Right now you can order a Maserati Levante in a diesel version or in one of two V6 petrol versions. But beware: a twin turbo V8 is on the way next month! Here we choose between the petrol and diesel versions.
Maserati’s Levante is the first SUV built by the Italian company better known for past motor racing glories and current charismatic Gran Turismo cars. Yet from the get-go in 2016 when the Levante made its debut, it has been very well received, not least in South Africa, where sales remain strong by exotica standards.
More recently, Maserati has been enjoying a good couple of months sales-wise, and the Levante continues to be a mainstay model here in South Africa.
Diesel only on launch
On its debut the Levante was launched here with a 3,0-litre diesel, with no petrol option. This was quite a risk, as Maserati has always been noted for its high-revving petrol-fueled V6s and V8s in its slinky GT road cars, and in the four-door known as the Quattroporte. Yet Maserati salesmen were convinced that the diesel would win many friends. To this day they reckon that there is no better-sounding diesel on the market!
Petrol V6 Levante S launches in 2018
Then in mid-2018, the petrol-fueled Lavante S made its debut. It’s twin-turbocharged V6 also displaced 3,0 litres, but word was out that it was designed very much in concert with its nearby neighbours in Modena, Ferrari! Once again, Maserati enthusiasts were saying that this was the best-sounding engine in its league, and the outputs figures weren’t too shabby either: power was pegged at 316 kW and 560 Nm of torque, good enough for a 0-100 km/h time of 5,2 seconds and top speed of 264!
Fuel consumption? Well, the official rating is 13,5 litres/100 km, but if you drive it the way it was meant to be driven, you’d be looking at an average of around 16-18 litres/100 km. Current price for the Levante S is R2 050 000.
The lesser-powered petrol-engined Levante launched in 2019
And a stonking V8 petrol version is coming!
For those who like their Italian thoroughbreds as hairy as possible, Maserati will shortly be launching the Levante Trofeo. This employs a 433 kW twin-turbo V8, with a sub-4-second 0-100 km/h time. It will also boast a 17-speaker Bowers and Wilkins sound system rated at 1 280 Watts!
So which is best: petrol or diesel?
It’s a tough call, because for many SUV fans, a diesel option is still highly sought-after. It has not hurt Maserati Levante sales at all that Porsche no longer offers a diesel version of its Cayenne. But in Europe, the move is away from diesel and more towards petrol-electric hybrids, and that is undoubtedly the way Maserati will be going too, in the space of a few years.
Practicalities aside, right now we would go for the 316 kW V6 petrol version, as snugged beneath the bonnet of the Maserati Levante S. It is well-priced in this rarefied league of SUV at R2 050 000, and it offers performance (and an engine sound) that you can seriously brag about around the braai grid.
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Keyword: Which Maserati Levante is better: petrol or diesel?