Maserati GranTurismo Modena 2025 review

Charisma. Largely intangible, increasingly absent in contemporary motoring landscape and, one imagines, tricky to engineer into a car.

Unless, perhaps, you’re a marque with as rich and storied a providence as Maserati and are known for the stuff. Precious few are.

Even the name GranTurismo Modena charismatically rolls off the tongue.

And it befits attachment to five metres of sumptuous two-door coupe form boasting some of the most seductive curves, and longest bonnet and doors, in the biz.

This gen II, launched in 2023 and arguably not as pretty as its first-gen forebear, drips indulgence, even in relatively plain ivory white paintwork and quite pedestrian silver/grey mixed 20- and 21-inch rolling stock standard issue on the ‘base’ Modena variant, named in homage to Maserati’s Italian hometown of 85 years. Because it is indulgent.

The GranTurismo isn’t supposed to be the most practical (Levante), sensible (Ghibli), limousine-like (Quattroporte) or relatively attainable (Grecale) choice.

Instead, it’s a long-legged 2+2 grand tourer – in literal translation – blending sportiness and luxury in spirit, if without the hyper-fast super sportscar (MC20) or road-registered track weapon (GT2 Stradale) excess.

At $357,500 list (around $386,000 driveaway) for a cleanskin Modena, the most basic GranTurismo is about $80K more affordable than the go-faster Trofeo variant.

The ultra-exclusive Folgore EV 110 Anniversario, on sale Q1 this year, is $525,000 list for either one of just two examples to be offered locally.

That’s serious coin for a base variant that’s neither terribly pragmatic or really a benchmark for goodness in any department.

But it is a GT cut from a classic formula for older-school tastes, clearly an indulgent choice that brings expectations in style and – that word again – charisma by its very nature.

The stylish swagger brings concessions in other areas, most evidently interior packaging.

The plus-two status is largely academic, because for its categorically ‘large’ five-metre length there is no legroom and very limited headroom under the sweeping curve of the roofline. Rear occupants’ heads are directly under glass – not great in summer.

The snug row two confines isn’t in trade of boot space, either, which is paltry 310 litres.

As a two-seat prospect, it’s reasonably roomy if far from comfy.

The massive doors demand circumspect parallel parking choices, it demands awkward entry and egress, and the low-slung seating creates an inherently reclined posture that exacerbates the discomfort of bucket seats that appear far more form-fitting than the experience proves.

The cabin’s marriage of classicism and modernity is happy in places, not in others.

The dash fascia and door cards bring classic style and are sumptuously finished, and the general theme is pleasingly upmarket.

However, far too many of the controls, switches and some brightwork appear pinched from the Stellantis parts bin labelled ‘Alfa Romeo’ even if they actually aren’t.

Some areas and details are genuinely premium, but too many look and feel upmarket replica.

Especially the abundance of plastics where, for this sort of coin, you’d expect metal: the digital clock surround, the dial controls on the wheel for the start and drive model buttons.

It could feel richer in too many places.

The wheel itself is lovely and it fits column-mounted elephant ear paddleshifters – rather than the more useful wheel mounted alternative – so prevalent in high-end Italian cars that one presumes its national law.

On that, as it’s called Modena, Italian legislation at least confirms that it’s built in its homeland (albeit in Turin), as Alfa Romeo learnt the hard way last year…

The digital window dressing and tech integration is…fine. The 12.2-inch TFT driver’s screen, like other Stellantis products, has acceptable resolution and an unfancy design.

Ditto the similar-sized 12.3-inch media touchscreen, which adjoins an 8.8-inch HVAC control screen in a curved, floating housing.

There’s not much emphasis on slickness and content richness and the user interface is, well, okay enough. Smartphone mirroring is wireless, the ‘hidden’ inductive charging pad tucked under the HVAC panel housing is quite neat, and the camera feeds, both backwards and forwards, are large and clear.

But our test car was plagued with a few bugs.

CarPlay was prone to sporadic drop-outs (usually at road-size radar/sensor points), the HVAC system lacks interface stability – jumping randomly to full-power heating at one point for seemingly no reason – and the reversing AEB would trigger approaching curbs when parking slowly and carefully.

Some of the interior design is lazy. The push button transmission selection buttons, between the media and HVAC screen, are unlit and hard to see – ditto the silly Volkswagen-style touch control for audio volume, though the Sonus Faber 12-speaker audio system itself is genuine sonic earcandy.

The curved screen can also blind you when it catches direct sunlight.

Our test car was fitted with only a smattering of options, but neither the Trident stitching on the front seat headrests ($1750) or the Tech Assistance package ($7950) are boxes worth ticking.

