Here’s everything I dislike about the Maserati Levante, in ten minutes.
*Disclaimer — Everything written below is solely based on my opinions. It is not important to go by my words and you can buy a Levante at your own discretion.*
What comes to your mind when you hear the word, “Maserati”? Probably a brand that you normally associate with typical Italian fine crafted luxury, or a rich racing heritage, isn’t it?
What it is? An overpriced, ordinary looking crossover with a trident shaped badge upfront. What it’s not? Very good. Here’s why.
Maserati was once a brand that used to make the finest quality of vehicles a couple of decades ago. Of course there were bigger domestic players like Ferrari and Lamborghini back in those days, however, Maserati focused on delivering a healthy mix of performance, quality and everyday usability while the Ferraris and Lamborghinis of the world were slightly raw in nature
Fast forward to 2016, Maserati revealed their first SUV to the world, called the Levante. Only about minute ago, I mentioned that Maserati were known for making sports cars to cater to the niches. Why did they feel the urge to join the luxury SUV bandwagon? Here are a few reasons why they decided to blend in with the luxury market:-
- The segment is getting really popular as the economy is flourishing. Even though SUVs are slightly more expensive than their sedan counterparts, more buyers demand for SUVs as they can now afford them more easily
- SUVs normally account to a healthy chunk of the brand’s overall sales figures (A majority of Porsche’s sales come from the Cayenne, ever since they have been on sale since the early 2000's).
- They offer a lot of practicality (in terms of cargo volume, and ground clearance), improved efficiency over time, greater street presence and sometimes, great off road capabilities along with driving dyamics.
Factors like these lead to a situation where the bosses of Maserati gathered around the drawing table in 2011 and said “hmmm, we need to join the bandwagon and create an SUV just like everybody else did”. That SUV was a concept model called the Kubang, which was unveiled at the 2011 Frankfurt auto show, and five years later, production of the Kubang based SUV, called the Levante, commenced, making it the brand’s first ever SUV.
Upon launch, it did recieve a positive response from the media and general public as this is the first SUV made by the very same brand that focuses highly on sports and touring vehicles, however, there are a couple of infuriating flaws that are listed below and why it does lag behind some of the competition.
Value — The Levante starts at around Rs 1.45 crore, before options and other government charges, while the asking price for a fully specced example will set you back at around Rs 2.10 crore. (Mind you, the model commercially available in India does not get the Ferrari engined high performance version.) That price may sound like a good deal if you think you are buying a Maserati at a lower price, of course, a Maserati is a Maserati at the end of the day, and it sounds far cooler to say “I drive a Maserati” than “I drive a Mercedes/BMW/Audi”. Save for the cool factor the Levante can provide you, there are quite a number of Price and Segment alternatives available in the market, which begs the question — If you are looking for great value, why in your right senses will you buy a Levante!?
Styling — It isn’t an ugly looking crossover, save for the hideous front end, but it does not look special by any means. It’s design does not help it stand out from the ocean of traffic, or make people turn their heads towards one of these. In fact, the only reason why the Levante manages to maintain its cool factor is because of the trident shaped Maserati badge up front. This may be one of the silliest comparisons you may hear in a very long time, but the Levante somehow resembles a Mazda CX-5 or its cheaper cousin, the Alfa Romeo Stelvio. After producing timeless designed sports cars, the Levante is a Maserati in which your wife would drop your children to school and do some grocery shopping with. Had it been for the absence of the Maserati badge, the layman would not be able to tell the difference, which leads to the fact that the Levante does not really stand out from the crowd.
Quality — It takes in to account the physical quality of everything you touch and feel on a regular basis, and overall long term reliability. Neither of them are great. They have had a long history of reliability issues with other models, so it is hard to tell how the Levante will perform in the long run, especially in Indian conditions. Quality of materials are just about average. Save for the black and red dual tone, the interiors look drab if it was to be compared side by side with its German rivals. Some may like the fact that the interiors have been kept simple but neither do they look up to date, nor are the quality of certain parts up to the mark. Even the cheapest Volkswagens have better looking interiors than a Levante.
Maserati is owned by Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, which owns Jeep, Dodge, Chrysler and Alfa Romeo. The unfortunate result of this combination is the fact that the Levante, just like every other Maserati have cut way too many corners and borrowed important parts such as window switches and indicator stalks (pictured below) from a rental Dodge Dart with fabric seats. Yes, part sharing does help keep the costs down, which, in turn helps the manufacturer price its vehicles competitively, but if you are paying this kind of money for a “Maserati, Italian quality craftsmanship”, you’d expect the buttons you regularly touch, to feel a little premium.
Comfort and ergonomics — The ride quality isn’t harsh, but its not the most plush of all, even in the most comfort-oriented settings. The seats are well bolstered to hold you in your place while taking a sharp, high speed corner. However, legroom is tight, which shows that the space inside the vehicle has been wasted, considering it measures almost the same in length, as an Audi Q7.
