**Maserati Levante Trofeo Review: A Ferrari-like SUV with a Twist**

The Maserati Levante Trofeo is an SUV that promises to deliver a thrilling driving experience, thanks to its powerful engine. In this review, we'll delve into the details of this Italian supercar and explore what makes it tick.

**Engine Powerhouse**

For starters, the Levante Trofeo's 3.8-liter V8 engine is a real showstopper. This motor produces 592 horsepower and 538 lb-ft of torque, making it one of the most powerful engines in its class. The sound of this engine is music to our ears, with a deep rumble that's reminiscent of Ferrari's iconic powerplants.

As we drive, the engine's response is incredibly impressive. It's as if the car has a mind of its own, accelerating and decelerating with ease. The gearbox is smooth and seamless, with no noticeable lag or hesitation. Whether you're cruising down the highway or carving through twisty roads, this engine delivers.

**Handling and Suspension**

One of the biggest surprises about the Levante Trofeo is how well it handles. Unlike some other SUVs in its class, which can feel clumsy or unwieldy, the Levante Trofeo is surprisingly agile. The suspension is stiffer than expected, but not so stiff that it becomes uncomfortable.

As we drive, the car's handling is impressive, with a precision that's usually reserved for sports cars. On corners, the car leans into the turn, and the steering response is quick and sharp. While some might find the steering a bit artificial, I think this is just one of those things you get used to as you spend more time behind the wheel.

**Cruise Control and Motorway Driving**

Let's talk about one of the Levante Trofeo's more practical features: cruise control. The system is optional, but it's a game-changer for long road trips. With just a few button presses, the car will keep you a safe distance from the vehicle in front and adjust its speed to maintain that distance.

In action, the system works surprisingly well, with the car adjusting its pace seamlessly. However, I do find the steering response to be a bit jerky at times, which can make it feel less intuitive than some other systems on the market.

**Urban Driving**

One of the most pleasant surprises about the Levante Trofeo is how well it handles in urban driving situations. Unlike some other SUVs, which can feel clumsy or unwieldy, the Levante Trofeo glides through city streets with ease. The suspension does have a slightly firm edge to it, but this only adds to the car's agility and responsiveness.

As we drive around town, I find myself enjoying the ride more and more. The armrests are perfectly positioned, and the controls are intuitive and easy to use. While there may be some rounding of corners that leaves you scratching your head, these moments are few and far between.

**Verdict**

So, is the Maserati Levante Trofeo worth considering? In a word, yes. The engine alone is reason enough to buy this car, but the rest of the package is pretty impressive as well. While it may not be perfect, the Levante Trofeo is a capable and enjoyable drive that's sure to put a smile on your face.

**Comparison to Other Cars**

It's worth noting that there are other cars in its class that might give the Levante Trofeo a run for its money. The Audi RSQ8, for example, is a more refined and polished driver, with a slightly sharper handling character. However, if you're looking for an SUV that can deliver raw power and excitement, the Levante Trofeo is hard to beat.

In terms of options, there's certainly nothing wrong with what Maserati has offered here. While some might find the cruise control system a bit jerky at times, it works well enough and is a useful feature for long road trips. The same can be said for the optional upgrade that enhances the car's suspension, which adds a touch of finesse to the driving experience.

**Conclusion**

Overall, I think the Maserati Levante Trofeo is an underrated gem in the world of SUVs. With its powerful engine and agile handling, it's a capable driver that's sure to put a smile on your face. While there may be some minor quibbles about the cruise control system or suspension upgrade, these are relatively minor complaints in what's otherwise an excellent package.

