Maserati MCPura (2025 – ) review

A Porsche 911 Turbo S is faster, cheaper and more practical while a Ferrari 296 GTB, McLaren Artura or Lamborghini Temerario is faster, more expensive and more hybrid. Sitting pretty in a curious no-man’s-land between them is the Maserati MCPura, seemingly outdated with its non-electrified petrol engine, relatively modest power output and stripped back focus on driving thrills above all else. None of which is especially fashionable. But is very cool. Costs? Pfft. At this level we’re talking a hefty six-figure indulgence bought for no other reason than you want to and you can. Good luck to you if that’s you.

Maserati’s reputation for reliability is as … traditionally Italian as its glamorous image and celebrated racing history. Though things have come on a long way in recent times. While the bloodlines are deliberately blurred the engine and other bits in the MCPura share developmental genes with Alfa Romeo and even Ferrari, while the carbon fibre structure has been built with racing car specialists Dallara. Other bits like infotainment come from the wider Stellantis family and will be familiar from Peugeots, Citroëns, Fiats and others. So, the parts are all proven. We’ll just have to hope they’ve been bolted and wired together properly.

If the MCPura has the speed limit bongs required in modern cars we couldn’t hear them over the howling engine, which feels appropriate to the car’s spirit. Going by the pace of the hotshoe chaperone leading our convoy of test cars these things appear abstract notions on Italian roads anyway. Or do if you are driving a Maserati. If you really want the electronic help it’s there in an optional Driver Assistance Package with automated emergency braking, surround view cameras, blind spot alerts and the like. But in standard trim ‘safety’ relates more to a dedicated Wet mode to tame the response of the engine, soften the suspension and hold you on a shorter electronic leash when the roads are slippery. Which, with this much power, is a good thing. Whisper it, this setting is actually the nicest one for just mooching about as well.

The MCPura is built with a racing car mindset, where weight-saving minimalism and cornering speed are bigger priorities than luxuries and creature comforts. Fast steering, lightning reflexes and stiff suspension all come with the territory, though you can at least mix-and-match on the latter and pick from Soft, Mid, or Hard settings according to the road surface. Sport mode with the Soft suspension was our favourite. Answering criticisms of the MC20 extra Alcantara now covers the doors, dash and steering wheel for a sportier look and more tactile feel. It’s still minimal but now at least looks and feels expensive. Glimpses of bare carbon fibre structure when you open the doors are a reminder of its racing inspiration, though, the way they swing up and forward exactly the kind of kerbside theatre you want when arriving in a supercar like this. They also serve a practical purpose and make it much easier to get in and out, too. Once settled the seats grip you purposefully and you feel suitably cocooned and low to the floor, with a great view forward and over the flowing bodywork to help with placing the car on the road. You can’t see much behind but the camera-powered ‘mirror’ deals with that. You’ll need to travel light if you’re taking the MCPura on trips away, meanwhile, the coupe version having a small shelf behind the seats for stuffing soft bags while a luggage compartment at the rear should just about squeeze a couple of carry-ons. The open top Cielo has even less stash space. If you’re doing the shopping run in either bear in mind the luggage compartment’s proximity to the engine means it gets very hot in there, so any perishable ingredients might well be cooked through by the time you make it home.

While Maserati insists the rebrand to MCPura reflects the extent of the changes over the MC20 … we were struggling to spot them. Sure, the black trim around the snout on the front bumper is different and the rear bumper has also changed but – badge aside – it’s basically the same but with a smarter interior, different wheels and a new range of paint options. Nothing wrong with any of that, given it now feels a little more luxurious and the colour choices prove beyond doubt everything sounds cooler in Italian, given regular silver, black and white come under the much sexier sounding descriptions of Grigio Misterio, Nero Essenza and Bianco Audace. We wonder if ‘Night Interaction’ may have been slightly lost in translation, mind. Moving swiftly on, the laser-cut slashes in the seat upholstery and door trims show off the contrast between Alcantara and coloured fabrics beneath, and help distract from the fact the infotainment screen is basically the same as that used on basic Citroëns, Jeeps, Vauxhalls and the like. It’s also a bit fiddly to use, stuff like heating and ventilation especially difficult to control. Nor is there much in the way of storage space in the cabin. Beyond this there are endless opportunities to customise and configure the way your MCPura looks, as well as the option of a Cielo open-top version with a retractable hardtop if you want all of this with the wind in your hair as well.

Not so long ago the 630 horsepower delivered by the MCPura’s turbocharged 3.0-litre engine would have had jaws dropping. These days it barely flickers an eyebrow, given hybridised rivals like the Ferrari 296 GTB and Lamborghini Temerario are knocking on 1,000 horsepower and even a Porsche 911 Turbo has over 700. Numbers don’t tell the full story about how this kind of power feels, though. Indulge us one more stat with the fact the Maserati is lighter than the above rivals by as much as a couple of hundred kilos. Which matters a lot more in the corners and shows in its eagerness to change direction. If not as instantaneous as the electrically-boosted acceleration of some rivals the rising crescendo of sound and speed is perhaps more intense in the Maserati, even if the numbers don’t necessarily show it. Overall, the driving style is more like a luxuriously trimmed and really, really powerful Lotus Emira than a half-fat Ferrari. Which, for the keen drivers it’s aimed at, is absolutely a compliment.