Maserati Grecale: Elevating the grand touring SUV experience

For many, an automobile is just a means of transportation. For a selected few, it’s an expression.

The Grecale from Maserati is the latter. Yes, it’s an SUV. But Maserati made it their way, pursuing to elevate the experience by delivering something that isn’t just an SUV, but a motor car that makes you pause, appreciate, and then urges you to take it out for a drive.

Sculpted Flair

Perhaps it’s the design of the Grecale. Maserati, specifically their design bureau Centro Stile, had a challenge on their hands. How do you honor the heritage and DNA of Maserati whilst looking to the future?

The answer is simple: you create something timeless.

The designers had to look towards the history of Maserati. This is a company with many grand tourers, sports cars, and race cars. The trident badge was seen carving through the Riviera, blasting through the countryside in the Mille Miglia, and raced flat out in the golden age of Formula One in the hands of drivers named Moss, Ascari, and Fangio.

That’s why you see elements in the car that are strikingly historic from the gaping front intake, the long hood, the stance, and the subtle use of curves. They went artistic, not geometric, and it’s all classic Maserati regardless of which variant you’re looking at be it the GT, the Modena, the Trofeo, and the Folgore.

Then you look closer at the metallic sculpture, and there are details of performance like the large wheels and big brakes. The intake, while stylistic, is there to serve a purpose. The wheel arches bulge ever so slightly to give a wide and low stance, even while the clearance essential for an SUV is ever-present.

Perhaps the biggest clue is the hint of blue on the Maserati trident. The reason for that will become apparent when we take a look at what’s under the hood. But that will have to wait.

Artful Interior

The true surprise is what awaits when you open the door because what Maserati wanted to create was an experience that isn’t so much walking into a car as it is walking into a posh home.

Everything has been designed to impress. Every surface you look at conveys a sense of craftsmanship. The texture on the steering, the polished state of the trim surfaces, and the quality of the stitch work on the leather let you know you’re inside something special.

And it matters not where you sit; anywhere you go inside the Grecale, you’re in for a treat. The rear seats, you’ve got class-leading legroom while you let your chauffeur handle the driving for you

Yes, the curves of the body are fantastic, but it’s what is inside that truly counts with the Grecale.

The Connected Experience

The Grecale flexes on technology. Maserati has transformed the driving experience to offer the very best in connectivity available today.

There are two focal points in the Grecale, and the first is the full digital instrument cluster. No physical gauges, just a beautifully crisp screen that has been cut to conform to the shape of the receptacle. That means no edges; just curves.

Then there’s the dual angled screen that is at the center of the dashboard, bisected by the control buttons for the drive system. The bottom screen takes care of the many vehicle functions like automatic climate control, parking sensors, lights, and the like.

The upper screen takes care of your connectivity and entertainment with wireless Apple Carplay and wireless Android Auto. And when you turn up the volume, you can enjoy the symphony afforded you by Sonus Faber.

The Dynamic Drive

The true entertainment with the Maserati Grecale, however, comes from the driving and the sound. In the Grecale GT, you’ve got a 300 PS 2.0L turbo mild hybrid and an 8-speed all-wheel drive automatic. In the Grecale Modena, it’s got the same but gets an extra 30 PS of power.

If you want the full experience, you can opt for the Grecale Trofeo which gets a 3.0L Nettuno twin-turbo V6 that pumps out 530 PS through an 8-speed transmission and all-wheel drive. That one can sprint from a standstill to 100 km/h in just 3.8 seconds.

There is also one more: the Grecale variant called Folgore… that’s Italian for lightning. And yes, it’s pure electric. It’s coming soon, and it’ll revolutionize what a Maserati can be.

If you enjoy driving long distances in a vehicle that transforms the journey into an experience, then the Grecale could be the perfect fit for you. Modena created a timeless design, a carefully crafted interior with the next generation in technology, and a driving experience uniquely Maserati.