The Enemy Within | 2025 Maserati MC20 GT2 Stradale

A few years ago, I drove the Maserati MC20, and I liked it a lot. I thought it was beautiful, and it had an excellent ride. But it wasn't perfect. One of the most notable problems were the brakes, but now we've got a new one. This is the Maserati MC20 GT2 Stradale. It's inspired by their race car. It's got bigger, better brakes, and a bunch of other little tricks that hopefully fix the things I didn't like about that car. But how will it compete against cars from Porsche, McLaren, and even Corvette? And did they ruin the amazing ride by making this two-race car a common problem? Well, we have Spanish Roads and the Ascari Circuit to find out. As you can see, there's a lot of new aero work on this car. This keeps the brakes and the engine cooler. It makes nearly triple the downforce of the MC20, yet the top speed remains just over 200 miles per hour. The roof and hood are carbon fiber, the eight-speed dual-clutch gearbox shifts a little quicker, and the whole car is lighter. The three-liter twin-turbo Nattuno engine has a new computer and exhaust, and those changes result in an extraordinary 10 horsepower. Ten horsepower? As my uncle would say, what is this, a power increase for enths? That's just 2% more than the regular MC20. That's not really a number that you can confidently whip out at a Cars and Coffee bathroom, especially if you're standing next to a Ferrari, a McLaren, or even a couple Corvettes. But as we have said on this channel many times, big horsepower does not a driver's car make. Inside, there's a new thicker steering wheel with Christmas lights, and they've covered the entire cabin in Alcantara, which they say reduces glare. Overall, the MC20's minimalist styling and ergonomic layout has remained. While Maserati hasn't really changed the three-liter twin-turbo V6 that's back there, they have upgraded the brain a little bit. The regular car had a beautiful exposed carbon round tunnel right here with the controller on it, but now we have this kind of motorsports-inspired, canted carbon fiber console. It brings everything closer to the driver, of course, and this is where you control your driving modes. You have GT, Sport, Corsa. This seems like the same controller that the Ferrari Purosangue uses to control its HVAC, so you can twist it like a normal knob, or you can swipe on it. Swiping to the left gives us our suspension settings, soft, medium, and hard. So you can adjust those separately from the powertrain itself. The old car had Corsa mode, but if you order your MC20 GT2 with one of the two performance packs, you get a bunch of upgrades, one of which is a more sophisticated traction control system and the ability to control that system. So using this knob right here, you hold it to go to Corsa mode. Once it's there, you can select between four sub-settings. Those settings basically change the amount of control the brain has over the car, and in turn, how much control you have over the car. Setting four is a lot like the people at vacation in Marbella. You have a lot of nannies paying attention to you and your precious vehicle. As you go down in number towards number one, traction control and stability control progressively go down as well. The Magic Diff comes standard with the performance packages, but can also be added as a standalone option. The car also has stiffer springs now to improve body control. All the new hardware, software, and sticky tires help this car lap Alfa's Baloccio track five seconds quicker than the standard MC20. And then there's the weight. A track car should always be lighter than the car it originated from, and this one is. If you spec it right, you save about 120 pounds. The carbon seats are about 50 pounds of that, the magnesium wheels another 40. Maserati claims this car weighs 3,000 pounds dry, but they also claimed that the coupe was 3,300 pounds, and when car and driver weighed it, it was 3,700. 400 pounds is not what we would call a difference for ants. But enough skepticism. Let's see how it drives. Now, sure, most of the changes they've made will be better explored on the track because that's a safe place to do it, but let's be real. Most owners of supercars don't go to the track. Even if they have an RS or a whatever at the end of the name of the car, they drive it on the road. They drive it in the canyons. They drive it to a car meet. So it is important that we test the car on an environment like this. First impressions are good. They did not mess up the wonderful ride. The engineer couldn't specify how they retuned the dampers in this, but the springs are only a little bit stiffer. 8% front, I believe 10% rear. And having the adaptive suspension, being able to put the suspension into soft, even though I'm in sport mode, is so great. And here, I mean, this road is far from perfect. We drove on some perfect roads earlier. This isn't one of them. This has plenty of little bumps and they're being transmitted into the seat a bit, but that's because I have it set to medium. Put it in soft. It is soft to the point I would say that it's almost a little bit floaty for dynamic driving, but it's great for grand touring driving. They did not take the good road car out of the road car when they added a little dash of race car. Steering is also light. The ratio is quick. Pretty communicative. I'd say second place to something like Porsche or McLaren, but it's a straight up e-pass system. There's no hydraulic in this. And so for that, I would say it's very good, especially considering that there are companies with larger budgets and have more famous names and do a worse job at electronic power assist. Brakes. There's two factors to these brakes. One is I'm having to go very deep into the pedal. I feel like I'm getting near the floor, near the end of pedal travel before I get really full engagement. That was a tiny bit of lockup at the end there. But two, these are good brakes from one of the best brake companies. The disc is bigger, it's thicker than it used to be, and yet it still feels like it underslows. Something about these brakes or the way they set them up or something with the pedals reaction. I'll put something down here. If the brake is brake by wire, then it may be in the tuning. Basically, that five page essay is to say it doesn't feel like it slows down as quickly as I'd like and as other cars do. However, feelings are subjective. According to Maserati, the MC20 GT2 stops from 62 miles per hour in less than 30 meters, putting it right in line with the McLaren Senna. It's about five inches longer than Ferrari 296 or McLaren. It responds like a smaller car. It