2022 Maserati Levante Reviews, Pricing & Specs

Over the past decade, the rise of the SUV has forced formerly purist automakers to rethink their core missions. Can a company that’s all about the driving experience put out a vehicle type seemingly antithetical to everything they stand for?

While their hearts said no, the economics said yes. Porsche was the first to step over the enthusiast line with the Cayenne SUV, which was met with outrage from some Porsche fans. But the Cayenne soon became Porsche’s best-selling vehicle, credited with saving the company from ruin. BMW and Mercedes-Benz soon followed suit with M and AMG versions, respectively, of their existing SUVs to appeal to driving enthusiasts. In more recent years, Alfa Romeo, Lamborghini, Aston Martin, Bentley, and Rolls-Royce have produced luxury performance SUVs, and even Ferrari is teasing its new Purosangue SUV. So, when Maserati launched the Levante as a 2017 model, it drove across well-trod territory.

The Levante immediately announces its brand heritage with a prominent grille bearing the Maserati Trident logo. Three port openings on each front fender also link to the Maserati design ethos. The SUV’s body looks like it received extensive attention from designers and engineers, with a sleek shape refined in wind-tunnel testing. The roofline swoops in coupe-like fashion and the fenders are tucked into the body, not bulging in a show of muscularity. The headlights are inset into the front fascia, wrapping smoothly around the fenders. Overall, the exterior styling looks elegant, fast, and a little exotic.

Inside, things are a little less successful. The dashboard is a bit bulky and divided into thirds—driver, center stack, and passenger sections. Though connected physically, the areas don’t relate well visually. The center console is quite beefy for the size of the cabin, taking some space American physiques might have appreciated.

But the real letdown is the feel of the switchgear and control stalks. While most of the Levante’s design, materials selection (including standard leather upholstery and a leather-wrapped steering wheel), and build quality signal luxury, the parts-bin quality of the turn-signal and windshield wiper control stalks, along with the lighting switches, feel like the exact items you’d find in an entry-level Chrysler 300. Sure, the controls work just fine. But they feel cheap—a big mistake in a vehicle competing with other luxury performance SUVs.

Now to the fun part. It doesn’t make sense, but Italian cars sound different than American, German, British, and Japanese cars. It could be in the exhaust tuning, or it could be in the engines themselves. But the Levante has the sound, and for some buyers, that may be enough to tip the scales in its favor.

The base engine in the Maserati Levante GT and Modena trim levels is a 3.0-liter V6 with twin turbochargers and direct gasoline injection, tuned to produce 345 horsepower and 369 pound-feet of torque in the GT and 424 hp and 428 lb-ft of torque in the Modena. Europe and some other markets get a four-cylinder mild hybrid setup as the base powertrain, but not the U.S.

The Modena S trim level gets a twin-turbo 90-degree V8 with direct injection, putting out 550 hp and 538 lb-ft of torque. The Trofeo trim level uses the same V8 but cranking out 580 hp and 538 lb-ft of torque. All trim levels use an eight-speed automatic transmission sourced from ZF (an industry staple) and AWD.

Maserati states 0-60 mph times scaling from 5.8 seconds for the GT down to as low as 3.8 seconds for the Trofeo trim—which is quick for any vehicle, let alone something with a roughly 5,000-pound curb weight. The top speed is from 156 mph to 187 mph, depending on trim.

Keeping all that bulk on the road is a front double-wishbone/rear multi-link suspension with adjustable air springs and Skyhook shock absorbers at all four corners. Big brakes and calipers haul the Levante down from speed, and Modena S and Trofeo models get upgraded to Brembo six-piston models for even better-stopping power.

Our test vehicle was a Levante Trofeo, the top of the line regarding powertrain and appointments. It had that Italian exhaust note and selectable drive modes to fine-tune performance to the conditions and environment. As the specs suggest, the Trofeo bursts ahead from a standstill and has excellent road feel, especially when set in Sport mode or even the slightly harsher Corsa mode. It’s great in a straight line, cruising down the Interstate, and shines on curvy roads and challenging turns. The air suspension eats up bumpy roads without feeling floaty or disconnected. It ticks all the boxes on the fun-to-drive checklist and begs for hard driving.

The front cabin of the Levante functions well, with comfortable seats, good ergonomics, and adequate storage. The center console, as noted before, is beefy and has a nicely sized storage compartment beneath its split armrest, along with two generous cupholders and a covered coin compartment (probably an ashtray in Italy). Even the glove compartment is abundant, and the door pockets are wide enough to be useful. Getting into and out of the Levante is comfortable and easy, thanks to narrow (for an SUV) sills and a reasonable seat height.

