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Maserati GranTurismo Folgore - long-term review - Report No:2

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Maserati GranTurismo Folgore - long-term review - Report No:2 | Top Gear

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Would the electric Maser GT embarrass itself on a track day? Far from it, actually...

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Maserati GranTurismo Folgore - long-term review - Report No:2

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Would the electric Maser GT embarrass itself on a track day? Far from it, actually...

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Would the electric Maser GT embarrass itself on a track day? Far from it, actually...

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Maserati GranTurismo Folgore - long-term review - Report No:2

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Given M900 FOL is a near £200k thoroughbred Italian super-GT with 750bhp and a ‘Corsa’ mode, I decided it was entirely appropriate to take it on a £158, open-pitlane public track day at Bedford Autodrome. Weirdly, when I told Maserati about this plan, they were all for it, suggesting a deep confidence in the Folgore’s dynamics, durability and ability to avoid a slammed Seat Leon spearing across the grass on its roof.

I don’t doubt any of this is true, but in case you missed report 1, Folgore is Italian for ‘lightning’, which means this is a fully-electric car, so stints are likely to be brief and charging stops frequent, assuming we can make it to the nearest rapid charger at all - Bedford Autodrome isn’t yet equipped with one. As stupid ideas go, this could be up there with baking your dog a triple-decker chocolate cake for its birthday.

First job – swap out the Pirelli winter tyres for Goodyear summers courtesy of the good folk at Maserati Ascot, who gave me a GranTurismo Trofeo (that’s the one with the MC20’s twin-turbo V6) for a few days (more on that next time) until I could swing by and collect the freshly-shod Folgore. Part two was plotting out my charging strategy for the big day.

Bedford is 110-miles from my house (the claimed WLTP range is 280-miles don’t forget), so a charge would be required before the mandatory safety briefing at 8.30am. I found a rapid charger about 10 mins south of the Autodrome, but cruelly this meant a 5.15am alarm and 5.45am departure to fit all this faff in.

For some reason my home charger stopped at 95 per cent overnight, so we set off – cruise control set to an indicated 74mph (true 70mph) on the motorway sections, heated seat on, outside temperature seven degrees. We arrive at the charger with 23 per cent battery and 27-miles of range left. I’ll let you do the maths on that one, but the truth is in lowish temperatures and when any motorway driving is involved, the Folgore is seriously inefficient, hitting roughly half its claimed range. This doesn’t bode well.

Still, the charge went to plan and I’m in the pitlane at 9.30am with around 90 per cent battery, ready to rock, fully briefed. The collection of cars is… eclectic, everything from a 911 GT3 RS to a Twingo Renaultsport and a cluster of Caterhams collecting rainwater like bath tubs. We aren’t the only EV explorer either: also banished to the end of the pitlane behind some cones (something to do with fire-regs) a Lotus Eletre, Polestar 2 and Tesla Model 3.

Also conspiring against us is the weather – wet and getting wetter. My first lap is a perfect demo of what a very heavy car, on cold tyres, on a low grip surface can do – namely oversteer and understeer… often at the same time. My first Bambi-on-ice stint is just three laps – each costing five per cent battery. I’m down to 75 per cent.

Fag packet maths tells me I’ve got another 11 laps to play with before remaining range gets spicy. I take it back out and find a bit of rhythm, and grip, and it’s getting more impressive by the minute, showing balance and predictability when it slides. Corsa mode, traction control in its middling ‘Standard’ setting and the electronic bumper lanes are brilliantly judged, letting you hold the drift without cutting in too harshly. On the corners that aren’t under water it’s pulling traction from somewhere, and on the straights it’s a cheat code. Zapping past absolutely everything like they’re in reverse. Stressful range management aside, it’s a sledgehammer with a surprising amount of finesse.

I make the 10-min pilgrimage down the road to charge again at lunch – fine, we needed to eat anyway – and smash another couple of a seven-lap stints in the afternoon as the track dries and cornering speeds rocket. As the track closes and we’re turfed out, there’s the most unexpected feeling… satisfaction and elation mixed with a minor adrenaline come down. I’d expected it to be next to useless, but with some careful battery management it’s properly impressed. In fact, if there was a rapid charger in the pits, its electric-ness wouldn’t have been a hassle at all.

Some notes on cost – I used a battery charge up in the morning and another in the afternoon, that’s £50 per charge on the ruinously expensive 87p-per-kWh public charger. Interestingly my friend who brought along his Audi R8 V8 Manual reckons he spent an identical £100 on fuel. A worthy experiment then with an unexpectedly positive outcome… apart from needing to charge again to make it home. There’s a hell of a car here, hiding under a frustratingly inefficient drivetrain. Roll on solid-state batteries, ey.

