It was only a matter of time before an all-electric car made this list, but perhaps the biggest surprise is that it’s Maserati. Yet having driven very early production versions of the Gran Turismo Folgare it’s fair to say the legendary Italian marque has finally found its mojo after quite a few years in the pedigree car wilderness.
While the latest Gran Turismo looks very like its predecessor, it’s actually all-new from the ground-up and has been designed from the outset to be electrified - and that’s allowed engineers to create a machine that drives like a Maserati should. Not only are there three motors deliver a combined might of 751bhp, the batteries are laid out along the transmission tunnel and underneath the rear seats, meaning the masses are centralised and you get a properly sporty low set driving position.
Yet, it’s the surprisingly fleet-footed way the Folgare deals with corners that endears it to the keen driver. The steering is smooth and accurate, while the air suspension and adaptive dampers do a fine job of keeping all the Maser’s mass in check. And with two motors for the rear axle, the Gran Turismo can be neatly torque vectored for enhanced agility as well as some easily accessed hooliganism. Bella machina!, as they say in Italy.
The M8's size and two-tonne heft both count against it to a certain extent when you consider it as a pure driver's car. It isn't as involving as an Aston Martin Vantage or Porsche 911, isn't as viscerally exciting as a Ferrari Roma, and doesn't have any of the mid-engined poise or tactile feel of a McLaren; which is what has caused some to wonder why you wouldn't simply save a tidy five-figure sum and have the mechanically related BMW M5 Competition instead.
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Source: autocar - 🏆 93. / 67 Read more »