2019 Maserati Levante Trofeo

Maserati have endowed their Levante SUV with the power it deserved from the beginning, bumping it up to a new peak of 590 horsepower. That’s an increase of 160 horsepower thanks to a twin turbocharged 3.8L V8 engine that replaces in the V6 unit found in the regular old Levante. Peak torque has also risen by a healthy 150 Nm to a new peak of 730 Nm, certainly a nice upgrade that places the Levante Trofeo in the same league as the Mercedes-AMG GLE63 S, Audi RSQ8, Lamborghini Urus, Porsche Cayenne Turbo, BMW X5 M and Jaguar F-Pace SVR.

With so much competition in the super SUV market, Maserati needs to lure buyers with exotic good looks and the promise of an exciting driving experience. On the looks side of things, the Levante features an aggressive front end with a large grille that houses the iconic trident logo. The wheels are big enough to fill the arches well, but the rear end disappoints with styling that is rather dull when compared to the front. On the excitement front, a mechanical LSD and torque vectoring are both here to help make good use of that power, whilst the Q4 four-wheel-drive layout sends power to the rear wheels with the fronts only utilised when slip is detected. So far so good. Although SUV’s will always have some shortfalls with handling, they have come a long way in the last 2 decades and are here stay with performance SUV’s enjoying good sales success across many different brands.