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Given M900 FOL is a near £200k thoroughbred Italian super-GT with 750bhp and a ‘Corsa’ mode, I decided it was entirely appropriate to take it on a £158, open-pitlane public track day at Bedford Autodrome. Weirdly, when I told Maserati about this plan, they were all for it, suggesting a deep confidence in the Folgore’s dynamics, durability and ability to avoid a slammed Seat Leon spearing across the grass on its roof.

I don’t doubt any of this is true, but in case you missed report 1, Folgore is Italian for ‘lightning’, which means this is a fully-electric car, so stints are likely to be brief and charging stops frequent, assuming we can make it to the nearest rapid charger at all - Bedford Autodrome isn’t yet equipped with one. As stupid ideas go, this could be up there with baking your dog a triple-decker chocolate cake for its birthday.

First job – swap out the Pirelli winter tyres for Goodyear summers courtesy of the good folk at Maserati Ascot, who gave me a GranTurismo Trofeo (that’s the one with the MC20’s twin-turbo V6) for a few days (more on that next time) until I could swing by and collect the freshly-shod Folgore. Part two was plotting out my charging strategy for the big day.

Bedford is 110-miles from my house (the claimed WLTP range is 280-miles don’t forget), so a charge would be required before the mandatory safety briefing at 8.30am. I found a rapid charger about 10 mins south of the Autodrome, but cruelly this meant a 5.15am alarm and 5.45am departure to fit all this faff in.

For some reason my home charger stopped at 95 per cent overnight, so we set off – cruise control set to an indicated 74mph (true 70mph) on the motorway sections, heated seat on, outside temperature seven degrees. We arrive at the charger with 23 per cent battery and 27-miles of range left. I’ll let you do the maths on that one, but the truth is in lowish temperatures and when any motorway driving is involved, the Folgore is seriously inefficient, hitting roughly half its claimed range. This doesn’t bode well.

Still, the charge went to plan and I’m in the pitlane at 9.30am with around 90 per cent battery, ready to rock, fully briefed. The collection of cars is… eclectic, everything from a 911 GT3 RS to a Twingo Renaultsport and a cluster of Caterhams collecting rainwater like bath tubs. We aren’t the only EV explorer either: also banished to the end of the pitlane behind some cones (something to do with fire-regs) a Lotus Eletre, Polestar 2 and Tesla Model 3.

Also conspiring against us is the weather – wet and getting wetter. My first lap is a perfect demo of what a very heavy car, on cold tyres, on a low grip surface can do – namely oversteer and understeer… often at the same time. My first Bambi-on-ice stint is just three laps – each costing five per cent battery. I’m down to 75 per cent.

Fag packet maths tells me I’ve got another 11 laps to play with before remaining range gets spicy. I take it back out and find a bit of rhythm, and grip, and it’s getting more impressive by the minute, showing balance and predictability when it slides. Corsa mode, traction control in its middling ‘Standard’ setting and the electronic bumper lanes are brilliantly judged, letting you hold the drift without cutting in too harshly. On the corners that aren’t under water it’s pulling traction from somewhere, and on the straights it’s a cheat code. Zapping past absolutely everything like they’re in reverse. Stressful range management aside, it’s a sledgehammer with a surprising amount of finesse.

I make the 10-min pilgrimage down the road to charge again at lunch – fine, we needed to eat anyway – and smash another couple of a seven-lap stints in the afternoon as the track dries and cornering speeds rocket. As the track closes and we’re turfed out, there’s the most unexpected feeling… satisfaction and elation mixed with a minor adrenaline come down. I’d expected it to be next to useless, but with some careful battery management it’s properly impressed. In fact, if there was a rapid charger in the pits, its electric-ness wouldn’t have been a hassle at all.

Some notes on cost – I used a battery charge up in the morning and another in the afternoon, that’s £50 per charge on the ruinously expensive 87p-per-kWh public charger. Interestingly my friend who brought along his Audi R8 V8 Manual reckons he spent an identical £100 on fuel. A worthy experiment then with an unexpectedly positive outcome… apart from needing to charge again to make it home. There’s a hell of a car here, hiding under a frustratingly inefficient drivetrain. Roll on solid-state batteries, ey.

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On track in the Maserati GT Folgore: "on the straights it's a cheat code"

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Would the electric Maser GT embarrass itself on a track day? Far from it, actually...

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On track in the Maserati GT Folgore: "on the straights it's a cheat code"

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Maserati GranTurismo Folgore - long-term review