Yahoo Autos 2024 Maserati GranCabrio Trofeo and 2025 GranCabrio Folgore: Under the Tuscan Sun
Rome's heyday as the center of the civilized world was well over a thousand years ago, and yet the city's art and architecture still draw throngs of visitors. Similarly, Maserati's glory days as a Formula 1 powerhouse are small in the rearview mirror, and yet the brand maintains a toehold in the near-exotic sports-luxury market, against such formidable competitors as Porsche and Mercedes-Benz.
As a modern-day automaker, Maserati fields SUVs and sedans, but "Gran turismo, as a concept, is really what Maserati is all about," says design chief Klaus Busse.
Busse characterizes such a car as one that brings together performance and style, and he calls out some of the design elements that help the GranCabrio meet the GT standard of beauty: an ultra-low grille and a fuselage shape to the central body with the front fenders almost as separate forms. We'd also point to the classic long-hood, short-deck proportions, the graceful curves of the sheetmetal, and the roofline that faithfully traces that of the GranTurismo coupe on which the car is based. Like the coupe, the GranCabrio is sold as the gasoline-powered Trofeo or the fully electric Folgore. In the former, the use of a shorter V-6 engine (rather than the previous V-8) allows the engine to sit behind the front axle, affording a lower hood. And rather than an underfloor battery pack, the Folgore uses a T-bone-shaped battery pack that has the cells nestled largely within the central tunnel and behind the rear seat, keeping the overall vehicle height low.
The GranCabrio design is all about classicism, thus the fabric convertible roof rather than a retractable hardtop. Going this route means the body shape does not need to be compromised to swallow a bulky metal top. A fabric top, when raised, still signals that this is a convertible and further offers the opportunity to introduce a complementing color—in this case, there are five soft-top colors on offer.
The top can be raised in 14 seconds and lowered in 16 seconds at up to 31 mph. Unfortunately, its mechanical ballet is orchestrated via touchscreen, where you tap, swipe, and hold. Give us a physical button, please.
An overreliance on touchscreens is the one cabin frustration—and it's distressingly widespread. There are three main displays: a freeform one for instrumentation, which is highly configurable; a main 12.3-inch infotainment screen running a modern Android Auto–based system and including a "Hey Maserati" voice assistant; and below the row of push buttons for gear selection, a third, 8.8-inch screen set at an angle, where you will find all climate controls—including for the Mercedes-style neck-level warm-air outlets at the base of the headrests—as well as those to operate the top or open the glovebox and a touch-slider for audio volume. The seemingly analog clock at the center of the dash in fact is a digital rendition and acts as a fourth display.
Away from the screens, the cabin impresses with its design and materials. The appearance is rich, and the surfaces beg to be touched. Leather is everywhere, although the Folgore can be optioned with leather and Econyl, a soft recycled nylon. Stowage is just adequate, with an angled smartphone-charging pad, configurable cupholders, and two shallow covered bins. The driver and passenger enjoy large, comfortable seats, and the peaks of the swollen front fenders frame the view out the windshield. The snug back seat is suitable for two willowy friends on a short jaunt to the beach—headroom under the raised top is sufficient for a six-footer, and the seatback is pleasantly reclined rather than bolt upright. But knee clearance and legroom are extremely tight unless those up front power their seats forward. The Trofeo's trunk has just five cubic feet of luggage space with the top stowed or six cubic feet with it raised, the Folgore slightly less. Pack light.
The gas-powered GranCabrio is offered solely in Trofeo guise (the top trim level of the hardtop GranTurismo). It features a 542-hp twin-turbo V-6 that spins out an easy 479 pound-feet of torque. As in the GranTurismo coupe, all-wheel drive is standard, and a ZF eight-speed automatic handles shifting.
Maserati says the V-6 should send the GranCabrio to 60 mph in 3.4 seconds, which we estimate should be close to accurate given the mechanically identical and 250-or-so-pound-lighter GranTurismo coupe hit 60 in 3.2 seconds; it punched through the quarter-mile in 11.5 seconds at 121 mph. Press deeply into the GranCabrio Trofeo's long-travel accelerator, and the car charges satisfyingly ahead. Even in the sportier drive modes, though, the eight-speed automatic exerts a strong preference for higher gears—you must flap the large shift paddles to keep the engine in the most sonorous and energetic part of the rev range.
In the Folgore, a trio of electric motors—one in front and one for each rear wheel—summon a max of 818 horsepower. They're fed by an 83.0-kWh battery pack, and an 800-volt architecture allows for a DC fast-charging rate of up to 270 kilowatts. The powertrain is estimated to deliver 233 miles of range on the EPA cycle.
Despite the GranCabrio Folgore's factory-stated weight of 5249 pounds—roughly 700 pounds more than what the gas-powered version should weigh in at—Maserati puts the EV's 60-mph time at 2.7 seconds. That's serious thrust, which the Folgore pours out in a beautifully unbroken stream, provided you've dialed up Corsa mode and unlocked Max Boost via the central touchscreen. Otherwise, you're looking at 751 horses. Either way, the GranCabrio Folgore feels immensely powerful underfoot.
Neither powerplant can match the V-8 music of the previous GranCabrio however. At low revs, the V-6 provides fairly pedestrian accompaniment, only finding its voice once the tach climbs to 5000 rpm or so (redline is 6500). As for the EV, Maserati processes the sound of the EV motors and sends it through the speakers (including outside); while that's surely better than the spacey synthetic soundtracks common among electrics, it's far short of the mechanical song of the best Italian engines.
Despite their considerable weight difference, the two GranCabrio variants ride and handle remarkably similarly. For Maserati, the goal with this car was to marry high performance with comfort, and that's evident in the chassis tuning. While the suspension in its stiffer modes can get a little busy over stretches of broken pavement, it is highly effective at taking the edge off bumps and delivering a civilized ride. Even in the sportiest drive modes (Sport and Corsa) this car never gets as harsh as a Mercedes-AMG or a BMW M car in their firmest settings.
The drive mode settings do not affect the steering effort, which remains a tad light but highly precise. Both models ride on staggered-sized Pirelli P Zeros, the Trofeo with 265/30ZR-20 tires up front, the Folgore wearing 265/35ZR-20s and both with 295/30ZR-21s at the rear. Turn-in is eager, and the car shows no tendency to push. In our testing of the Trofeo coupe, it clung to the skidpad with 0.97 g of grip.
The Folgore offers four levels of regen, selectable via the large paddles, but full one-pedal driving is not among them. No matter; most drivers will be smoother without it. And speaking of smooth, whereas some EVs suffer from odd brake-pedal feel, the GranCabrio's is firm and easy to modulate. Maserati has nailed all the major interfaces between driver and machine here.
The question of whether to go ICE or EV largely depends on your use case: ability to charge at home, availability of public charging near you, whether the car will see more local or long-distance driving. But setting those questions aside, and having driven them back to back, the Folgore emerges as the better manifestation of the grand touring ideal. It's also likely to be the first EV convertible when it goes on sale this fall as a 2025 model. The 2024 GranCabrio Trofeo arrives this summer, for those seeking more immediate gratification.
We'll grant that the GranCabrio won't be the rationalist's choice over a Porsche 911 4S Cabriolet or a Mercedes-AMG SL63, especially at $204,995 for the Trofeo and $206,995 for the Folgore. And yet, for those who are receptive to its classical charms, the GranCabrio is mighty seductive.
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