Scullion Updated: 1 November 2024

Overview

Modena’s second most popular car manufacturer has returned to supercar making after a significant absence with this, the Maserati MC20. The MC20 is an outrageous 621hp carbonfibre-clad mid-engined supercar aimed at people who want something visually stunning, bonkers fast and super rare.

Rivals include the equally as extreme and expensive Ferrari F8 Tributo, Lamborghini Huracan, and Audi R8. The design is subjective, but one thing we can all agree on is that the silhouette is classic supercar. Low, wide and with real presence. It certainly gets people looking at you when you’re driving it.

Would we choose one over its rivals? Keep reading to find out.

What’s it like inside?

Open the butterfly doors (they open in a similar way to a butterfly flaps its wings) and you’ll discover tight is probably the best way to describe it. It’s a strict two seater with no room behind the seats. 

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The mid-engine layout means there are two boots, but despite this, there really isn’t much room for luggage. Up front there’s a 100 litres worth of space and in the rear there’s a really tiny 50-litre boot.

The seats themselves are carbonfibre-backed and come with electric adjustment. They’re racecar-like, in that they’re set very low and are narrow. There’s enough bolstering to ensure you’re not bruised by the car’s harsh ride, but large people will find them tricky to get in and out of.

The racecar-like theme continues throughout the rest of the cabin, in that it’s pretty basic. You get a driver’s display behind the carbonfibre steering wheel, a 10.25-inch infotainment screen and good dashing of alcantara trim. 

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Beyond that it’s pretty bare and certainly not as luxuriously appointed as a Ferrari F8 Tributo. On our test car we felt and heard a fair few rattles and squeaks coming from the interior too.

What’s it like to drive?

Seriously fast. The 621hp 3.0-litre twin turbo V6 races its way to 62mph in less than three seconds. Top speed is 202 mph. The way it gets there is gruff and completely different from the operatic way other supercars, such as the Ferrari F8 Tributo or Audi R8, go about gathering speed.

The MC20 might rev all the way to 8,000rpm but it’s not linear and screaming. It’s boosty and whooshy with wastegate noises echoing throughout the cabin. There’s a never ending well of torque to mine for but you’ll need to wait for the turbos to kick in. This makes it a bit spiky to drive; you’ll have to gauge how close you are to the turbos’ peak power kicking in before booting the accelerator pedal as power is sent to just the rear wheels.

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Subjectively purists might prefer the more traditional, linear engines offered up by its rivals, but objectively it fires the MC20 out of corners just as effectively as any of them.

The eight speed automatic gearbox can be left to its own devices, but you’ll want to turn the drive modes to one of the car’s more aggressive settings. This turns everything up and the gear selection (done via paddles behind the steering wheel) becomes razor sharp.

The steering is one of the quickest on the market. Only a little bit of wheel turning gets quite a lot of lock, meaning your inputs can be super precise, which is helpful at high speeds. 

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It’s not exactly a comfortable car to drive. You sit very low to the ground and there’s loads of road noise due to very little sound deadening. 

There’s a weird ending procedure too. Instead of simply turning the engine off and putting the handbrake on, you need to pull both gearbox paddles to get it into neutral, pull the handbrake button, turn the engine off, then turn the engine off again.

What models and trims are available?

Technically there’s only one Maserati MC20. But there are a host of options, such as carbon fibre packs, to make your MC20 a bit more personalised.

And if you’d like to make your MC20 unique, Maserati’s personalisation scheme called Fuoriserie can help. There’s virtually no limits here, but it costs tens of thousands of pounds.