1,500kg of kerb weight, 3.0-litre turbocharged V6, 0 – 100km/h in 2.9 seconds, and a top speed of 325km/h. These are the highlights of the new Maserati MC20.
Maserati has officially taken the wraps off its highly specialised MC20 supercar, which is designed with the sole intention of serving as a high-performance driver’s car both on the road and the track.
Based on a new carbon fibre chassis, the body of the car was designed in-house by Maserati at its Centro Stile facility in Turin. It was further fine-tuned at the Dallara Wind Tunnel. Conceptually, the MC20 is designed in two parts, The top portion of the body is designed with a focus on style, while the lower portion of the car is designed with a focus on technicalities, such as cooling, directing the air around the car, and aerodynamics. There are no over the top design cues in the interest of lowering drag – the only element is the rear spoiler, which is there to provide downforce at high speeds to counter the lift generated by the floor, designed to let air pass as smoothly and quickly from underneath the car. Other functional design cues include air ducts in the bonnet to cool the engine’s air intakes, air ducts in the front bumper to ensure efficient air distribution to the radiators and manage airflow at the top and floor of the car. The door sill ducts meanwhile channel air to the engine bay for cooling, without increasing resistance. As you can sense, the new MC20 is an extremely technical car.
The engine is a beautiful new unit, which has been completely designed in house by Maserati and incorporates engine tech from Formula 1. The V6 is called 'Nettuno' by Maserati, it is protected by an international patent and is the most powerful six-cylinder production engine at the moment. The engine has two combustion chambers – a pre-combustion chamber in each cylinder to better manage combustion energy from the air/fuel mixture ignited within. This is further enhanced by a dual fuel injection (direct and indirect injection) system, which helps reduce low RPM NVH and emissions and improves fuel efficiency. The end result is 621bhp @ 7,500rpm and 730Nm @ 3,000rpm. This gives the engine a power output of 207bhp per litre. The end result is a 0 – 100km/h time of 2.9 seconds and a top speed of 325km/h. The engine is mated to an eight-speed automatic gearbox, with two overdrive speeds being the highest gears, of course.
The powertrain has four drive modes – Wet, GT, Sport, and Corsa. The car starts as default in GT mode. There are three suspension modes facilitated by active shock absorbers. The suspension setup includes a short spindle semi-virtual double-wishbone setup for both front and rear. The semi-virtual setup allows for a flat contact patch while cornering for maximum grip and control around corners at high speeds. The front axle can be raised by 50mm at speeds of up to 40km/h.
Since this is a focussed driver’s car, there aren’t many equipment highlights here apart from a virtual rearview mirror, which eliminates all blind spots via a rearview camera. There’s also a new infotainment system from Maserati, with connected car tech. It is hooked up to a six-speaker sound system, while a 12-speaker Sonus Faber optional sound system is also on offer.
The MC20 is a spiritual successor to the legendary Maserati MC12. Production for the MC20 has begun at the company’s facility in Modena, and deliveries will begin later in the year.
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