Maserati Grecale Modena Review: A Maserati for Daily Drives?

You don’t just say Maserati Grecale; you say Maserati Gre-ka-le, and it sounds nice and romantic. It puts a smile on your face. But jokes aside, I love the fact that it has a name that evokes a certain vision and meaning. And you know what, Grecale, for those of you who don’t know, is the Mediterranean wind. So, it’s meant to stand for this energy from that wind, I suppose, for its sporty stance. I have the Modena variant, but the Grecale also gets an entry GT variant and the more hardcore Trofeo that shares its engine with the MC20. Can’t wait to drive that also. Oh, and there is also that all-electric Grecale Folgore.

Maserati Grecale Modena: Exterior

Now uncharitable opinions emerged when the car’s pictures first came out, they said it looked like the Swift. Some said it looks like the Jaguar E-Type. I could see why. But when you spend time with the car in the flesh, you start to see that there’s so much more to this design. It’s a lot more expressive and pictures don’t do it justice. So, you’ve got that headlamp cluster which is where all those ideas come from but that’s not what you notice really, it’s really this grille with the trident and then a lot of contouring in this hood. Lots is going on. It looks nice and well-chiselled. 

Along the side, the big fender flares up. You’ve got the trademark Maserati look, as well as the name of the variant. Come around the side, things start looking very compact SUV-like here but again this fender kind of really stretches itself out and then you've got a nice design detail into the bumper here. Simplistic enough taillights, reasonably attractive alloy wheel pattern, nice big wheels though, and then, of course, what looks like an ample boot, emphasised again by the trident so it all seems to work, and you know what I don't mind it in this colour which is unlike me where I would have liked an electric blue or a yellow. This still works.

Maserati Grecale Modena: Tech & Interior

The cabin of the Grecale is quite the story because it's loaded with many design elements that's the first thing that grabs you. You might almost think it's over-styled. The good news with this one, it's a black cabin so it all comes together. You see different textures, and materials like this metal that extends through the AC vents. You've got stitching up here but it's soft touch. It has this padded feel here in this part of the dash and there's a pattern to it that kind of looks like the wind. And you've got the same kind of thing going on here with carbon fibre and then again, the padded leatherette. 

So, depends on the trim, and how much you customise. But the seats are comfortable, and everything is well within reach. So, I think those are some of the things that make up for that because the quality of the materials also screams good. On a Maserati it better be good. And it is. Now the thing is though that because we've gone to this point of being all techie, some functions have gone onto the screen which is a little annoying. Like even for the seats, it's all right if you want to adjust here the clock, okay? But even the lights I’ve got to go in here to adjust the light setting. There's not just a little button or a knob or a dial, that's a little annoying. There are buttons though, for the gear shifter that have taken away the gear stick and put buttons up here between these two screens. 

You almost don't notice them at the start and then you sometimes press them more than once to engage them. Can be a little annoying, and takes some getting used to. The screen itself, again loaded with lots of information and there are lots of different options, connectivity-wise. The screen performance is pretty good. It's good resolution as well and there's lots of functionality and lots of different things you can do with it including tracking your vehicle's sports performance. Now you've also got the virtual instrument cluster. Crisp good-looking screen. There's again lots of information on there, but you can customise some of how that looks there's also a great head-up display. 

I like that and then finally you've got a little hark back to the retro clock up here. It's nice because it's sharp. But what's interesting is that when you put your phone in to charge, it takes a little minute for it to come on, and when you have that phone charging well it gives you a little readout over here, which is a nice little touch. Now besides that, the key fob itself has nothing much to write home about it's simple but you don't have to use it as you can see, I've got the wearable on me right now. It lets you unlock the car; lets you also start it and drive away. So good amount of balance of tech with, I think, actual functionality. 

Lots of buttons up here on the steering wheel including the drive mode dial and the start-stop button. So, as I said, some of it is a bit much. But you know what at the end of the day the focus is on the performance. Throw in that big sunroof and the optional Sonus Faber sound system and you've got lots to talk about. And a decent amount, in fact surprising amount, of space in the second row.

