New Maserati GranTurismo revealed

The reveal of the all-new 2023 Maserati GranTurismo has been one of the most anticipated events on this year’s automotive calendar, and the trident brand hasn’t disappointed with the world debut of its new-generation coupe today in Italy.

Scheduled to land Down Under in the final quarter of 2023, the new Maserati GranTurismo has almost nothing in common with its long-serving predecessor in terms of its architecture and mechanicals, with only the sleek two-door silhouette and nameplate being retained.

Lurking beneath the modernised skin is a bespoke new platform, a new force-fed V6 powertrain derived from the Maserati MC20 supercar and an all-new tri-motor battery-electric powertrain in the flagship Folgore variant that will elevated the GranTurismo from a quick and lavish GT car to genuine four-seat ‘hypercar’.

With so many developments in so many areas, we thought we’d break each key area down and elaborate on them one-by-one for what could end up being one of the biggest glow-ups of the year.

The design of the new GranTurismo is unmistakably Maserati with most of the last-generation’s key proportions being retained, albeit with the finer details being modernised and brought into line with the rest of the Italian brand’s current product range.

As such, the new model is more curvaceous than its predecessor and sits lower to the ground with a lower roofline and more pronounced features on virtually every panel.

The front-end is defined by its more pointed nosecone and oval-shaped grille, which is underlined by a far more pronounced front splitter that – on the internal combustion version at least – feeds into a pair of secondary intakes at the front of the wheel-arches.

The rear bumper meanwhile looks to have been widened and flattened, and features sleek new LED tail-light clusters, a more pronounced rear diffuser and bolder exhaust bezels.

Continuing the old model’s legacy, the new GranTurismo will be one of the bigger premium coupes on the market with an overall length of 4966mm, width of 1957mm and roof height of 1353mm, with the whole package riding on a 2929mm wheelbase.

That expansive wheelbase is a key contributor to ensuring the new model offers genuine room and comfort for up to four people as opposed to being just another 2+2.

To this end, Maserati global product manager Massimo Capaldi said the brand created an equation to help pin down and define the identity of the new GranTurismo: Performance + (Comfort x4).

“In creating the new GranTurismo, we know we created a new segment,” he said.

While the finer details of the interior remain obscured, we’ve actually already seen just how much room there is within the cabin of the GranTurismo via a rather revealing Folgore teaser video showing two brand executives ferrying comedian Sebastian Maniscalco around the Californian coastline.

The new 2023 Maserati GranTurismo will be offered globally in three different guises – Modena, Trofeo and Folgore – and with two distinct powertrains; namely a 3.0-litre twin-turbo petrol V6 and a three-motor battery-electric set-up.

Both the Modena and Trofeo are fitted with the force-fed six, however, their respective power and torque figures vary due to a pair of variant-specific tunes.

Under the bonnet of the Modena, the ‘Nettuno’ mill churns out 365kW/600Nm and drives all four wheels via an eight-speed automatic transmission, resulting in a claimed 0-100km/h time of 3.9 seconds and a top speed of 302km/h.

The more intense Trofeo predictably ups the ante in every respect with peak outputs of 410kW/650Nm yielding a 3.5sec 0-100km/h sprint and 320km/h v-max.

All of these numbers pale in comparison with the flagship Folgore, however, with its tri-motor EV drive system slamming down up to 610kW of power and 800Nm of torque.

The resulting performance figures largely speak for themselves; 0-100km/h is dispatched in a rapid 2.7sec, 0-200km/h is done and dusted in 8.8sec and the top-speed is 320km/h.

“Indeed, Folgore is the ‘Maserati of electric’ and we deemed that the world needs a Maserati in level of experience in the electric and moreover in the GranTurismo world,” global head of e-mobility and connectivity Ana Paola Reginatto said.

“Folgore is Maserati when it comes to performance.”

Feeding the trio of electric motors – one for each rear wheel and one for the front axle – is a big 92.5hWh lithium-ion battery pack that gifts the Folgore an effective WLTP driving range of up to 450km.

While that might not sound like all that much, it’s actually 45km further than a Porsche Taycan Turbo S will manage and is backed up by 270kW DC fast-charging capability that will add 100km of WLTP range in just five minutes and charge the battery from 20-80 per cent in 18 minutes, claims Maserati.

Determined to instil the GranTurismo with maximum performance and no compromises, all forms of hybrid technology – mild, parallel and plug-in – were shunned from the project at a very early stage, with engineers deeming them not fit for purpose.

“The high-voltage hybrids actually deliver not the best solution, but it’s an added compromise because the powertrain that you have to have adds a lot of weight but it gives you not the full electrified feeling or experience,” said Maserati high-performance EV chief engineer Andrew Baccino.

“On the other hand, low-voltage options such as the 48V hybrids actually are adding some weight without any substantial improvement on the [fuel] consumption side.

“That means we push it more on the ICE versions on having the lightest possible vehicle and to have the best possible powertrain in terms of efficiency.”

It seems the work paid off because both the Modena and Trofeo tip the scales at a reasonable 1795kg and emit 230g of CO2 per kilometre.

Naturally, the V6s can’t compete with the zero-emissions Folgore in terms of CO2 output, but they do weigh nearly half a tonne less (1795kg versus 2260kg).

Underpinning all versions of the 2023 Maserati GranTurismo is a new bespoke architecture designed from a “white sheet of paper” to accommodate both internal combustion and battery-electric powertrains.

Modular in design, the new platform has been designed, developed and produced totally in-house by Maserati and will underpin other new models going forward.

“We basically created GranTurismo not exploring any other solution we had in Stellantis,” Capaldi said.

“So in this case in particular, we are starting from a white sheet – this is a completely new car that will start his legacy for the future.

“This is something completely new and something we will exploit in the future.”

Capaldi added that without the ‘white sheet’ approach, it wouldn’t have been possible to develop and offer the two-pronged – internal combustion and EV – powertrain line-up, let alone have them deliver the intended driving experiences.

All new-generation GranTurismos ride on height-adjustable adaptive air suspension as standard, with the package suspended up front by a double-wishbone arrangement and at rear by a multi-link set-up.

Roughly 65 per cent of the car’s shell is made of aluminium, with the remaining 35 per cent accounted for by magnesium and high-performance steel.

Rolling stock on the Modena comes in the form of staggered 20-inch front and 21-inch alloy wheels, while the Trofeo and Folgore again step things up with forged hoops, the latter of which features an exclusive aero design.

We’ve already mentioned the first examples of the new Maserati GranTurismo will be arriving in Aussie showrooms in the final quarter of next year, but it remains to be seen which versions will lead the charge.

Speaking at the global reveal, Maserati APAC region managing director Takayuki Kimura confirmed both the internal combustion duo and Folgore will be offered in our market but stopped short of confirming any variant-specific timing or pricing details

“Final timing might be slightly different – I cannot confirm that today,” he said.

“I cannot disclose any price-related information … including the relationship between ICE and Folgore.”

Using the current marketplace as a rough guide, we expect the new GranTurismo to start somewhere around the $350,000 mark, which would place it roughly on par with the drastically more powerful but less exotic BMW M8 and smaller Porsche 911 Carrera 4 GTS.

The Folgore will undoubtedly be the most expensive version and could quite easily encroach on the half-million-dollar mark, but there are no direct competitors to reference it against.

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