If you're in the market for a SUV that can deliver excitement and performance, the Levante Trofeo is definitely worth considering. And if you click on the link below, you can watch my full review of the Audi RSQ8 to see how it stacks up against this Italian supercar.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enhi how are you matt watson here from car wife this is the maserati levante trafeo it's a little bit like pavarotti belting out nesendorma from the leaning tower of pisa while scoffing some spaghetti bolognese it couldn't be more italian especially when you compare it to the german high-performance suvs like the bmw x6m or the porsche kn now in this video i'm going to tell you all about the upgrades this car has over the normal levante which is a bit of a meh kind of car and i'm going to take it for a drive and test it's naught to 60 mile an hour sprint time now before we get into all of that please make sure you subscribe to this channel and hit the bell icon to turn your notifications on that way you will not miss a single upload buying a new car then head to car wow and my team will help you find your next car at a fair price car wow your one-stop car buying comparison site the maserati levante range kicks off at 64 000 pounds and if you click on the pop-out banner up there you can go to car wide to check out the latest lease deals on maseratis alternatively if you just want to do that later just google help me car wow and me and my team will help you choose the right car for you and get it for a fair price for one of our trusted car wow dealers this maserati levante trafeo it's a bit more expensive than the standard car starts at 125 000 pounds so what are you getting for your cash maserati's designers have added some extra bits of sporty trim to the strafer model so you get a more aggressive deeper rear bumper with a fake diffuser believe me that does nothing but you also get real carbon fiber near the exhaust and there's quad tail pipes as well there's also an extended roof spoiler make it look more sporty than standard car i should point this out though this is the 20 model year there's now a 21 model year levante trafeo and it has slightly different tail lights that's any difference the key changes at the side include a trafeo maserati badge black alloy wheels standard you get 21 inches but you can upgrade to 22s if you need that extra inch also you get yellow brake calipers nothing says sporty like yellow brake calipers another key feature this look carbon fiber side skirts it's hard to tell the carbon fiber because they're covered in grime it's not that we couldn't be bothered to clean the car we actually just upgraded to the optional grime pack looks good on suvs you've got some silver surrounds here on the wings i'm not sure these vents actually do anything though they're not completely fake now on the 21 model yeah these are in red you might be thinking might you keep on going on about this 21 model year car won't you just review that instead well it's because the press office don't have it on their fleet yet even though it's on sale so they send us this one oh well the most obvious changes to the trophee here at the front so you've got a much more aggressive front bumper you've got bigger air intakes a carbon fiber front splitter there's some carbon fiber strikes here as well and some air vents to help the air flow over the wheels and down the side of the car make it more aerodynamic though i think it's going to help too much you've also got these grill slats just in black now and led matrix headlights which will blank out part of their beam so you don't dazzle on drivers gets a new bonnet as well with these air vents in here on the inside the drafea model gets these big carbon fiber paddle shifters you also get common fiber trim here and here on the door as well there's also trafeo floor mats with a metal trefair badge on them you also get a bespoke cloth for the trophere model but the most important thing are the trofeo seats these are trimmed in lovely leather they feel great to sit in and you get the troffeo emblem there on the headdress as well other than that it's just like a normal maserati levante's cabin which means that it sort of looks a bit old-fashioned quality is generally pretty solid though lots of leather everywhere and storage is actually really good look at that that's huge that center console got some cup holders here another storage area here with your usbs a big glove box and a decent sized door bin now the infotainment system it's okay though once again it's been the 2020 model it's actually been updated for 2021 you get a slightly different infotainment system the dials analog dars for your rev counter and your speedo though you do have a digital display in between them here in the back it's just like a normal levant in terms of space so absolutely fine though with the glass roof the headroom is limited slightly but i'm still okay and people over six foot will just about be fine but as in the front you get the lovely super duper soft high quality leather i love these seats actually it's a bit like you just sat on some really expensive italian furniture it does feel special more so than the equivalent germans before we talk about the boots i just want to shout out to that number plate v8 maserati or you could interpret that as mighty still applicable so the capacity is