Simply Abu Dhabi XXIV

After finding out what it’s like on-road, the course moved to the hills and muddy terrain where the Levanté’s hill descent control was put through its paces, as was its impressive 250mm ground clearance, 50mm wading depth, 20 degree breakover angle, 22 degree approach angle and 26 degree departure angle. With the suspension in thehighest setting, itmade shortworkof climbingover ruts and large rocks, cresting small rises and climbing and descending steep, loosely covered, low grip hills. It was at this point when thinking back to its on-track performance, clocking 200km/h heading into a heavy braking zone and topping 220km/h on the straight with ease, as well as the design practicality of being a five-door estate, that I properly appreciated the incredible versatility a high performance SUV like the Levanté provides. Maserati has ruled out aV8 option– for now, the Ferrari-designed andmanufactured 3-litre, twin-turbo V6 from Ghibli and Quattroporte is more than up to the task, developing 430bhp at 5,750rpm and 580Nm of torque from 1,750rpm. It’s potent enough tomove this 2,109kg SUV from0-100km/h in just 5.2 seconds and on to a top speed of 264km/h. Then there’s the exhaust note which ranges frommild in most situations to fruity for a family wagon when you place it in Sport mode – but as it’s not the V8, it lacks the aural punch of Maserati’s saloon and coupé ranges. Unfortunately for us, as the Middle East doesn’t get the diesel, it’s the oil-burner which has the raunchiest engine note of the lot, good enough for a second take as I heard it burble down the pit lane of the Varano de’ Melagari race circuit. Helped along by an eight-speed automatic transmission with super smooth shifts, inmost cases it sends 100 percent of the power to the rear wheels only – but in less than 50 milliseconds, the Q4 all-wheel drive system can split it 50:50 front to rear when traction is needed over the nose. Additionally there’s also a limited slip diff to guarantee traction via the oldmechanical way, and it features air suspensionwith six ride height levels for off-roading. The five settings are essential as when it’s set in its lowest position, the Levanté has the lowest ride height and the most aerodynamic profile in its class, which is perfect for the track work we did. While body roll was minimal, there was a bit of wind noise from around the windows at speed, though in anything other than flat out situations you’d be hard pressed to notice it. The wind noise is likely due to the Levanté carrying over Maserati’s pillarless doors fromthe saloons, which admittedly look great and is a first for a car of this size. The nose, however, is pureMaserati and echoes the future look that’s now coming from Maserati’s Centro Stile design studios in Turin that we will next see on the Alfieri sports coupé. The concave grille is the focal point and the flow of the front fenders, the squinting Bi-Xenon and LEDheadlights and the Trident badge all help to accentuate it. If you like leather and wood then you’ll love the interior as it is everywhere from the seats to the door trim and dash which is dominated by an 8.4 inch touchscreen panel which recognises drag, scroll, swipe and rotate gestures just like a tablet and also includes Bluetooth and navigation. The only connection between the Levanté and the Jeep Grand Cherokee is some interior switchgear, which is unfortunate – butMaserati is certainly not the only car company to borrow components from the head office’s volume car parts bin. The centre console houses the drive mode selector, a rotary knob and the air suspension switches, while the classicMaserati analogue clock remains at the top of the dash. Standard equipment comprises cruise control, hill descent control, rain sensingwipers, keyless entry and a power lift tailgatewith a kick sensor, while options fitted to our test car included a full panoramic electric sunroof and the 1,280-watt Bowers andWilkins surround systemwith 17 speakers. Priced from AED329,000, there’s also the optioned up Levanté S which starts at AED369,000; when fitted with the towing pack, it’s capable of lugging around 2700kg on board.