In a car that Maserati says weighs 1,500kg, it’s enough for proper supercar performance. The MC20, it is claimed, will do 0-62mph in 2.9 seconds and 0-124mph 8.8 seconds, with a top end that extends to 202mph. It is McLaren-esque performance, somewhere between the Sports and Super series models which puts it hard up against the McLaren GT, in any on-paper comparison at least.
Power-weight ratios are the same for both the MC20 and Macca GT at around 2.33kg per horsepower. On official figures, in any drag race the MC20 would be a couple of tenths quicker, both to 62mph and 124mph.
The lift-up doors ensure a McLaren flavour in the design but the MC20 succeeds in having its own strong identity. First impressions say it comes across as the best looking, most properly sporting Maserati for eons. Its ancestor the Merak was a 2+2 designed by Giugiaro; this is a strict two-seater designed in-house by Maserati Style Centre.
It’s a smooth shape, chunky rather than delicate in the Maserati manner, but with notable restraint in the bulges, scoops and wings department – the rear spoiler is so discreet it’s easy to miss – and enough Maserati character and design cues to set it apart. There’s some carbon-fibre in the structure, but Maserati doesn’t say how much and where, while there are big claims for aero efficiency, even though the Cd of 0.38 doesn’t sound great.