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The 3.0-litre V6 diesel engine won’t pin you to your seat while accelerating
Performance – It is quite sad that the Maserati Levante gets only 1 engine option in India, the 3.0-litre V6 diesel. The oil-burner gives out a strong 275 HP of power at 4000 RPM and 600 Nm of torque between 2000-2600 RPM. Performance from this engine isn’t all that bad, but it isn’t very exciting either. The engine has a good surge of power and the torque wave is also punchy but power delivery is linear and the car just won’t give you the feeling of being pushed back in your seat when you pin the throttle. So while 0-100 km/hr comes up in a claimed 6.9 seconds, the car doesn’t “feel” that quick. Also, top speed is limited to 230 km/hr.
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The diesel engine sounds good, which is a pleasant surprise!
Maserati should quickly bring in the powerful petrol engine in India too
Now what I really love about this engine is the rumble that it makes, and thus, I feel this is the best sounding diesel engine in this segment and actually lends a sporty feel to the car. Sport mode definitely makes the Trident SUV more responsive while the ZF 8-speed gearbox complements the engine well and responds to the driver’s inputs quickly. Cruising at around 100 km/hr in top gear, the RPM needle hovers around the 1400 RPM mark. Talking about fuel efficiency, well this is a V6 engine pulling a 2.2 tonne car so efficiency is around 8-9 km/l under regular driving conditions but it improves slightly when you’re out on the highways cruising for long distances.
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This Maserati won’t scrape on any speed breakers on our uneven roads!
Driving Dynamics – The Maserati Levante gets a tight chassis with 50:50 weight distribution which makes it feel very planted and confident around corners even at high speeds. I liked that the steering is a bit heavy and not feather-light but some more feedback would have definitely been sweeter. The Levante feels very planted on the highways at high speeds but due to the high ground clearance of 207 mm, the ride feels a bit floaty. However, you can enable the Sport setting for the dampers to address this issue. Otherwise, the suspension feels well suited to our roads and the 50-profile 19-inch tyres also tackle our potholes really well. The SUV also gets air springs and hence you can increase the ground clearance to 247 mm if you’re off-roading.
