It’s the Maserati Levante Trofeo, unveiled at the New York Auto Show, and, like that trident on its nose, it’s as sharp as anything in the class thanks to a twin-turbo 3.8-litre V8 built for it by Ferrari at Maranello.
Maserati has used this powerplant – one of the family of engines that also powers V8 Ferraris like the 488 GTB – already, under the nose of the flagship Quattroporte GTS. But for the new top-of-the-range Levante Trofeo it gets even more grunt: 582bhp in fact (that’s 60 more horses than the Quattroporte) and a dollop more torque too, peaking at 538lb ft.
Mated to the Levante’s Q4 intelligent all-wheel drive system, the result is the new Trofeo sits half a rung above the normal fast SUV suspects and almost in line with the “super-SUV” from down the autostrada, the Lamborghini Urus.
Claimed performance? Levante Trofeo 187mph and 0-62mph in 3.9 seconds; Lambo Urus 190mph and 0-62mph in 3.6 seconds. Should be quite a drag race then! And yes, the Maserati does come with Launch Control.