the same unsurprisingly as the normal levante so you've got 580 liters and it's a nice square usable shape and you can fit in seven of these size carry-on cases and they're easy to slide out because there's no load lip however if you needed to carry an extra 18 liters you'd be a bit stuck wouldn't you and therefore you'd probably want a porsche cayenne coupe because it's big capacity it's 598 liters and that handily brings me on to five annoying things about this maserati levante trafeo if you want digital climate control for the rear seats you have to pay an extra 1100 pounds which seems a little bit mean when this car actually costs 125 grand to start with this tricolore stripe it is painted on so it's not a stick which is good what's not so good though is that it doesn't quite line up with the one on the roof it feels like this should be a bit further over that's especially annoying when you consider it's an eight and a half thousand pound option european versions of the maserati levante rafael are slightly less powerful have a slightly lower top speed and a little less quick to 60 miles an hour than equivalents sold in the rest of the world for whatever reason the car key is really really heavy now this does make it feel expensive but it's a real pain to carry it around in your pocket let you see just how heavy it is you can't tell by just looking at it listen to this ow ow ow what am i doing that if your neighbor buys one of these cars you might find it really annoying when they start it first thing in the morning because it makes this kind of racket actually the way this sounds is a good thing and that brings me on to five cool features about this maserati the troffeo has upgraded brakes over the normal levante so you have six piston calipers at the front and 380 millimeter discs the discs at the back are 330 millimeters also maserati has tuned the car's abs system to just make it a little bit more sporty you get a limited slip differential at the rear axle to help make sure that the tyre with the most grip gets the most power that also helps in slingshotting you out of the corner as well as the normal and sport driving mode you also get a coarser driving mode of course there is italian for a race and that sets the car up in its most aggressive settings for some really serious driving the car's height adjustable air suspension has been recalibrated so it's stiffer than on the normal avante and when you go in the car's sportiest setting it lowers down by 35 millimeters also the four-wheel drive system normally drives along in rear drive only but it can send 50 of the power to the front wheels if you need that extra grip this is the reason you buy this suv what we have here is a ferrari 3.8 liter twin turbo v8 now maserati has changed a few of the internals and some of the ancillaries but this engine was built in marine airline look at it as well you can tell it's got like the red rocker covers that you expect in a ferrari it's pretty much the same engine as in the port athena the performance is good as well 580 horsepower and 730 newton meters of torque okay i'm going to launch this thing see how quickly it will do not to 60 miles an hour supposed to do it in 4.1 seconds but what's the reality says launch it put it into drive pull up on the left paddle start launch control here we go release the brake oh the italians lied they absolutely lied whoa not 60 3.8 seconds that is well quick i thought it was going to be slow than they claimed that's normally how the italians were but oh no that's nuts let's be honest this is a big heavy suv weighs over 2.1 tons but it's a sporty suv so let's see what it's like on a twisty road i'm going to put the drive select mode into sport factory press it again going to coarser so it's going to reduce my safety systems a bit and lower the suspension as well as stiffening it and adding weight to the steering so this all-wheel drive system is mainly rear drive when you're just driving along normally and then if it detects some slip it will send some power to the front wheels for a big old thing it goes on corners pretty well while the suspension has got stiffer it doesn't feel overly stiff and it does feel a bit lively this thing but this engine is just insanely good oh i love it perhaps any weakness really is the steering i'm not really feeling much through it just seems artificial but this car is gripping and it's not leaning much in these bends it's all about the engine though really you just buy this car for the engine you want an suv you want a ferrari bread engine oh the response and the sound this sounds better than the german v8s it just does and the rest of the car is just about good enough to make it acceptable you can have a bit of fun in this big brute though i do think that an audi rsq8 is just sharper to drive and if you click on the pop-up banner up there you can watch my full in-depth video review of that car all right let's see what this maserati levante troffeo is like on the motorway this car is fitted with the optional upgraded cruise control system so it'll do that thing where it'll keep you a safe distance from the car in front and steer to keep you in line so let's just try it out i'll just engage it now there we go put the auto steer on so we're engaged i can alter the distance on from the car in front by pressing this button and it will change that distance bring my