The latter brings two items: a digital rear view mirror that brings little benefit to the party, and a head-up display that projects info so distractingly high in the windscreen, right in the line of sight, that we left it permanently switched off.

In short, the GranTurismo cabin is surprisingly lacklustre. And the sort of ‘character’ it piles in is the wrong sort in a lot of the wrong places.

And the same can be said for much of the on-road experience…

While the romance – and expectation – of the iconic metallic zing of a hard-revving Ferrari V8 perched front-midship within the seductive GranTurismo form rang true last generation, it’s gone now.

This new, second-gen successor fits the 3.0-litre twin-turbo ‘Nettuno’ petrol V6 powers the coupe’s four wheels via an eight-speed ZF torque converter automatic.

And sonically at least, it’s a fall from sonic grace deep enough to warrant a parachute.

Soundtrack? Close your eyes and you’ve swear Maserati shoehorned the petrol turbo six from Ford’s Ranger Raptor, no facetious elaboration intended.

One by one, all-comers – from work, from home life – would climb into the Maserati and remark “what’s going on with the engine?”

At 360kW and 600Nm, energy is…ample. But fire, fury, swagger and any of that good, intoxicating ‘right stuff’ that reaches in and pulls the heartstrings regardless of what energy is on tap? Nope.

Maserati claims 3.9sec for the 0-100km/h sprint for the 1800kg two-door, and while poor weather scuppered the science to prove it the GranTurismo doesn’t feel as swift by the seat of the pants.

Bury the right foot in Sport mode and there’s a sonic ‘crack’ in kickdown and the coupe gets down and boogies, but the 6500rpm redline doesn’t arrive with anything like the spine tingling drama and fanfare of the old V8 model (7500rpm).

This is Maserati normalised…and homogenised. This is not good news.

Sadly, the experience doesn’t become more befitting in the middling Gran Turismo mode whilst undertaking adventure in the spirit of this namesake, specifically a weekend cruise from inner Sydney west to Katoomba in the Blue Mountains, NSW.

As a default, the V6 swings lazily between 1500-2000rpm for the most part everywhere, such is the tractability of this Nettuno engine.

And all the while it thrums away like an oversized turbo-triple, so quietly as to be drowned out by the loud tyre rumble of those 265mm front and 295mm rear rubber whoppers. Around town, it’s more of the same.

On the highway, it just ticks along unremarkably, the thrum of the rubber joined by the occasional sharp thud across road imperfections.

There’s a surprising amount of suspension noise and a lack of underbody sound insulation – or a combination of both – that makes this GT a little more fatiguing than it really ought to be.

Despite its relative new age, the GranTurismo is underpinned by the Giorgio platform, the older Alfa Romeo (Guilia, Stevlio) platform rather than the emerging STLA Large being rolled out under other Stellantis models.

Its near three-metre wheelbase and air suspension ought to steamroll the hot-mix nasties. And in its softest setting, compliance is very good across sharp hits, if with pronounced bounce in the rear thanks to flaccid rebound.

And it still patters and jolts across smaller road imperfections.

Opting for the firmer damper setting ties the chassis down better, if exacerbating the hits and jiggles.

Tip it into a bend and the GranTurismo corners with confidence rather than athleticism, but it covers ground very swiftly, even if the V6 remains determined to stay pinned to the depths of the RPM range.

So you shift manually to raise its pulse…and become frustrated that the column-mount design makes up- and down-changes tiresome with half a turn of steering lock.

It could be the mundane powertrain nature. Or the fatiguing tyre and suspension noise. Or the alarmingly uncomfortable seats, the rear axle bounce, or even the inconsistency of the HVAC system.

But the longer the sunny Sunday drive to The Mountains becomes, the keener I am to get the trip done and park the Maserati up…

…And that’s not what you want from a big-dollar, supposedly grand tourer.

Further, a boot only realistically big enough for overnight bags and a circa-15-litre thirst per hundred, capping range at around 400kms, it’s more a ‘good tourer’ than one that’s certifiably grand.

Concerningly, it’s the lack of charisma in key areas that actually dissuades one to want to drive it. Anywhere.

Given GranTurismo’s underpinning brief is to offer indulgence for its own sake, this is perhaps the Modena version’s biggest misdemeanor.

Perhaps – just perhaps – the spicier 410kW and 650Nm tune of the pricier Trofeo injects suitable mojo that the Modena patently lacks.

But you’re now sailing into half-mil territory and fast approaching the properly opulent and eventful-to-drive (575kW/1000Nm plug-in hybrid V8) Bentley Continental GT Speed.

And closer to Modena money, Porsche’s 911 Carrera 4 GTS does almost everything better than the GranTurismo, including how much it squeezes the heartstrings when it turns up the heat.