Maserati Grecale Modena: Platform

Now the Grecale sits on the Giorgio platform which is what used to be FCA. Now of course Stellantis. and it shares that platform with a variety of vehicles. Diverse enough as the Jeep Grand Cherokee on the one side and familiar enough or similar if you will as the Alfa Romeo Stelvio. I have to say it really helps that this platform started life as an Alfa Romeo platform. I'll explain why. I mean, in its first iteration was developed for the Giulia. 

Being a Stellantis platform today, the fear could be that hey, you know what it was developed as a Grand Cherokee platform and then derived for this usage. Why I say that is because when the platform from its inception was kind of tuned towards being performance-oriented, it gives you a surer structure to build on. This might sound a little flippant because in the world of engineering today, you can pretty much evolve and modify and be modular with a whole lot of platforms or aggregates. 

But that part to me still holds true. And I'm glad that this car builds from there, and benefits a model like the Grand Cherokee, which is now based on this platform. 

Maserati Grecale Modena: Engine & Transmission

Cruising along at a nice steady 122 kmph, but I am going to now flip down to sport mode and instantly you hear a little more of a rumble. And of course, acceleration gets a little bit quicker. Having said that, even in comfort, it's not like the card doesn't respond. It's quick. Now you have maybe unambitious expectations from a 4-cylinder as opposed to a 6 or an 8-cylinder engine. So sure, you sort of set your expectations based on that, which is where the surprise factor comes in.

The engine is a gem. It's refined, responsive, and tuned for fun while maintaining a decent degree of efficiency for longer-distance driving. And yeah, it also sounds good when pushed. There are four drive modes – and that includes an off-road mode for maximum traction.  

Maserati Grecale Modena: Ride & Handling

The car feels taut, it feels ready, it feels nice and responsive and the compact nature of this kind of a body style as well as in this segment, it lends itself to that kind of performance and the engineering effort is impressive. It comes through as a nice sporty fun car to drive. Could it have sounded better? Sure, but then you know what we're moving into an era where efficiency and being a little bit more sustainability conscious, all those things matter. 

So given the fact that it is a downsized engine, I think it does sound quite nice for what it is. The large paddle shifters are a little bit of an exaggeration when it comes to how they look, but the performance of the gearbox is nice and quick. Downshifts quickly, also upshifts quickly. You don't get a sense of lag at all, and the car reacts nicely and quickly. There's a good amount of torque, the gearbox does a good job of delivering it to you nice and quick also. The last point I want to make is about ergonomics. The way the car looks from the outside it's sort of a little bit subtle and for me, it's not so much about the engine in that performance that you would expect from a Maserati. 

The part where you know, even the Levante didn't really get it right, was driving dynamics based on driving position. This car gets that right. It does share a lot with the Stelvio, and I think again that learning and that experience and that carryover are all good things.

Maserati Grecale Modena: Verdict

In India, prices start at ₹1.31 crore (ex-showroom, India) for the GT. The Modena variant I’m driving costs ₹1.53 crore (ex-showroom, India), and the line-up tops out at a staggering ₹2.05 crore (ex-showroom, India). Given all of this, is the Grecale worth considering? So, I've spent four days now with this car zigzagging across the countryside, B-roads, highways, and city traffic, really got to know it well. And I’ve done more than 750 km on it. That's the kind of experience that tells you everything you need to know about a car. 

Sort of, I suppose, buying it and living with it for years. It's the comfort of daily driving, the fact that it's a Maserati that's not sort of intimidating in any way, that's the thing that will appeal to people. I say this at a time when pretty much every brand makes SUVs, and of course, they're all comfortable and easy to drive and use. But the brand has always had this thing about high-performance sports cars. 

People have maybe a little bit of an inhibition when it comes to approaching the brand. That's exactly what they're trying to overcome with this one. The Levante didn't quite do it I think the Grecale will.