Maserati unveils new MC20 super sports car

Maserati has unveiled the MC20, a new super sports car that combines performance, sportiness, and luxury in unique Maserati style.

The MC20 utilises Maserati's own Nettuno engine, a 621bhp twin-turbocharged V6 with peak torque of 730Nm. The engine utilises numerous innovations borrowed from Formula One, including the use of a combustion pre-chamber and laterally-mounted sparkplugs. A twin injection system (both direct and indirect) also aids in lowering emissions and improving fuel economy.

That output is enough to deliver the 1,500kg car a zero to 100km/h acceleration time of under 2.9 seconds and a top speed over 325km/h. The use of the Nettuno engine also signals Maserati's return to producing its own powerplants after a hiatus of more than 20 years.

Five driving modes are available: GT, Wet, Sport, and Corsa, while the last, ESC Off, will deactivate the car's electronic control functions.

The aerodynamics of the MC20 were designed through over 2,000 man-hours in the Dallara Wind Tunnel and more than a thousand Computational Fluid Dynamics simulations to yield a drag coefficient of 0.38Cd.

Butterfly doors also improve the car's ergonomics and enable optimal access to and from the cabin.

In the cabin, two 10-inch screens greet the driver, one for the cockpit and the other for the Maserati Multimedia System.

Maserati has strived to simplify the carbon fibre-clad central console, which only houses the necessary wireless smartphone charger, the driving mode selector, two speed selection buttons, the power window controls, the multimedia system controls, and a handy storage compartment underneath the armrest.

All the other controls are on the steering wheel, with the ignition button on the left and the launch control on the right.

The new MC20 will be connected at all times with the Maserati Connect programme. The full range of services includes connected navigation, and Amazon Alexa, and can also be managed through the Maserati Connect smartphone or smartwatch App.

At launch, the MC20 is available with six new colours which are said to characterise the MC20: Bianco Audace, Giallo Genio, Rosso Vincente, Blu Infinito, Nero Enigma and Grigio Mistero.

Each of them has been conceived, designed and developed exclusively for the MC20 and they all convey important themes including a strong reference to Made in Italy, to Italian identity and to the land, as well as to Maserati tradition.

The MC20 will be built at Maserati's Viale Ciro Menotti plant, where the firm's models have been built for more than 80 years. The new production line, created in the spaces where the GranTurismo and GranCabrio models were assembled until November 2019, is now ready for action in the historic plant. The site also features a new paintshop incorporating innovative, environment-friendly technologies. The Nettuno engine will also be built in Modena, at the newly established Maserati Engine Lab.