First Drives

20 May 2025

Ucluelet, BC — For 2026, Hyundai’s popular Ioniq full-electric brand of cars and crossovers is expanding with its biggest entry...

First Drive: 2025 Volkswagen Golf GTI

1 May 2025

Summit Point, WV – It may seem a touch, well, odd that we’re at a race track to experience the...

First Drive: 2026 Audi A6 Avant

26 April 2025

Telões, Portugal – You can’t always get what you want. In the case of the 2026 Audi A6 Avant wagon,...

Audi Previews Streamlined 2026 A6 sedan

15 April 2025

Telões, Portugal– In its 2026 refresh, Audi has turned its A6 sedan into an aerodynamic masterpiece. With a drag co-efficient of...

First Drive: 2025 Ford Bronco Sport Sasquatch

Peter Bleakney

Game Changers

11 April 2025

Borrego Springs, California– “Drive fast enough and you’ll stay ahead of the dust cloud.” This instruction runs through my head...

First Drive: 2025 Audi Q5 and SQ5

Jeff Voth

1 April 2025

Málaga, Spain– The sun-drenched roads of southern Spain, provide an idyllic backdrop to experience the all-new 2025 Audi Q5 and...

First Drive: 2025 Audi S3

12 March 2025

Judging by the burbling growl that announced its arrival, the vehicle rolling into the driveway should have been some kind...

First Drive: 2025 Audi Q6 e-tron

Benjamin Yong

10 February 2025

For discerning luxury EV crossover consumers seeking more practicality than the Audi Q4 e-tron can offer, but possessing a smaller...

First Drive: 2025 Infiniti QX80

Jeff Voth

1 February 2025

There’s a certain kind of logic that kicks in when you’re sitting in front of a fireplace at the Fairmont...

First Drive: 2024 Jeep Wagoneer S Launch Edition

27 January 2025

It wasn’t that long ago – well, actually, it was some time ago, now that I think about it –...

First Drive: 2025 Nissan Armada

18 December 2024

Franklin, Tennessee – “Anything worth doing is worth overdoing.” These words sat prominently atop the opening slide of Nissan’s media...

First Drive: 2025 Volkswagen Taos

16 December 2024

San Antonio, TX — For VW fans, the early 2020s were somewhat sad times. Fresh off the fiasco that was...

First Drive: 2025 Audi RS 3

9 December 2024

Sitges, Spain — The automotive world sure has changed a lot over the past decade. For proof of that fact,...

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First Drive: 2025 Aston Martin Vanquish

Team Vicarious

2 December 2024

By Matt Bubbers Seen under the Sardinian sun, Aston Martin’s all-new Vanquish doesn’t look like the lairy monster its spec...

First Drive: 2024 McLaren 750S

30 November 2024

This first drive review was originally published in the summer 2024 issue of Vicarious magazine. Palm Spring, California – I...

Featured Car: 2024 Lamborghini Revuelto

20 November 2024

It’s amazing; seems that just yesterday, hybrid vehicles were complete oddities in the car and light truck world. Today, the...

First Drive: 2025 Mazda CX-50 Hybrid

13 November 2024

Vancouver, BC — So you’re Mazda. You’re a small-ish car company in the grand scheme of things that makes fantastic-looking...