The paddle shifters are gigantic, in order to give you a sporty feel while pushing the vehicle to its limits. However, due to its size, you may have to stretch your fingers to reach for the indicator stalk (More on that soon) and there is a good chance your finger may foul with the paddle shifters rather than the stalk. Also, I would have preferred them to move along with the steering, so that one does not have to take his or her hand off the steering wheel while shifting between gears. Instead, they are static, hence, the driver will have to take his/her hand off the steering to access the paddle and change gears while turning the wheel.
In every car, there are normally two indicator stalks on both sides of the steering column, where one operates the lighting systems and the other operates the wipers. In this vehicle, there is only one indicator stalk which houses both functions, making it very confusing to operate and takes a lot of time and patience to get used to it. Add to the woes, the stalk is presumably borrowed from a 1990’s Chrysler Grand Voyager and feels extremely cheap to use. The gap between the steering wheel and the stalk is painfully wide due to the gigantic paddle shifters in the middle so if you don’t move your left hand off the steering wheel and want to indicate or turn on your wipers, your fingers are most likely to foul with the paddle shift. A brand that is known to make high performance vehicles would engineer the stalk to stick out of the steering wheel.
The gear shifter itself is not the easiest to use. I know it is similar to BMW’s and I have always praised BMW for their unique gear lever but the one found on Maseratis are a little strange to operate. Why? To engage drive, you must either pull the gear lever twice, or extremely hard and to engage park, you must either push it hard or twice. In most BMW models, the operation is smooth, soft and takes almost no effort. There is also a designated button to engage the parking mode.
The steering adjustment is awkwardly positioned below the column, which makes it difficult for the driver to identify the location and the direction of the controls. I do not understand, what was so difficult in placing the adjustment button on either side of the column rather than placing it right in the bottom? The driver will have to bend down to look for the controls instead of having it straight in his/her sight. Typical Italian ergonomics.
Features — The vehicle I tested did not have every option ticked so it would be unfair to say that the Levante does not come with any features. However, for a vehicle at this price point, there are some missing features that infuriate me. For example, why did they not add a virtual cockpit? Why are rear air conditioner vent controls not a part of standard equipment? Why is there no Heads Up Display? The list of missing equipment goes on. Literally every manufacturer, like Audi, Jaguar Land Rover, BMW, Mercedes and Volvo which have models one third the price of the Levante and carry more equipment.
Performance — It is not the best engine in its segment. For a 3 liter diesel SUV, the torque outputs are quite low to be honest. With 271 horsepower and only 600 nm of torque, It will be smoked by cheaper vehicles with similar engine sized in a straight line drag race. 0–100 takes a leisurly 7.4 seconds which is extremely appalling for an SUV priced at eight digits. The Porsche Cayenne, BMW X5, Jaguar F pace, Audi Q7, Mercedes GLE, all of them are quicker in a straight line and can sprint to a century in 6–6.5 seconds, making them all, nearly a second faster than the Levante. The less powerful diesel version of the Alfa Romeo Stelvio can reach the same speed in 7.6 seconds, for far lesser money, while the superior diesel version can sprint to the century in 6.6 seconds.
The Engine is not the most refined of all. There are little bit of vibrations that creep into the cabin. A regular person may not be able to notice it, but the Italian’s 3 liter diesel is a notch below the BMW’s 3 liter diesel in terms of refinement. In city bumper to bumper traffic, it is not easy to point and shoot to close any gaps as the 3 liter diesel suffers from an enormous amount of turbo lag, and it can be felt even if it is an Automatic transmission.
The Infotainment system is not the best I have used. However, one of the main positives about the screen is the fact that one does not have to scroll left or right to find every menu option. In fact, the entire menu can be found in the same screen. In terms of user interface, this Chrysler’s U-Connect is far better than Mercedes’s COMAND or Audi’s MMI system, but the BMW’s iDrive is the clear winner in terms of user interface. The touch screen is responsive enough, but not to the level of BMW’s iDrive. It misses some cool features such as gesture volume control, which a Toyota Yaris worth 15 lakh has.
Although the exact figure for the cargo volume is unavailable, going by the image below, you can easily figure out that the trunk is not too large for an SUV, as the parcel tray is placed very low. It is possible to pack your bags for a week’s getaway for a family of four but due to the low parcel, you cannot fit a large bicycle, even if you fold down the rear seats.
**VERDICT**
So should you go ahead and buy the Levante?
The answer is — If you are in the market for a Luxury crossover, do not put the Levante on top of your priority list, but do not care about the weaknesses and look only for a branded product, then the Levante is the right choice for you.
It is not a bad car by any means. In fact, It does handle pretty well, and the braking capabilities are excellent, especially in the rain when I had to make an emergency stop from 100 km/h. But, People buying a luxury SUV are less likely to treat it like a racecar, so it makes sense to go for an alternative that has better practicality, better quality, better performance and more equipment.
If I were to buy an SUV in this segment, I would consider the Levante, had it been priced a little lower, making it a great value for money proposition. But hey! Dealers across the country are unable to get the Levantes off their floors so they may start offering some benefits or discounts in the near future, which you could take advantage of.