The Maserati GT2 Stradale Is a Muscular Performer That Could Use More Visceral Punch

The Maserati GT2 Stradale has a freak flag to fly. Its rear wing—traced with “Maserati” script—is large enough to float a Wright brother and announces the car’s descent from the marque’s championship-winning racer from the GT2 European Series. Flap the butterfly doors, cozy into a cocoon of Sabelt racing seats, and let your eyes settle on an exposed carbon-fiber tub: No carpet here to absorb sound or cushion feet. This Maserati aims to blur the lines between track and street, and the scenery along with it.

The marque’s MC20, which was the Robb Report editorial team’s pick for 2023 Car of the Year (though it finished third overall in the annual contest) provides the blank canvas for this new Modenese machine. Considered by some as a six-cylinder underdog in the supercar category, the MC20 is unreservedly handsome, with a gentleman’s touch born of the Trident brand’s long association with grand tourers.

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The reengineered GT2 Stradale, though, raises its sights, seeking entree to an exclusive club that might be called “Supercar Plus.” Think Ferrari’s 458 Speciale or 812 Competizione models, Lamborghini’s lurid Huracán STO, McLaren’s 750S, or Porsche’s 911 GT3 RS. But while this Maserati can certainly fly, it doesn’t quite make the leap to those visceral heights.

The GT2 Stradale recently shimmied its broad hips for me in Andalusia, Spain, departing from the shores of Marbella on a jaunt that included a twirl through 3.4 miles and 26 corners of the Circuito Ascari race resort. Even under a battalion’s worth of aero-enhancing body armor, the Maserati’s sinuous styling shines through, courtesy of designer Klaus Busse, who tells us that the car “has the right elements to be aggressive, without going over the line.”

Those elements, in the form of darkened slats, vents, and protrusions, are all functional business. Mounted on aluminum pylons, the vast rear wing glues the Maserati to the pavement with up to 583 pounds of downforce, and manually adjusts through three angles of attack. Then there’s the broadened oval “shark mouth,” fronted by a Trident badge, that admits more air and directs it through hood vents to generate nearly 300 pounds of front downforce. Vents atop front fenders expel brake heat and relieve wheel pressure. Enlarged carbon-fiber “cupolas” atop rear fenders inhale air to feed the mid-mounted engine and radiators, boosting the flow of cold air by 16 percent. A chunkier rear diffuser also helps keep the Maser on the straight-and-narrow at extreme speeds.

The GT2 Stradale sheds 132 pounds versus the MC20, for a (highly optimistic) claimed dry weight of 3,023 pounds. Those dramatic, double-shell carbon seats save 22 pounds each, with less-extreme Sport seats available. Center-lock, 20-inch forged wheels and carbon-ceramic brakes help ditch more weight. LED shift lights trace the upper rim of a thickened steering wheel. (More of this, Maserati). Beyond the lack of carpeting, the interior is strikingly minimal and features thinner Alcantara wrappings.

Ensconced in those wraparound seats, I ease the Maserati toward Ronda, its “1 of 914” console plaque an assurance of exclusivity, and an apparent nod to the company’s creation in 1914. The GT2 Stradale generates 631 hp from the twin-turbo Nettuno V-6, up nominally from 621 hp in the MC20 and open-air MC20 Cielo. That’s lusty output for a mere 3.0-liter engine, literally sparked by the Nettuno’s calling card: pre-ignition chambers atop each cylinder that set off an initial charge of fuel and air, which jet into cylinders like little flamethrowers for more efficient and thorough combustion. That fiery sextet sends power to the rear wheels via the same eight-speed, dual-clutch Tremec automated gearbox you’ll find in a C8 Corvette.

Maserati cites a zero-to-60 mph time of 2.8 seconds, and a top speed of 201 mph. Time to try it out: On a winding hillside route, I squeeze the throttle along a straight, then crank through a few dozen curves, enough to appreciate the serene chassis and lavish grip from optional Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2 tires. But 20 minutes in, there’s already some ambivalence: The Maserati feels fast, but not brain-meltingly fast.

Steering is agile and well-weighted, though a touch shy on road feedback. Despite having stiffer springs versus the MC20, the car offers a ride quality that remains pleasingly supple through retuned Bilstein adaptive dampers, even in sportier drive modes. The suspension, to Maserati’s credit, can be adjusted— through three firmness settings—independently of other performance parameters. The transmission proves less flexible: Set to the highest Corsa mode, its kidney-punching gear changes are so obtrusive that I immediately dial things back to “Sport.”

Those sweet, sticky Michelin Cup 2’s are part of an optional, $13,750 Performance Pack. That package upsizes carbon-ceramic brakes at all four wheels, adds an electronic limited-slip differential, and offers four sub-settings within Corsa mode to steadily ease back on stability and traction oversight.

Oversight became an issue at Ascari, an unusually lush and scenic circuit where I sought a deeper glimpse into the GT2 Stradale’s racier soul. For its part, Maserati says the GT2 trimmed five seconds from the MC20’s lap time at Stellantis’ Balocco test track in Italy. Our shotgun-riding instructors kept us on somewhat short leashes in Spain, but I managed to squeeze in enough laps to get a sense of the Maserati’s power and personality.

Even at speeds where the Maserati’s prodigious downforce isn’t on display, a sense of balance is among the clearest takeaways. Drivers can lean hard on front tires during corner exits, and the rear end plays right along, with nary a hint of unwanted surprises. That confidence helps the GT2 Stradale bend into Ascari’s faster corners with graceful, approachable ease.

I’ve never much cared for the MC20’s brake feel, and despite the GT2’s added stopping power, that hasn’t changed: There’s too much pedal travel before serious deceleration kicks in, and the pedal itself could be more sensitive to small pressure changes.

With its petite displacement and no hybrid-electric assist, the twin-turbo Nettuno saves its best punch for mid-to-upper rev ranges, including a generous 531 ft lbs of torque between 3,000 and 5,500 rpm. Peak output arrives at 7,500 rpm. But a bit like McLaren’s first V-8 in its early 12C road car— whose uninspired blat recalled that of a marine engine—the Nettuno has never been an especially tuneful motor. Where the convertible MC20 Cielo adds aural diversion via whooshing turbo accompaniment, the closed-roof, largely uninsulated GT2 amplifies the Nettuno’s most-monochrome, boomy frequencies. It’s just not the soundtrack I prefer in my supercar, especially having come straight from the Beethoven-like majesty of the GT3 engine in the Porsche 718 Spyder RS.

Gliding back to Marbella, I have time to consider the supercar universe, and where this $313,995 Maserati—a roughly $80,000 upcharge over a standard MC20—fits in the firmament. In, say, a Ferrari 296 GTB, I’m forever marveling at how its F1-derived systems deliver such all-encompassing performance, but in a holistic, transparent way. In the McLaren 750S, I feel as if I’m transported, Star Trek–style, into an adjacent galaxy.

And that’s the thing. Supercars in this elevated category are supposed to feel transformative and scarcely believable, from the moment you hop aboard to the moment you reemerge. The GT2 Stradale has the racy looks down pat, and some of the moves, but it never left my hands quivering or my head reeling. It’s still too much the gentleman for that.

Click here for more photos of the Maserati GT2 Stradale.

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