True confession time: This driver has a soft spot for most vehicles bearing the legendary trident and for the Maserati GranTurismo in particular. While picking style over substance is never a safe bet when it comes to high-performance vehicles, the GranTurismo has been an absolutely stunning grand touring coupe from the very beginning. The very beginning began way back in 2007 with the release of the first-generation model. That model was in production from that point until 2019 and it didn’t change much over that period. The reason, probably? It didn’t need to change much. The original design, penned by Jason Castriota when he was with Pininfarina, is/was both timeless and beautiful, the very definition of a collectible GT. To bring more than a measure of substance into the discussion, the GranTurismo was powered by a 4.2-litre V-8 gasoline engine developed in partnership with Ferrari. Fun Ferrari fact: At the time, the GranTurismo was the least expensive Ferrari-engined production vehicle in the world. (Thus, even more collectible.) Now, we have the arrival of the second-generation Maserati GranTurismo—and changes have been made. The question is: Do these changes make the new GT more, less or equally desirable as the original? To find out, a select group of lucky souls journeyed to the Eternal City to sample the car and its all-electric equivalent, the GranTurismo Folgore. First things first: Although the electrified GranTurismo and the petrol-powered variant were developed in parallel, the car is surprisingly similar in design to the last-generation model. Without question, the average onlooker would recognize the new GT as a Maserati GranTurismo: the lines are strikingly similar, the design far more evolution than revolution. Under the guidance of chief designer Klaus Busse, the team at Maserati opted to retain the classic proportions of the 2+2 grand tourer, here featuring an elongated hood and four rounded fenders. This design, called the “cofango”—an amalgam of the Italian words for “hood” and “fender”—evokes Italian style from the past, on display in cars such as the original Maserati Birdcage from the late-1950s. Yet, despite its clear links to both the recent past and deeper into the archives, the new GranTurismo is significantly different. According to Busse, dimensions have increased only marginally, but the interior has added space for four adult passengers and there’s 100 litres more storage capacity in the trunk. All versions of the Maserati send drive to all four wheels now. While this always adds weight to a car, the new GranTurismo is lighter than the outgoing version. Finally, the new design shares no body panels with the previous model. So—while the latest GT resembles its predecessor, it’s very different under the surface. Here’s another big change to consider: Instead of a Ferrari V-8 under the hood, there’s a twin-turbocharged 3.0-litre V-6. If this sounds like a step down… well, it kind of is because it’s not a Ferrari engine and it’s not a V-8. On the other hand, it is the same engine that powers the Maserati MC20, detuned a bit for the GranTurismo application. For the base model, codenamed the GranTurismo Modena, this engine develops 490 horsepower and 443 pound-feet of torque. For the high-performing Trofeo variant, the engine is boosted a bit to the tune of 550 horsepower and 479 lb-ft of torque. (To be fair, all these numbers are higher than for the V-8.) Performance figures for the Trofeo are right about where you want a modern GT to land: 0-100 km/h in 3.5 seconds and a top speed of 320 km/h. These numbers are backed up by the actual drive experience, which in this case was a leisurely route that began on the cobblestone streets of Rome, extended to the sweeping vistas of Tuscany and then on to the industrial areas just outside and within Modena city limits. For this trip, drivers were encouraged to switch from the GranTurismo Trofeo to the all-electric Folgore and back, a daring move on the part of Maserati. This structure gave everyone the opportunity to choose his or her favourite—old school or new school. There’s no question that the Folgore is faster in a straight line and it’s probably quicker around corners to boot. But the tuning experts at Maserati know full well that the sound of an internal combustion engine at full song is something with enduring value. So, if the Trofeo is slightly more relaxed than its electrified twin as far as the stopwatch is concerned, it still sounds fast and it still feels fast. The chassis is responsive and engaging, aided by an electronic rear slip differential, and the steering is light but accurate. Under power, the 8-speed automatic transmission is resolute and precise, snapping up and down through the gears smartly. The brakes are solid under foot, reliably powerful and easily able to bleed speed. There are certain characteristics you expect to find in a modern GT car that’s priced well north of six figures. The 2024 Maserati GranTurismo Trofeo meets the mandate with style and panache, offering class-competitive driving dynamics, all the requisite luxury amenities and space for four adult passengers. Here in Canada, the car starts at $222,500—an eye-watering number, to be sure—but there’s so much to admire here.

Featured Car: 2024 Maserati GranTurismo Trofeo

9 November 2024

Modena, Italy: It’s true confession time. This driver has a soft spot for most vehicles bearing the legendary trident and...

First Drive: 2025 Audi A3 and S3

Jeff Voth

5 November 2024

It is always a joy returning to Germany to test drive a new vehicle. There is such a difference between...

First Drive: 2025 Kia K4

30 October 2024

After the 2024 model year, we say goodbye to the somewhat funky yet appealing Kia Forte sedan (as well as...

First Drive: 2025 Chevrolet Tahoe and Suburban

18 October 2024

Dallas, TX – Don’t look now, but the Chevrolet Suburban has the longest-running nameplate in the car and light truck...

First Drive: 2024 Range Rover Sport SV

12 October 2024

First published in Vicarious magazine- Spring 2024 When engineering a modern high-performance vehicle, it’s important to keep a certain role...

First Drive: 2025 Maserati GranCabrio + GranCabrio Folgore

10 October 2024

Stresa, Italy- Last year saw the release of the latest-generation Maserati GranTurismo and its electrified kin, the Folgore. The notion to...

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Behind the Lens- A Day in the Life of a Freelance Automotive Journalist

Mercedes Lilienthal

9 October 2024

You never know where life may take you. What was a near-20-year commercial interior design and project management career morphed...

First Drive: 2025 Nissan Kicks

Kristin Pitman

24 September 2024

Picture this: You’re driving along the coast of Santa Barbara, California with the glistening Pacific Ocean on one side and...

First Drive: 2025 Volkswagen Jetta

6 September 2024

The 2025 Volkswagen Jetta refresh is a cosmetic job, and one that seems entirely designed to aid the sedan’s marketability....

First Drive: 2025 Genesis GV80 Coupe

9 August 2024

Minneapolis, MN — The 2025 Genesis GV80 Coupe is the latest entrant in the somewhat topsy-turvy world of the four-door...

First Drive: 2025 Porsche Taycan Turbo GT

Kunal D'souza