speed up make a bit quicker the way the steering works oh it's complaining because i'm not touching the steering wheel and rightly so the way it works is it's a bit jerky then if you can see it's like the way it does it to keep you in line it's not the smoothest could be better for that 2 500 pounds price really it works fine enough and if you're doing long distances in this car it is an option you're probably going to want to tick let's face it options on a maserati you can't expect them to be cheap no matter what they are finally let's see what this levante troffeo is like around town do you know what i thought the suspension would be a disaster at low speed but it's not it actually goes over bumps pretty well it does have a firm edge to it so you do get rocked side to side occasionally when you hit a bump but it's not bad it's all right they're doing a decent job and there's a certain way to drive this car it's it's like this in town that's just at the right height this armrest here's at the right height it's it's perfect can i get around the mini roundabout you doing doing it this way though trying to remain cool oh oh no oh no i'm gonna have to mount a curb the turning circle isn't quite good enough and i've lost my call because i've had to sit forward like a normal person thankfully the steering is really light so not so great when you're going really quickly which is kind of the idea with this car but round town brilliant i'm going to do something else back to the front as well that's the gear shift so now i'm going to change the pedals actually it's pretty decent mould delay look press the button change up i wouldn't bother running it in manual mode this is just going to drive in auto it's brilliant in auto this gearbox yeah yeah we go back to the right position there we are yeah in my levante trafeo my sporty suv let's go around come on i can do it there we go that's i'm still cool but still cool so then what's my final verdict on the maserati levante trafeo should you avoid it should you consider it should you shortlist it or should you just go right ahead and buy it well i reckon you should shortlist it it's got a fabulous engine which is reason enough to buy it alone yet the rest of the car is actually pretty good as well i'm surprised i thought it was going to be crap but it's actually really rather good i hope you all enjoyed the video if you did please give it a like and if you click on that window there you can watch the lamborghini uras drag racing aventador and huracan and if you click on that window there you can watch a ferrari gtc4 lusso drag racing slr mclaren and an aston martin dbs and if you click on that box there you can download the carl app it's completely free and you can use it to scan the number plate of any car with your phone and they'll give you a valuation on that car go check it outhi how are you matt watson here from car wife this is the maserati levante trafeo it's a little bit like pavarotti belting out nesendorma from the leaning tower of pisa while scoffing some spaghetti bolognese it couldn't be more italian especially when you compare it to the german high-performance suvs like the bmw x6m or the porsche kn now in this video i'm going to tell you all about the upgrades this car has over the normal levante which is a bit of a meh kind of car and i'm going to take it for a drive and test it's naught to 60 mile an hour sprint time now before we get into all of that please make sure you subscribe to this channel and hit the bell icon to turn your notifications on that way you will not miss a single upload buying a new car then head to car wow and my team will help you find your next car at a fair price car wow your one-stop car buying comparison site the maserati levante range kicks off at 64 000 pounds and if you click on the pop-out banner up there you can go to car wide to check out the latest lease deals on maseratis alternatively if you just want to do that later just google help me car wow and me and my team will help you choose the right car for you and get it for a fair price for one of our trusted car wow dealers this maserati levante trafeo it's a bit more expensive than the standard car starts at 125 000 pounds so what are you getting for your cash maserati's designers have added some extra bits of sporty trim to the strafer model so you get a more aggressive deeper rear bumper with a fake diffuser believe me that does nothing but you also get real carbon fiber near the exhaust and there's quad tail pipes as well there's also an extended roof spoiler make it look more sporty than standard car i should point this out though this is the 20 model year there's now a 21 model year levante trafeo and it has slightly different tail lights that's any difference the key changes at the side include a trafeo maserati badge black alloy wheels standard you get 21 inches but you can upgrade to 22s if you need that extra inch also you get yellow brake calipers nothing says sporty like yellow brake calipers another key feature this look carbon fiber side skirts it's hard to tell the carbon fiber because they're covered in grime it's not that we couldn't be bothered to clean the car we actually just upgraded to the optional grime pack looks good on suvs you've got some silver surrounds here on the wings i'm not sure these vents actually do anything though they're not completely fake now