We Drove The Maserati GranTurismo And It Answered A Question We’d Been Asking For Years

The Maserati GranTurismo answered a question I’d been asking for years. Not whether Maserati could still build a beautiful luxury coupe, because that’s something the company has been doing for most of its existence. Not whether it could still build a compelling sports car or an authentic grand tourer either, because those have never really been areas of concern. The question was whether Maserati could finally build a car where the technology felt every bit as good as the styling, the performance and the sense of occasion.

Maserati has occupied a slightly frustrating position for a long time. The cars have always had character, which is more than can be said for a surprising number of modern performance cars. They looked special, they sounded special, and they felt different in a world increasingly populated by vehicles designed to offend absolutely nobody. Yet there was usually one caveat lurking somewhere in the ownership experience, and it almost always involved a screen.

Maserati GranTurismo finally feels complete

I spent several days with the Maserati GranTurismo Trofeo around Goodwood Revival, which is arguably the ideal place to understand what this car is actually trying to be. The roads around Goodwood aren’t racetracks. They’re narrow, often damp, occasionally crowded, and lined with enough expensive machinery to make even a supercar seem relatively common. It’s exactly the sort of environment where a grand tourer earns its reputation.

The first thing that struck me was just how good the car looks in the real world. Modern performance cars often feel as though they’ve been designed by committee, with every surface fighting for attention and every panel carrying another vent, crease or aerodynamic flourish. The Maserati GranTurismo feels refreshingly confident by comparison. The proportions do most of the work, with a long bonnet, a low roofline and rear haunches that give the car presence without needing to shout about it.

What surprised me was how many people reacted to it. Not in the usual supercar way where phones immediately appear and social media content begins being created on the spot. Instead, people simply looked at it. They stopped, took a second glance and seemed genuinely curious. That sounds like a small thing, but in an era where most premium cars look increasingly similar, it’s actually quite rare.

The bigger surprise came once I climbed inside. Historically, getting into a Maserati often felt like arriving at a beautiful boutique hotel only to discover somebody had forgotten to renovate the reception desk. Everything around you felt expensive and carefully considered, but the technology never quite matched the rest of the experience. In the Maserati GranTurismo, that disconnect has finally disappeared.

The 12.3-inch infotainment display is genuinely good. Not good by Maserati standards. Good by modern luxury car standards. Wireless Apple CarPlay connected instantly every time I used it, the graphics are sharp, the menus are intuitive and the system responds quickly to inputs. Those are all things buyers spending nearly half a million dollars should reasonably expect, but they’re also things Maserati hasn’t always delivered consistently.

The rest of the cabin backs up that first impression. The leather feels appropriately expensive, the Sonus Faber audio system is excellent, and the huge aluminium paddle shifters remain some of the best in the business. Even small details feel more polished than previous Maseratis. There’s a cohesiveness to the interior that simply wasn’t there before, and for the first time in a long time I never found myself making excuses for anything.

More importantly, the technology doesn’t dominate the experience. Some modern luxury cars feel like rolling consumer electronics products. The Maserati GranTurismo still feels like a car first and a device second, which is exactly how it should be.

The engine might also be the biggest surprise for traditional Maserati enthusiasts. The old naturally aspirated V8 remains one of the great automotive soundtracks, and there was always going to be resistance when Maserati replaced it with a twin-turbocharged V6. After spending proper time with the Trofeo, however, it’s difficult to argue that the new powertrain is anything other than impressive.

The 3.0-litre Nettuno V6 produces 405kW and 650Nm, enough to launch the Maserati GranTurismo to 100km/h in just 3.5 seconds. Those numbers tell part of the story, but what really stands out is the way the engine delivers its performance. It feels eager and responsive, with a genuine sense of urgency once the boost arrives. While the soundtrack lacks some of the operatic drama of the old V8, it still sounds unmistakably Italian and never feels generic.

When the weather turns nasty

The unexpected star of my time with the car wasn’t the engine, though. It was the all-wheel-drive system. Goodwood Revival provided exactly the sort of weather Britain specialises in, with cold mornings, damp roads and frequent rain showers turning many of the surrounding roads into a test of confidence rather than outright pace.

Under those conditions, the Maserati GranTurismo was exceptional. There is an enormous amount of grip available, but more importantly there is a sense of predictability to everything the car does. The chassis communicates clearly, the steering remains accurate and the all-wheel-drive system works quietly in the background without ever feeling intrusive. You simply point the car where you want it to go, apply the throttle and trust the engineering beneath you.

That confidence fundamentally changes how you use the performance. Plenty of powerful sports cars can feel intimidating when the weather deteriorates. The Maserati GranTurismo never does. Even with 405kW on tap, it remains approachable and surprisingly forgiving, which feels entirely appropriate for a car intended to cover serious distances rather than spend every weekend chasing lap records.

The adaptive air suspension deserves credit here too. Despite weighing close to 1.8 tonnes, the car disguises its size remarkably well. Body control is excellent, yet ride quality remains comfortable enough that long journeys never become tiring. That’s the balancing act every grand tourer attempts and very few truly master.

A Porsche 911 is still the sharper driver’s car. A Bentley Continental GT offers a little more outright luxury. A BMW 8 Series makes a stronger rational argument. The Maserati GranTurismo sits somewhere between all three, blending sports car performance, luxury coupe comfort and grand tourer refinement into something that feels distinctly Italian.

There is, however, one question that I won’t be able to answer for another 10 or 15 years. Maserati’s history is littered with cars that were fantastic to drive when new but far less convincing once the warranty expired, and that’s a large part of why so many older models can now be bought for surprisingly little money. Reliability, repair costs and depreciation haven’t always been the brand’s strongest attributes, which makes the long-term future of the Maserati GranTurismo particularly interesting. Right now, it feels like one of the most complete cars Maserati has built in years, blending genuine sports car performance, luxury coupe comfort and grand tourer refinement into a package that’s not difficult to admire. Whether these cars are still being driven, cherished and sought after in 15 years’ time, or whether they’re sitting at the bottom of the depreciation curve alongside some of their predecessors, is something only time will tell. For now, though, the Maserati GranTurismo is a superb car, and I’ll be watching its future with bated breath.

Which brings me back to the original question. For years, every Maserati came with an unspoken disclaimer. The styling was wonderful. The engines had character. The driving experience felt special. Yet there was usually one area where rivals from Germany seemed to have a clear advantage.

After spending time with the Maserati GranTurismo Trofeo around Goodwood, I don’t think that disclaimer exists anymore. The performance is there. The comfort is there. The sense of occasion remains very much intact. For the first time in years, the technology is there too.

The Maserati GranTurismo didn’t answer the question through some revolutionary breakthrough or clever gimmick. Instead, it answered it by finally feeling like a complete car. And for a brand that’s spent years building machines full of character and compromise in equal measure, that might be the most impressive achievement of all.