The Levante is an extremely important car for Maserati, much in the same way that the Cayenne was detrimental for the future of Porsche.
This review from Harry Metcalfe takes a practical approach to analyzing the Levante, both on and off-road, while also putting its 3.0-liter V6 turbodiesel to the test.
Even the exterior gets thoroughly put through the grinder, but what we do get to hear a lot about from Metcalfe is the cabin of the Levante, which has plenty of pluses and minuses for a potential buyer to consider before opting against purchasing something from a rival such as Mercedes or Porsche.
After finishing with the aesthetics and practicality segments, we’re taken straight to an off-road test, where the Levante’s Q4 intelligent all-wheel drive system seems to do exceptionally well until the frozen grass gets to be too much for it – the same happens to a Range Rover by the way, so no bad marks for the Maserati.
As for performance, on paper, the diesel-powered Levante will hit 100 km/h (62 mph) in 6.9 seconds, and while that’s not tremendously impressive, the reviewer does state that the engine seems to “wake up at higher revs”, which does sound very Maserati-ish.