The Maserati MC20 on the track
The new Italian supercar from Maserati has been unveiled a while ago, but there have been no deliveries yet, the MC20, which is short for Maserati Corse 2020, will only go on sale later this year, and we’ve all seen the bright white press car by now, it was featured in numerous online articles and countless YouTube videos, but when Maserati took one of their pre-production prototypes onto the famous Modena track in Italy, they still covered her in a black camouflage dress.
The Maserati MC20 was taken around Fiorano, the Ferrari test track in disguise, probably to finalize tuning on things like suspension, electronic driving aids, and possibly some engine fine-tuning. The MC20 will come with a twin-turbo, twin-combustion 3.0-Liter V6 engine with a power output of 621 hp and 729 Nm of torque, the soul of the engine is the innovative pre-chamber combustion system featuring twin-spark plugs. This technology is derived from Formula 1 and is now available, for the first time, on an engine destined for the road.
An 8-speed, dual-clutch automatic transmission will propel the 1,500 kg (3,306 lbs) heavy Maserati MC20 from 0 to 100 km/h in only 2.9 seconds, this Italian beauty will run out of breath by the time she reaches her top speed of 323 km/h (201 mph), which brings her clearly into supercar territory.
And the price is in supercar regions too, the MSRP for the Maserati MC20 for the United States market has been set at $210,000, and it seems they aren’t finished with the MC20 lineup yet, rumor has it they are already preparing a Barchetta version as we speak, and their roadmap even lists a fully-electric MC20 shortly, the monocoque for the MC20 was specifically developed with these three variants in mind.
If you remember, the MC20 comes with five driving modes, selected using the selector on the central console: WET, GT, SPORT, and CORSA. Each one is identified by its own color: WET green; GT blue; SPORT red; CORSA yellow; ESC OFF orange.
Driving modes are selected by turning the selector for a few seconds. For example, the car starts in the default GT mode. It only takes a movement of half a second in the direction of the mode required to switch from GT to SPORT (on the right) or WET (on the left). Or the driver can press the selector for 2 seconds to choose CORSA mode. Pressing for 5 seconds switches to ESC Off mode. The longer time is to ensure that the driver has chosen this mode intentionally and not by mistake.
Most likely the Maserati engineers are working on setting the parameters for these driving modes to perfection during these final track runs, it is also very important to get everything just right as the button in the center of the driving mode selector enables the driver to adjust the suspension. It is useful in SPORT or CORSA modes when the suspensions are extremely stiff. Pressing the Suspension button makes the suspensions more comfortable and less stiff. This is particularly useful on uneven ground since it gives the driver a sporty yet comfortable driving experience.
MC20 is the first Maserati to be painted in the futuristic new Modena plant, the new line equipped with innovative, environment-friendly technologies. A new range of colors has been invented for MC20 and will remain exclusive to this model. The range comprises six shades: Bianco Audace, Giallo Genio, Rosso Vincente, Blu Infinito, Nero Enigma, and Grigio Mistero, my guess is that the test-mule recently seen at the Fiorano track was finished in Nero Enigma.