on the 21 model yeah these are in red you might be thinking might you keep on going on about this 21 model year car won't you just review that instead well it's because the press office don't have it on their fleet yet even though it's on sale so they send us this one oh well the most obvious changes to the trophee here at the front so you've got a much more aggressive front bumper you've got bigger air intakes a carbon fiber front splitter there's some carbon fiber strikes here as well and some air vents to help the air flow over the wheels and down the side of the car make it more aerodynamic though i think it's going to help too much you've also got these grill slats just in black now and led matrix headlights which will blank out part of their beam so you don't dazzle on drivers gets a new bonnet as well with these air vents in here on the inside the drafea model gets these big carbon fiber paddle shifters you also get common fiber trim here and here on the door as well there's also trafeo floor mats with a metal trefair badge on them you also get a bespoke cloth for the trophere model but the most important thing are the trofeo seats these are trimmed in lovely leather they feel great to sit in and you get the troffeo emblem there on the headdress as well other than that it's just like a normal maserati levante's cabin which means that it sort of looks a bit old-fashioned quality is generally pretty solid though lots of leather everywhere and storage is actually really good look at that that's huge that center console got some cup holders here another storage area here with your usbs a big glove box and a decent sized door bin now the infotainment system it's okay though once again it's been the 2020 model it's actually been updated for 2021 you get a slightly different infotainment system the dials analog dars for your rev counter and your speedo though you do have a digital display in between them here in the back it's just like a normal levant in terms of space so absolutely fine though with the glass roof the headroom is limited slightly but i'm still okay and people over six foot will just about be fine but as in the front you get the lovely super duper soft high quality leather i love these seats actually it's a bit like you just sat on some really expensive italian furniture it does feel special more so than the equivalent germans before we talk about the boots i just want to shout out to that number plate v8 maserati or you could interpret that as mighty still applicable so the capacity is the same unsurprisingly as the normal levante so you've got 580 liters and it's a nice square usable shape and you can fit in seven of these size carry-on cases and they're easy to slide out because there's no load lip however if you needed to carry an extra 18 liters you'd be a bit stuck wouldn't you and therefore you'd probably want a porsche cayenne coupe because it's big capacity it's 598 liters and that handily brings me on to five annoying things about this maserati levante trafeo if you want digital climate control for the rear seats you have to pay an extra 1100 pounds which seems a little bit mean when this car actually costs 125 grand to start with this tricolore stripe it is painted on so it's not a stick which is good what's not so good though is that it doesn't quite line up with the one on the roof it feels like this should be a bit further over that's especially annoying when you consider it's an eight and a half thousand pound option european versions of the maserati levante rafael are slightly less powerful have a slightly lower top speed and a little less quick to 60 miles an hour than equivalents sold in the rest of the world for whatever reason the car key is really really heavy now this does make it feel expensive but it's a real pain to carry it around in your pocket let you see just how heavy it is you can't tell by just looking at it listen to this ow ow ow what am i doing that if your neighbor buys one of these cars you might find it really annoying when they start it first thing in the morning because it makes this kind of racket actually the way this sounds is a good thing and that brings me on to five cool features about this maserati the troffeo has upgraded brakes over the normal levante so you have six piston calipers at the front and 380 millimeter discs the discs at the back are 330 millimeters also maserati has tuned the car's abs system to just make it a little bit more sporty you get a limited slip differential at the rear axle to help make sure that the tyre with the most grip gets the most power that also helps in slingshotting you out of the corner as well as the normal and sport driving mode you also get a coarser driving mode of course there is italian for a race and that sets the car up in its most aggressive settings for some really serious driving the car's height adjustable air suspension has been recalibrated so it's stiffer than on the normal avante and when you go in the car's sportiest setting it lowers down by 35 millimeters also the four-wheel drive system normally drives along in rear drive only but it can send 50 of the power to the front wheels if you need that extra grip this is the reason you buy this suv what we have here is a ferrari 3.8 liter twin turbo v8 now maserati has changed a few of the internals and some of the ancillaries but this engine was built in marine