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The event, features different challenges for people to try out the 2019 model year range in the Italian luxury automaker’s portfolio unleashing the power of more than 1,000 Italian-bred horses of the GranTurismo and the Levante vehicles. Motoring enthusiasts will also be able to see the newly arrived, powerful 550 HP V8 Levante GTS.
Professional drivers flown in from the Maserati Academy in Italy will drive aficionados of the trident-badged marque who booked their preferred sessions. Guests will be able to experience exhilarating performance driving sessions in the only luxury sports coupe in the Italian brand’s line-up, the evergreen GranTurismo, for the first time in the region. The Maserati of SUVs, the Levante will also be driven over a specially designed course with exciting driving activities including brake test, hill climb/descent, axle articulation and slalom.
“Maserati Unleashed in the City is designed to give automotive connoisseurs a taste of this superb experience with the GranTurismo and the Levante, and introduce the 2019 model range, including the V8 Levante GTS, to them in a convenient setting,” said Jad Elias, Vice President, Maserati Sales at Al Tayer Motors.
Test drives in the executive sports sedan Ghibli and flagship Quattroporte are also available at the venue.
“The multi-sensory treat that a Maserati vehicle provides its owner, from the sporty power and sound of its Ferrari-built engine, the exquisite craftsmanship of its premium leather interiors, unmistakable Italian design and styling, to its precise handling and driving capability is unrivalled,” said Domenico La Marte, General Manager Maserati Middle East and Africa.
The Levante GTS has a powerful Twin Turbo V8 on a finely tuned chassis combined with an elegantly restyled exterior and an exclusive interior wrapped in full premium leather delivering the quintessential SUV in terms of outright performance, road handling and sporty pedigree.
Prices of the Levante GTS start at AED 549,000/- and the vehicles are available through Al Tayer Motors showrooms in Dubai and Sharjah, and the Premier Motors showroom in Abu Dhabi.
Levante GTS - The V8 Maserati of SUVs
Highlights
Model Overview
The quintessential V8 Levante
The Levante GTS is equipped with one of the most powerful engines ever fitted in a Maserati. The 3.8-litre Twin Turbo V8 engine is a re-engineered, upgraded version of the power unit fitted in the flagship Quattroporte GTS, delivering 550hp (404kW) at 6,250 rpm and 730 Nm peak torque at 2,500 – 5,000 rpm. Like any other petrol Maserati engine, this V8 has been developed by Maserati Powertrain in cooperation with Ferrari and is manufactured in its state-of-the art factory of Maranello.
Thanks to its remarkable weight / power ratio of 3.9 kg/hp the Levante GTS needs only 4.2 seconds to reach 100 km/h, while its top speed is 292 km/h. These figures fairly describe a modern supercar disguised in a high-end SUV body.
The chassis of the Levante GTS has been meticulously tuned to handle the higher power output, providing an exhilarating driving experience with no compromise in terms of long distance comfort and active safety.
The Integrated Vehicle Control (IVC) system has been incorporated to offer even better driving dynamics and road handling as well as a genuine Maserati driving experience. The new Levante GTS brings the “Gran Turismo” philosophy in the SUV segment in its purest form.
The unmistakable Levante design has reached new levels of sportiness in the GTS version. Thanks to an elegant restyling focused on the lower front fascia and the rear bumper, the Levante GTS boasts a sportier and even more sophisticated presence.
Interior designers have come up with elegant ways to create a distinctive environment within the Levante GTS cabin providing it with standard Full Premium Leather upholstery, sport pedals and Harman Kardon Audio system with 14 speakers. The human-machine interface has been further improved featuring updated display graphics and improved climate system ergonomics.
The development of this new V8 Levante GTS is an interesting story on its own. It actually started as a skunkworks project by the Maserati technical centre in Modena, well before the official launch of the SUV model in 2016. Without informing the headquarters in Viale Ciro Menotti 322, the engineers built a V8 prototype intended to test the performance limits of the Levante platform.
The performance of that unbranded V8 ‘mule’ prototype inspired the Maserati top management to proceed with the development of – not just one but - two top of the range versions, both built around the Twin Turbo V8 engine.
The development phase officially commenced in summer 2016, following the World Premiere of the Maserati of SUVs. The engineers were given a challenging timeframe and they were immediately focused, in association with their counterparts in Ferrari, on mating the V8 engine with the Q4 Intelligent All-Wheel Drive system as well as on reaching the high performance targets of the project. The bespoke fine-tuning of suspension and electronics and the inclusion of the Integrated Vehicle Control (IVC) in the ESP management were the next steps in the development phase.
In May 2017, Maserati engineers and testers were assigned around the world to test the first V8 “mule” prototypes in diverse road and extreme weather conditions, ranging from the proving grounds of Balocco, Nardò and Barcelona to the twisty, desert or icy roads of Sierra Nevada, South Africa, Arizona and Lapland. The long-term testing activities covered extreme environments and climates ranging from -35°C to well over 40°C.