I had the opportunity to shoot the new "Maserati of SUVs", which makes me wonder what you guys think of it?

Will the Levante really change the sport SUV market?

Lovely Levante by yupicard, on Flickr

Drama by yupicard, on Flickr

Drama by yupicard, on Flickr

It's nice but not as cool as the F-Pace.

I'd get a Range Rover SVR (or whatever it's called) for sure.

I doubt it's nothing groundbreaking. The design certainly is nothing new (it just looks like a mish-mash of other cars). Plus since it's a modern Maserati and I believe related to the Ghibli, it'll almost certainly be junk. For the money, a Porsche Cayenne, Range Rover Sport, or literally any other SUV would likely be better.

With that being said, you did take some nice photos lol.

I think its the worst thing I've ever seen.

To call that a Maserati is embarrassing. It's just a political no-no, there was no thought put into this car, just a Ghibli on steroids. Hideous machine. I'd get one of them GLE63 S AMG's if I wanted a SUV of a similar size.

I think I get to be the dissenting opinion this morning :D With the influx of SUVs coming to the Luxury marketplace (F-Pace, Levante, Macan, Bentayga) and the soon to be (Urus, Rolls-Royce's SUV, the rumoured SUV from Aston Martin) the Maserati is one of the better Sports/Sedan to SUV transitions. Spent an hour driving the Levante during Auto Week in Pebble this year and loved the muscular, throaty growl and attention paid to the suspension (let's say it corners at high speeds very well). Of course the design needs some finessing but that is going to be the case for any first run. (If you spend time looking over the details you'll see the Alfieri concept show through...)

As for the F-Pace... we took one of the first off the line production models out for a spin and I was disappointed that so much of what was making Jaguar great again was not present (ahem...where is the F-Type growl that I fell in love with?). A little too much old-Jaguar. Then again, the Levante was around three years from drawing board to production while the F-Pace made its appearance in under 12 months.

Couldn't care less for it, same for the Ghibli and Quattroporte. Once the GranTurismos gone I won't care for Maserati as a whole.

But no, I don't feel it's groundbreaking. The F-Pace is more of a success imo and that's the crossover I'd rather have. The fact that it doesn't have that growl is good. I love the F-Type but I cannot express how much I hate the fake exhaust notes of today's sports cars with their fake pops and crackles. That said, pretty color and impressive shoot!

For the most part it looks like a normal car with maserati badges on it.

And a fancy paint job. Same with the Quattroporte. The only one outside of the GranTurismo that has a little bit of originality is the Ghibli.

Ive seen a Bentayga and the Maserati in person both now, the Bentley is much more impressive and not as ugly in person. It is a quite large vehicle where as the Maserati is rather small. However the Bentley is 3 times as much. But I was impressed with the interior space in the Maserati, its just ugly.

I was actually surprised at how cheap the Levante starts at. That and the Bentayga really can't be compared at that price point. I didn't get a chance to look at the inside of the Maserati, but I can't imagine it's any better than a Cayenne S or even much different from a Macan.

If i have to buy a SUV, it would be a X5 or a X6.

- If i want a levante, i'll buy a Mazda CX5. Its cheaper, better quality and it looks the same
- Mercedes wanted to copy the X6 with GLE, but failed
- Macan and Cayenne...Porsche should have sticked with the 911.
- SQ5, a diesel tractor with a sound module that imitates a petrol engine to fool people
- Range Rover looks good but is not reliable
- Bentagya the second ugliest SUV on earth (1st is the SsangYong Actyon. At least ssangoung does not make you pay 250000$ for his horror

I've heard great things about the handling of the Macan and Cayenne. At Car Week we test drive a Cayenne Turbo S and it was an excellent car.

Is the SQ5 only a diesel in Europe? In the US it's a gasoline powered car.

Haha you're kidding right? The Bentayga is quite nice.