Harry does the Levante

Contigo

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A shame about the limited footwell space for my long limbs. Nothing worse than legs resting against the centre tunnel etc....

Amazed we've heard nothing about the Alfa Stelvio by now which I think looks as good if not better than the Levante. Alfa really are making some cracking cars now, they just need a new 6C or 8C and lots of members on here would be jumping ship I'm sure.
 

TridentTested

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Yes the footwell does look uncomfortable. I suppose the transfer box is mounted on that side of the drive shaft.

Apart from that, and his dislike of diesels, his review is very encouraging. It does seem like a nice motor.
 

bigbob

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Ghibli has the same issue with the transmission tunnel eating into your left leg space on the driver's side in RHD.
 

Contigo

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But as he says it's just not special enough in Diesel form to wear the trident badge, yes I'd have one but would it have the appeal of the other Masers I own? No not at all, now get your finger out Maserati and release the V6 petrol version ASAP!!!!
 

bigbob

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He presents well. Funnily enough I saw a Levante parked up in Burford back in mid October. That's down the road from his house apparently and is where he filmed the urban shots in the video.
 

drewf

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But as he says it's just not special enough in Diesel form to wear the trident badge, yes I'd have one but would it have the appeal of the other Masers I own? No not at all, now get your finger out Maserati and release the V6 petrol version ASAP!!!!

Can't understand why they haven't realised the competition is both lighter and more powerful, plus they have the Diesel/Petrol engine options. Truly mad not to release the petrol engines here, since it really does need to have it to live up to the brand expectations. Plus there's the Stelvio to consider...
 

Wack61

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Diesel company cars , I know 2 people that have diesel F Paces , no way they'd pay the tax on a petrol as a company car , if it's your money it's different but in the real world luxury is more important than 2s off the 0-60 time
 

drewf

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True, but I understand the growing market now to be Personal Contracts, since the company car tax is outlandish.
 

bigbob

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Diesel company cars , I know 2 people that have diesel F Paces , no way they'd pay the tax on a petrol as a company car , if it's your money it's different but in the real world luxury is more important than 2s off the 0-60 time

Far better to take the cash and buy/finance/lease a petrol one.
 

bigbob

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Can't understand why they haven't realised the competition is both lighter and more powerful, plus they have the Diesel/Petrol engine options. Truly mad not to release the petrol engines here, since it really does need to have it to live up to the brand expectations. Plus there's the Stelvio to consider...

Adding a second turbo to the diesel engine would help as another 50PS would be liberated.
 

outrun

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And the Uk's most respected motoring journalist just confirmed what we all already knew....wrong engine. Thanks for not listening to your customers Maserati. Ever other car in the class is offered with choices. There's is no reason why the Levante should not be offered with choices, it's not as if the engines don't exist. Understanding the value proposition is key to any product.
 

bigbob

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What I liked about his review is that I could connect with it at many levels. For example, I have often had pains in my left leg after driving a Ghibli for a while and he has basically explained this by doing something so simple as measuring footwell width on both sides. Brilliant.
 

MrMickS

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I agree that to me, as a petrol head, the engine choice is wrong. However talking to people, and just looking on the roads, the majority of SUVs you see are diesel so you can understand why the push on the diesel.

Why isn't there a petrol model? Maserati have said that they are limiting the number of cars that they are going to sell in order to maintain the feeling of exclusivity, this may be ******** but does explain things a little. Maserati reckon that they can sell their entire quota of cars as diesels. If they can do that then there is no need for them to worry about making a petrol at this stage. Get the, cheaper, diesels out on the road first. They can then start selling petrols once that initial surge has gone. It simplifies the production run, all the cars are the same except the trim.

Talking to the dealers they think that a petrol model will be made available to next year. So if you want a petrol one you need to wait.

As to the Stelvio, looks nice, but it will be smaller and less luxurious than the Levante. Different market, think X3/Macan, rather than X5/Cayenne/Evoque. Its going to be a good car, but with less space and probably less luxury. The Quadrafoglio will be nuts though.

One thing I was impressed there was how well the Levante was off-road. It got to about the same spot on the icy hill as the Range Rover. Given the polo marketing etc, that would seem to be a good thing in its favour.
 

iainw

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But as he says it's just not special enough in Diesel form to wear the trident badge, yes I'd have one but would it have the appeal of the other Masers I own? No not at all, now get your finger out Maserati and release the V6 petrol version ASAP!!!!

Agree with you. I drifted off to sleep after about 2 mins. Highly underwhelming compared to his GTS review.
When the Stelvio QV hits Britain - who would buy the Leavante?
 

MrMickS

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Agree with you. I drifted off to sleep after about 2 mins. Highly underwhelming compared to his GTS review.
When the Stelvio QV hits Britain - who would buy the Leavante?

I probably would if the Levante S was available. Then again I bought a Ghibli S rather than a Giulia QV.
 

conaero

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I think its a decent effort for Maserati into the SUV field and as with any model the Italians produce, they never quite get it right out of the box but do, over the life of the model, get there.

New engines are on the way and agree, the D needs TT and the Petrol needs to the be the Giulia lump.

Great to see Harrys review, he does them so well.
 

safrane

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Not the nicest sound at the start of the video...thought it would be a little quieter even for a DERV.