brakes like a bigger car, and it definitely feels spacious in here. Yes, it is the most powerful internal combustion Maserati ever made. Can I feel the difference versus the other car? No, I can't. No one can feel a 10 horsepower difference. What's weird is that we have a carbon fiber tub, double wishbone suspension, huge carbon ceramic brakes. We have a basic twin turbo engine. There's no hybrid. There's no battery. None of that stuff. So to me, this should feel like a lighter, more powerful Cayman. But it doesn't. It feels like a wider, heavier Cayman. I was hopeful that some magic would be revealed at the track. Ascari Circuit is about five kilometers of exciting hills and banked corners. On the track, we'd be driving cars that have both performance packs. That means Corsa modes and carbon buckets, among other things. Maserati gave us just three two-lap sessions to get to know the MC20 GT2. Now, obviously, this car was inspired by the race car, the GT2, which did win its first season that Maserati campaigned. And if you own a car like this, whether it's from Maserati or somebody else, take it to the track. Do not be one of those people that park it in a garage in a bubble for its entire life. Because then you get to really see what it is capable of. This is my first time here, and I've done four laps before this. So forgive me for not going at championship-winning pace. But it's just about safety and getting to know the car. Down a little bit. One of the things we won't be going fast enough to explore is the downforce. The old car had about 300 pounds of downforce. This makes 1,000. Of course, that's at around 180 miles per hour, so we won't get to touch any of that. This is such an impressive chassis. It's really like you can feel where the back is doing, you can feel how much force is on it. It's talkative. It feels super solid. And it's so incredible that this is made down the street from Ferrari, and Maserati has gone with carbon fiber monocoque, and Ferrari's still doing, admittedly, very good things with aluminum. Peak power in this car is at 7,300 RPM, and it really makes you work for it. Peak torque is at 3,000, but it's not until 6 that it really starts steaming. Little lift here. You know, 630 horsepower is nothing to sneeze at. In a vacuum, that's a lot of power. The problem is when you compare it to other things that are on sale. I mean, yeah, the zero to 60 is a little bit behind the McLaren, but how often are you doing a zero to 60 launch on a road course? Never is the answer to that. What is important is how the car feels, responds, and talks, and this does those things well. Visibility is amazing. I love the view of these fenders. I think it's beautiful. It's also easy to place the tires, and of course, if you put it in the hands of the professional sitting next to me, you could adjust a Corsa, turn the traction off, and probably have a really good time, but we're not gonna do that. And the car corners flat, but not so flat that there's no conversation between you and the vehicle. You can lift there, turn in, but the fact that you can drive here, we drove on a brick road, put it in comfort mode, it rides really soft, and then you come out here, you tighten it up a bit, and it just rips. It really feels well-balanced, really does. Front and rear, just the grip feels really even. We got 245 front, 305 rear, Pilot Sport Cup 2s. Good balance and steering are important, but like Johnny Depp's Willy Wonka, there are some things I can't ignore. The track seats were just plain uncomfortable. This padding gave my ribs acupressure that my insurance won't cover, while very little of the seat supported my lower back or shoulders. This led to considerable discomfort after just 10 minutes in the car. Perhaps I need a different size. The car is also far too quiet. From the outside at the track, it was barely louder than a Camry passing you on the highway, although Maserati says a racing exhaust will be available. Inside, with the windows up, the turbocharged concert of the old car has been replaced by a simple mechanical groan, and the screen, although clear and easy to use, is quite slow to react. The brakes, I would say, still require more pressure than I was expecting. Even with these new carbon ceramics, you gotta get really deep in the pedal. I do feel like they are up to the job of slowing this car down, whereas the road car brakes were not. But the pedal has to go really far into the floorboard, and I know that on the street I said I like that, but I think I retract my statement, because out here, I'm just having to recalibrate my brain for how far the pedal has to go. And this car has the performance package, which I really recommend getting, but it's easy when it's not my money. But you want this whole package. You want this brain, because part of what makes these cars so impressive is the computer control, the sophisticated traction control, and I know I didn't explore the limits of it. I don't know what it does when you start sliding it. I don't know how controlled it is, but I imagine, based on other cars I've driven and the way technology is these days, that it's probably pretty refined and pretty good. But if all you're gonna do is drive it on the road, I don't know why you'd buy this one versus the other one. Save yourself some money. Speaking of money, let's talk price. The price is $310,000. Another $14,000 gets you the performance pack, and a little more will get you the uncomfortable seats and fire extinguisher. That is a lot of money, considering that both the McLaren 720S and Porsche GT3 RS can be had for the same, if not less. Both of those have incredible soundtracks and brakes and are as exciting as new cars get. And GT3 RS values are basically immune to the depreciation virus. Like trying to design a lightweight tent that also has a hot tub, creating a car that perfectly excels on both the road and track is nearly impossible. And although the GT2 is behind in some ways, it does get the basics of ride, handling, and construction right. Not every car can say the same. The MC20 GT2 also has rarity on its side, as only 914 will be made. But will they sell them? This isn't scientific, but in my hometown of Los Angeles, I have seen two Bugatti Chirons in the wild and only one MC20. That is a shame, but it brings me to what I think is the biggest competition against the GT2 Stradale, the MC20 itself. Both the standard coupe and the Cielo are prettier road cars and cost a lot less money. The GT2 just isn't exciting enough to pull away from the competition, leaving it in supercar purgatory. 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