by Wallace Wyss –

I remember back in the Fifties when a Maserati race car was considered equal to Ferrari. But Maserati fell upon hard times when Ferrari kept chugging along. At least when DeTomaso owned it, they came out with two mid-engined cars the Bora and the Merak.

This new model might be thought of as a competitor to Ferrari’s V8 model and the price might be $200K which is right in there with Ferrari.

The Maserati MC20, similar to the new mid-engined Corvette, will come in coupe and convertible body styles but beating the Corvette timetable it will come in both electric and internal-combustion versions.

The car is relatively free of all the gee-gaw design cues that supercar owners want to show off their muscles with–no overly aggressive wings and air intakes like some supercars that make them look like angry insects.

This car is just the starting shot with plans for 10 new or heavily revised models by 2023—this one a 2021.

The “20” marks the year and the “MC” stands for “Maserati Corse” (translation: “Maserati Racing”), referencing both that it is built around a central carbon-fiber tub created working with a great engineer, Dallara, whose firm produces the tub for the Alfa Romeo 4C and Bugatti Chiron.

What’s more, Maserati claims the internal-combustion version of the coupe will weigh just 3240 pounds.The internal combustion engine version will be first on the market. Like the Merak it has a V6 but it’s an all new engine. According to Car & Driver the 90-degree V-6 engine, it’s named “Nettuno” (Italian for “Neptune”).

This twin-turbocharged 3.0-liter has oversquare cylinder dimensions—meaning the bore is larger than the stroke. The DOHC heads have a total of 24 valves, port and direct fuel injection, and two spark plugs for each cylinder.

One of those plugs incorporates a passive pre-chamber ignition system. The air-fuel mixture is forced into this antechamber during the piston’s compression stroke, and primary ignition takes place inside it. The flame then propagates in a star-shaped pattern from jets on the pre-chamber.

Maserati engineers say this combustion process—used on its own, not at all, or in combination with conventional combustion-chamber spark-plug ignition—makes for a more efficient engine. All this technology, Car & Driver says, is from Formula 1 design.

The V6 is rated at 621 horsepower at 7500 rpm, 207.6 horsepower per liter. It boasts 538 pound-feet of torque available from 3,000 to 5,500 rpm. The Nettuno is redlined at 8000 rpm and is mated to an eight-speed dual-clutch transaxle featuring a limited-slip differential.

The 0-60 mph times is less than 3.0 seconds and a top speed is quoted at 202 mph. They are fairly mum on the EV version other than it will power all four wheels and be quicker off the line than the gas car. The company is aiming for a range of more than 235 miles before you need to plug it in.

The site called The Drive said this about the suspension: “To make its supercar handle accordingly, Maserati went for a short spindle semi-virtual double-wishbone suspension layout both front and rear. That means the system comes with two bottom links, and just one at the top. Active shock absorbers, standard anti-roll bars and an optional front lift system complete the package, while behind the DCT, the MC20 features either a mechanical differential, or an available electric one.”

The Drive added this about the brakes: “The brake rotors and their colorful monoblock calipers come from Brembo, which supplies Maserati with 390 x 36 mm CCM (carbon ceramic) discs with six-piston calipers for the front axle, and 360 x 28 mm discs with four-piston calipers for the rear of the MC20.”

The head designer credited is design boss Klaus Busse, who didn’t want wings and huge scoops. Air enters the engine compartment through a high-mounted inlet behind the cabin. The polycarbonate engine cover incorporates louvers to help release hot air.

DESIGN COMMENTARY

FRONT Very traditional Maserati oval grille. I think if they wanted to look less Supercar they shouldn’t have the front scoops be black, instead make them body color. This making trim black goes back to the Vietnam war when they made camera cases black but it’s not necessary. Chrome or polished alloy looks better.

SIDE Same criticism, don’t need black. Every tinhorn Japanese rice rocket has black this and black that. Polished metal looks classier. Especially bad is the lead into the side air intake. And even worse is the black section on the lower part that looks like a 6″ wide five foot long board painted black.

REAR Taillights are tasteful. Slots cut in rear window are too industrial, like some vent in an industrial machine. The upswept black section again says ‘race cars have black, we will too’ when the public using this as a touring car wants a body that looks complete for the road not one that has makeshift race equipment jammed on…though if all that busy stuff in black at the back is actually used for downforce I can forgive it.

The car has a completely encased floor that raises in the center to accelerate airflow, aided by vortex generators at the front and a large diffuser at the rear. Overall drag is drag is 0.38 Cx. with channels of different depths and vertical fins.

IN SUM It has a good start, being mid-engined, and having a V6 that might be better in gas mileage than a V8. But side and rear views are not breaking any new ground.

The electric option will “save it” if internal combustion cars are outlawed from certain areas by zealot ecologists electing officials who will pass such laws.

Let us know what you think in the Comments.

 

THE AUTHOR: Wallace Wyss is the author of 18 car books and co-host of Autotalk, a weekly show broadcast from KUCR FM Riverside. He has been a guest speaker on design evolution at the Art Center School in Pasadena.