You walk up to the MC20. Of course you do - you've seen it from a distance so you want a closer look. It's a rare beast, hasn't suffered Instagram overexposure, so there's lots for your eyes to dwell on. But there's a catch: next you're going to drive it.
Hardly a catch, you're thinking. But as you take in the Perspex rear screen, peer in at the dark, bare cabin, swing a door up to reveal a cutaway carbon sill, realize there's something of the Group C racer about this new Maserati, and remember the next three hours are not going to be spent spanking around Dunsfold but in crushing motorway monotony... the sparkle dulls. You think, “Well, I know what to expect: noise, vibration, road chatter, and a stiffness that'll be reflected in my skeleton when I have to get out after 150 miles as the tank will be dry.”
This, then, was the thought process I went through. With a certain trepidation I left Slough in this carbon tubbed, rear-drive, twin-turbo V6 supercar. For the first 40 miles I was too occupied to give the MC20 much thought. I was just trying to get it as I wanted, figure out the wheel, screens, those Fiat stalks, phone connectivity. It wasn't until around Swindon that it suddenly occurred to me that the MC20 wasn't making as much of a fuss as I expected.
Quite the opposite in fact. It was sauntering along, hands in pockets, whistling a merry tune. It was happy, content. And as a result, so was I. Supple suspension, calm cabin, little noise intrusion and let me just check - wow, 32mpg. Confusion reigned. What is this car with hardcore overtones that handles motorways like a skip through a summer meadow? Maybe I should have expected this. There's a softness to the shapes, especially the artful sweeps over the arches, it looks comfortable in its own skin, isn't too thrusting or forceful. It's dramatic without effort, aero, or ostentation.
Denne historien er fra June 2022-utgaven av Top Gear.
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Denne historien er fra June 2022-utgaven av Top Gear.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent? Logg på
HEAD TO HEAD VANTAGE vs 911 TURBO
For as long as we can remember the Porsche 911 has been the default best sports car money can buy. Does the new Aston Vantage represent a changing of the guard?
BOSS LEVEL:PART TWO
In a world exclusive, three makers of the world's most powerful hypercars are cordially invited... to drive each other's creations
THE THEORY 0F EVOLUTION
Ridged bladder seats, an inflating steering wheel and an AI track day coach... has Lotus hit on the supercar's future, or gone mad?
Koenigsegg Jesko Attack
The Jesko Attack drives like a conventional supercar. Brakes like one, turns like one, grips like one. But it doesn't accelerate like one.
STIC LAPS are back!
It's a 1.75-mile figure of eight on an old Canadian Air Force base just south of Guildford. Hardly Monza, or the Mulsanne straight, and never in a million years - you'd think a place that would become one of the most sought after performance benchmarks in the motoring world.
URBAN OUTWITTERS
Does the solution to city motoring lie in designs from the past with powertrains from the future? TopGear goes in search of answers... at rush hour
FUTURE FERRARIS
If you thought Ferrar's past was colourful, wait until you see what it's cooking up next. The future's bright, the future's rosso
DIRTY DOZEN
Ferrari's new super GT makes no secrets about what's under the bonnet, but can it swallow five countries in just a few hours? Better get on with it...
MYTH BUSTER
\"ADAPTIVE DAMPERS ALWAYS NEED TO ADAPT\"
The S2000 from a parallel universe
Meet Evasive Motorsports’ Honda S2000R, the car the Japanese firm should have built itself