The rear seats are a little less accommodating. The swooping coupe-like roofline, which works so well for appearance and aerodynamics, makes getting into the second-row seats challenging for passengers over average height or with limited flexibility. The center seating position is a bit hard. Outward visibility from the second row is limited, blocked by the big C-pillars.

The cargo space behind the second row is 20.5 cubic feet. Folding down the second row opens up 57 cubic feet, but the second row doesn’t precisely fold flat—it sticks up by about 30 degrees, like a ramp to the front row. The Levante is a luxury performance SUV, but Maserati could have paid a little more attention to the “Utility” part of the SUV formula.

The Levante’s front seats are very comfortable, and leather is standard, with quality upgrades as the trim levels rise. Modena S and Trofeo models have heated and ventilated front seats with massage function, which is great on long drives.

Sometimes it’s helpful to be part of a big family of brands. Maserati, a low-volume manufacturer, is owned by Stellantis, a gigantic company with multiple international automotive brands, including Fiat, Chrysler, Dodge, Ferrari, and others. As part of this big family, Maserati can punch above its weight in technology, sharing equipment, software, and development with its relatives. So, the Levante gets expected features like Bluetooth, Apple CarPlay, and Android Auto, plus smartwatch connectivity, Amazon Alexa, and Google Assistant.

The standard infotainment system includes a central 8.4-inch touchscreen. A smaller driver information center screen lives in the instrument cluster, between the analog gauges, echoing select information. Navigation is standard, as is voice control. Harman Kardon audio comes standard with the lower trim levels; Bowers & Wilkins provides the soundtrack in the upper trims.

Neither the National Highway Traffic Safety (NHTSA) nor the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) have released safety ratings for the Maserati Levante, which is not unusual for lower volume luxury vehicles (they’re expensive to crash test). So few are sold (relatively) that they sometimes wait years to be tested. But here’s where that big family of Stellantis brands helps out again.

Maserati gets to dig into the community box of safety equipment, and the Levante comes away with a wide array of safety equipment and driver-assistance technology.

A Driver Assistance Package can be added to the GT and Modena models for $1,700 and is standard on the Modena S and Trofeo models. It adds adaptive cruise control, forward collision warning plus with autonomous emergency braking, a 360-degree surround-view camera, traffic sign recognition, active driving assist, and pedestrian recognition. Maserati’s active driving assist is called “Highway Assist System (HAS).” It uses a combination of sensors to maintain following distance, keep the Levante centered in its lane, and can bring the SUV to a complete stop when necessary.

All Levante models are fairly well equipped. Even the base Levante GT still comes with leather seating, navigation, a Harmon Kardon audio system, and plenty of luxury features. The standard features pile on from trim level to trim level until reaching a peak at the Maserati Levante Trofeo model. That’s where design and function meet, with carbon-fiber interior trim panels, magnesium paddle shifters, quilted leather seats, an Alcantara headliner, and all the technology bells and whistles.

The competition is stiff in this performance luxury SUV category, as these vehicles have become the new flagships for their brands. The Porsche Cayenne (starting at $72,200), BMW X5 (starting at $60,600), the Mercedes-Benz GLS-Class (starting at $ 77,850), and Audi SQ7 (starting at $88,500) represent the established competition. The newcomers, like the Aston Martin DBX (starting at $192,086), Lamborghini Urus (starting at $218,009), and Alfa Romeo Stelvio (starting at $45,550) present even sportier takes on the theme, while the Bentley Bentayga (starting at $166,425) and Rolls-Royce Cullinan (starting at $348,500) blow the budget with extreme luxury.

Even with its shortcomings in the interior, the Maserati Levante brings several unique attributes to the table. As a true exotic from a low-volume Italian maker, the Levante promises to be an attention-getter in any U.S. driveway. It is also gorgeous and incredibly fun to drive.

Without reliable data, we can’t assert the Maserati’s safety beyond confidence in the technology and engineering it shares with other Stellantis brands. Still, we like the way its driver assistance system works in practice.

Price and value get skewed once you get to the six-figure vehicle, which the Levante is in all but the GT trim level. The used market is tiny, but Levante SUVs seem to be holding their value reasonably well, which is a good sign for new SUV buyers. Italian cars are not renowned for their durability or reliability, so be diligent about maintenance and think about keeping the miles down during your ownership.

The 2022 Maserati Levante will sing precisely the right song for some shoppers. If you’re one of them, choose your notes, add your voice in harmony, and enjoy the ride.