V8 Levante

Yes, I know.
Once I almost bought a race car from the Trofeo MC World Series 2014.

As you can read user Bay had doubts regarding the name "Trofeo" because Alfa Romeo used this name already for a few "special" models. I guess now is it clear, his doubts were unnecessary.

 

For Maserati in the 21st century anyway Trofeo had a very different meaning until now. It was much more than Sport. At best this new version of the Levante is a Sport model so this a quite tortured use of the term for cutesy marketing purposes.
Maserati has been quite sloppy when it comes to respecting and with the caretaking ever single the end of the 60-70s era GT cars. They neglected to protect the Bora name so now it's VW POS . They never should have named the Biturbo coupe redesign a Ghibli II because it wasn't one even if it was a nice car. Then they used it again for a mid sized sedan more recently. Is there a Corvette sedan or Thunderbird sedan? No. So Trofeo it its then. Whatever ...

 

Very boring side profile. They missed an opportunity to make it stand out more from the side with some interesting differences from the regular model.

 

Then again there is always this .........https://www.kbb.com/oldsmobile/toronado/1992/trofeo-coupe-2d/

 

IMO you're right Boo, I fully agree, that could be done better.

 

And here a rather positive association:

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My wife wants one of these Trofeo's and there is nada at the dealership and even limited videos online. Hopefully more info will flow in soon.

 

Yeah, same here. We are planning to trade the QP GTS for one later this year if we can get one. I would be happy with the GTS but someone else has said that isn't going to be in the US for another year.

 

Ok perfect, no rush for us! I have heard nothing thus far.

 

Production will supposedly start this summer, so pretty soon: https://www.caranddriver.com/news/2019-maserati-levante-trofeo-photos-and-info-news

 

From the article: "A special Levante Trofeo Launch Edition, offered only in the United States and Canada, includes additional black exterior details, a serialized Launch Edition badge on the center console, and available black leather seats with Launch Edition–exclusive blue or yellow stitching. Production of the Levante Trofeo begins this summer with sales expected to start shortly thereafter."

 

Oh goody, who doesn't want a serialized launch edition badge on the center console so that you know it's special! Will it say limited somewhere on the exterior as well?

 

I traded my RRS Autobiography for a '19 GTS a few weeks ago and I'm very happy with it so far. I drove all over Hell's half acre last weekend (300+miles) and had a blast. I was a little weary of the interior downgrade from the RRS at first but the motor and great stereo make all that go away. Thing fits like a glove, sounds great and hauls ass!

Still considering a Formula Dynamics chip, though... Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login

 

Probably a stupid question to ask you at this point since I suspect that you've had your foot planted in it most of the time but ... one of these is available near me for $66K with 28K miles and I'm wondering what the real world mileage is like if you're careful? Is it even 14/18? A stelvio Quadrifilio isn't quite the same thing but ... it's performance is close AND I'm hearing highway mileage can be in the mid 20's if you're careful.

 

After 3 tanks... 8-10 full-footed, 14-16 with restraint. 20's would be like staring at a pepperoni pizza while eating rice cakes! Who the hell wants to do that? It's a lot of vehicle for the $$.

 

Thanks.

 

These are reviews of the Trofeo version MY 2020 which has a bit more HP but what I'm wondering is if the GTS version with a slightly detuned V8 has all the great handling characteristics?

These guys love the car.
I can see that the engine bay isn't quite as spectacular.




VERY long so skip to the 18 min mark.

 

The Trofeo does have slightly different springs and launch control, as well as the extra 40hp for the 40K of MSRP over the GTS. Of course the delta between them used is much less. Formula Dynamics can remap a GTS ECU to get 60bhp and (I think?) 40#torque for $1595, which puts it at 610. They can't get 60 more out of the Trofeo though. They do suspension too so it's just a matter of money and inconvenience. Cheaper to mod a GTS than paying more for a Trofeo.

 

One other thing I noticed is that brakes on the Trofeo are much bigger. I'm not sure I would need that. It seems that oil/filter service is @ 10K miles and that some people change their tires about the same time as well.

 

I haven't had any circumstances that I felt I needed more brakes yet. I looked at some listings and see that a Trofeo similar to my GTS in miles and options would be 18-22K more so, in my mind, a <10K difference would be more justifiable. I'll probably do the Formula Dynamics ECU after my warranty expires early next year so it feels "New again". YMMV

Either way, I'm loving this vehicle so far. I haven't had a vehicle that shakes my house on cold starts since the straight-piped + Tubi 550 days!

 

I just did a 20-mile freeway run with the I.C.E. setting on, and it reached 18.2 AVG MPG. I suspect it would have gone a little higher had I not pushed it earlier in the trip.

 

I saw this GTS color combo (green / tan) and thought it was really nice but apparently most them are white or black

 

I saw that one. Interesting combo.

 

I think I may have been wrong about this. But they're certainly not as ginormous as those found on some of their competition. AFAIK no carbon rotors available either. I've never owned a car that had those like the Alfa Quadrofoglio can have. I'm not sure I even want to go there ...