airline look at it as well you can tell it's got like the red rocker covers that you expect in a ferrari it's pretty much the same engine as in the port athena the performance is good as well 580 horsepower and 730 newton meters of torque okay i'm going to launch this thing see how quickly it will do not to 60 miles an hour supposed to do it in 4.1 seconds but what's the reality says launch it put it into drive pull up on the left paddle start launch control here we go release the brake oh the italians lied they absolutely lied whoa not 60 3.8 seconds that is well quick i thought it was going to be slow than they claimed that's normally how the italians were but oh no that's nuts let's be honest this is a big heavy suv weighs over 2.1 tons but it's a sporty suv so let's see what it's like on a twisty road i'm going to put the drive select mode into sport factory press it again going to coarser so it's going to reduce my safety systems a bit and lower the suspension as well as stiffening it and adding weight to the steering so this all-wheel drive system is mainly rear drive when you're just driving along normally and then if it detects some slip it will send some power to the front wheels for a big old thing it goes on corners pretty well while the suspension has got stiffer it doesn't feel overly stiff and it does feel a bit lively this thing but this engine is just insanely good oh i love it perhaps any weakness really is the steering i'm not really feeling much through it just seems artificial but this car is gripping and it's not leaning much in these bends it's all about the engine though really you just buy this car for the engine you want an suv you want a ferrari bread engine oh the response and the sound this sounds better than the german v8s it just does and the rest of the car is just about good enough to make it acceptable you can have a bit of fun in this big brute though i do think that an audi rsq8 is just sharper to drive and if you click on the pop-up banner up there you can watch my full in-depth video review of that car all right let's see what this maserati levante troffeo is like on the motorway this car is fitted with the optional upgraded cruise control system so it'll do that thing where it'll keep you a safe distance from the car in front and steer to keep you in line so let's just try it out i'll just engage it now there we go put the auto steer on so we're engaged i can alter the distance on from the car in front by pressing this button and it will change that distance bring my speed up make a bit quicker the way the steering works oh it's complaining because i'm not touching the steering wheel and rightly so the way it works is it's a bit jerky then if you can see it's like the way it does it to keep you in line it's not the smoothest could be better for that 2 500 pounds price really it works fine enough and if you're doing long distances in this car it is an option you're probably going to want to tick let's face it options on a maserati you can't expect them to be cheap no matter what they are finally let's see what this levante troffeo is like around town do you know what i thought the suspension would be a disaster at low speed but it's not it actually goes over bumps pretty well it does have a firm edge to it so you do get rocked side to side occasionally when you hit a bump but it's not bad it's all right they're doing a decent job and there's a certain way to drive this car it's it's like this in town that's just at the right height this armrest here's at the right height it's it's perfect can i get around the mini roundabout you doing doing it this way though trying to remain cool oh oh no oh no i'm gonna have to mount a curb the turning circle isn't quite good enough and i've lost my call because i've had to sit forward like a normal person thankfully the steering is really light so not so great when you're going really quickly which is kind of the idea with this car but round town brilliant i'm going to do something else back to the front as well that's the gear shift so now i'm going to change the pedals actually it's pretty decent mould delay look press the button change up i wouldn't bother running it in manual mode this is just going to drive in auto it's brilliant in auto this gearbox yeah yeah we go back to the right position there we are yeah in my levante trafeo my sporty suv let's go around come on i can do it there we go that's i'm still cool but still cool so then what's my final verdict on the maserati levante trafeo should you avoid it should you consider it should you shortlist it or should you just go right ahead and buy it well i reckon you should shortlist it it's got a fabulous engine which is reason enough to buy it alone yet the rest of the car is actually pretty good as well i'm surprised i thought it was going to be crap but it's actually really rather good i hope you all enjoyed the video if you did please give it a like and if you click on that window there you can watch the lamborghini uras drag racing aventador and huracan and if you click on that window there you can watch a ferrari gtc4 lusso drag racing slr mclaren and an aston martin dbs and if you click on that box there you can download the carl app it's completely free and you can use it to scan the number plate of any car with your phone and they'll give you a valuation on that car go check it out\n"