When you think of the ideal big Maserati convertible, a few prerequisites probably come to mind. It has to look good, for starters – and, with hints of MC20 supercar to it, that’s a “tick” on the scoresheet for this sleek new GranCabrio. It should also have an elegant cabin – another checkmark for this newcomer. And then there really ought to be a noisy V8 under the bonnet. Ah. Well. About that…
You see, the decarbonisation of every manufacturer’s fleet applies to marques grand and small, and Maserati is no exception to the rule. Which means that, while there is an internal-combustion model of the new GranCabrio called the Trofeo, the one that is going to hog the headlines is the Folgore.
This is a super-luxurious, ultra-high-performance, open-top grand tourer aiming to drag Maserati into the modern-day electric vehicle (EV) arms race. And, in case you were wondering, Folgore is the Italian word for “Lightning”.
There’s certainly do doubting whether that’s a misnomer or not when you look at the electric GranCabrio’s astonishing on-paper stats.
It has three electric motors, one mounted on the front axle and the other two at the rear, which means the GranCabrio Folgore has four-wheel drive with torque-vectoring at the back. That means it has the ability to modulate power on each of the rear wheels individually, depending on conditions.
The GranCabrio V6 turns in sweetly, feels more balanced and composed – although it has more body roll than the keenest drivers would want – and generally better rewards with a cohesive display that overshadows the rather binary “point and shoot” approach you need to adopt in the Folgore.
But as a car for a driving enthusiast, it falls short. It always feels heavy and inert, a vehicle which masks its clear deficiencies in corner speeds with ballistic electric urge on the straights. It’s a brutally effective tactic, but not a particularly beguiling one.
Full review at the link...
Read Article