It's not flamboyant but it's charming to say the least.

When you hear the name Maserati Levante, you’ll immediately think that it were a flamboyant Italian super car. However, it’s the complete opposite here. It’s a rather sedate looking 4x4 which is trying to be a sports sedan. Does the Levante suffer from an identity crisis?

The standard Levante and Levante S are powered by a turbocharged 3-liter six-cylinder engine. The Levante S gets the more powerful output. GTS and Trofeo are powered by a more potent 3.8-turbo six-cylinder engine. Pick of the bunch depends upon what you desire the most from your Levante. If you are trying to find the most sensible of the range, the entry-level is the way to go. You can even pick the Levante S if you want a bit more flexibility on the highway. The GTS and Trofeo trims are outrageously quick but also command a pretty hefty premium. Which makes it a little hard to justify, especially if you consider the shortcomings the Levante has and they come in the bucket loads.

Driving the Levante isn’t one of those short comings however. Steering feedback is smooth and linear around town and weighs up nicely on faster paced roads. Ride comfort is smooth and easy to live with, if you avoid the larger alloy wheel options. What we like the most about the Levante is despite it being such a massive 4x4, it doesn’t feel that way when driving around town. It doesn’t feel cumbersome and overall visibility is pretty good. Wind and road noise are well suppressed, although you can hear a bit of wind whistle from the wing mirrors. We’d personally say that’s just nitpicking.

Here is where things begin to fall apart for the Levante. The electronic gear selector is infuriating to operate. It’s quite easy to select the wrong gear when trying to do a quick maneuver. You’ll have to really get used to the setup before making any type of quick turns with traffic slowly creeping up from behind. Also, the interior just doesn’t live up to the six-figure price tag that this 4x4 can easily creep into. While, it is a nice touch that Maserati has their logo everywhere to remind you of what car you are in. Many of the switchgear looks like they’ve been borrowed from Chrysler’s parts bin, and many of them feel cheap and nasty.  There is plenty of space for four, while a fifth person aboard may feel shortchanged on space in the rear due to the large transmission tunnel and somewhat confined middle seat accommodations. The boot space is pretty generous even though we find it quite strange that a third-row seat isn’t even on the options list considering the Levante is larger than a Volvo XC90 by almost five inches.

Each engine choice the Levnate has comes with three different trim levels to choose from. The standard Levante with the standard 3-liter turbo six-cylinder is our pick of the range. It comes fitted standard with the following; 19-inch alloy wheels, Bi-xenon headlights, adaptive air-suspension and 8.4-inch infotainment display. You’ll have to step up to the GranLusso to add 14-speaker Harman Kardon, ventilated front seats and gloss black painted brake calibers. Top tier Gransport comes with 20-inch alloy wheels, 12-way power sport seats, black roof rails and sporty exterior styling.

The Levante is fun to drive and full of charm. We just wish the interior didn’t feel like it came from a Chrysler’s parts bin and the electronic gear selector is way too fiddly for our tastes.

Likes: It’s a charming crossover with thumping turbo engine choices. It could be seen as the Ferrari of crossovers, of course until Ferrari launches a crossover itself.
Dislikes: The electronic gear selector is way too fiddly to operate. The interior doesn’t live up to the price tag. Reliability is iffy as well as the residuals.

Overall: Despite looking rather sedate. It’s actually charming and very engaging to drive.

Top picks for luxury 4x4s

Audi Q7

Likes: The interior has been vastly improved along with on-road dynamics and seating space for seven.

Dislikes: Typical bland Audi design cues. The TDI is greatly missed.

Overall: It drives way better than it looks.



Jaguar F-Pace

Likes: It's striking to look at and to drive. The supercharged six-cylinders are fast but the diesel makes the most sense financially.

Dislikes: The infotainment system is dreadful.

Overall: Jaguar is moving into a direction that we are loving.



BMW X5

Likes: This crossover quite literally defies logic with its excellent road holding manners and powerful range of engines.

Dislikes: It can get expensive very quickly. Volvo has BMW beat in the style department.

Overall: Wait for the next generation of the X5 which should be around the corner.



Lexus RX

Likes: Refined and powerful range of engines. Interior is very refined and the overall build quality is top notch.

Dislikes: Styling is a little off-putting. It's not all that engaging to drive, hybrid premium over the rest of the range.

Overall: It's all style and dull everything else, but at least it's super reliable and well built.



Maserati Levante

Likes: Sleek styling with an interior that's classy in its own right. The turbo engines offer the oomph you'd expect from Maserati but the practicality of a crossover body style.

Dislikes: It doesn't have the flamboyancy that Maserati is known for. Build quality and some materials used in interior look iffy and feel it too.

Overall: FCA iffy quality ruins what is essentially an excellent crossover.



Porsche Cayenne

Likes: Dare we say the benchmark of performance crossovers? Dynamically and performance wise it defies logic like crazy! Plus the interior is top notch in quality.

Dislikes: There's so to choose from and the best ones start at the GTS and higher. Porsche is stingy on standard kit but the price of admission is seriously expensive.

Overall: The GTS and turbo versions are the creme de la creme of the range.



Tesla Model X

Likes: The styling inside out is a is futuristic and we love it. Comfortable for seven and you can also option for a five-seat version. Insanely quick acceleration and on-road dynamics.

Dislikes: We have yet to test drive one.

Overall: It's expensive to buy but so worth it if you have the means to keep it recharged overnight.

Crossovers we can't wait to test drive (Part one)

Volvo XC40 

The XC40 is just a smaller version of the XC90 and we absolutely love the way it looks from every angle. The engine that will be offered at launch will be a T5 pumping out 248hp and standard all-wheel-drive. We haven't heard much information about whether or not front-wheel-drive will be the standard form, but the starting price is very attractive ($35k) and competitive towards the Audi Q3 and BMW X1. 

Jaguar E-Pace 

Jaguar/ Land Rover have been on a bit of a design home run marathon. The new Disco and Velar are both outstanding looking 4x4s. What we loved the most is the F-Pace which took elements of the F-Type and made it work in the form of a crossover. The E-Pace, which will compete with cars like the BMW X1 and Volvo XC40 will have a very heavily competitive segment to fight in, but the 2-liter turbo four standard with 248hp and 296hp should have no trouble luring buyers who seek performance and still care about style. 

BMW X3 

The next generation of the X3 has finally made an appearance. It's been quite literally seven-years since the second generation appeared and it's been long overdue despite the few updates the X3 has received over the years. The new X3 will use the updated 2-liter turbo four pumping out 248hp (this seems to be the average horsepower) and an optional 3-liter turbo six-cylinder pumping out 355hp which will be dubbed the M version of the X3. We love the way the M-package looks on the new X3 and can't wait to test drive one when it goes on-sale. 

Maserati Levante S

We still haven't had the opportunity to test drive this crossover. We are working with someone (sources we can't name) to get our hands on the Levante. We've been told to wait for the new 3.8 twin-turbo eight-cylinder that should be arriving sometime next year. However, our goal is to test drive the more mainstream versions first prior to the high performance so we can see what buying a cheaper Levante would be like. We love the sleek styling and the interior seems to be a hit and miss on quality (we've only been able to sit in one). 

Porsche Cayenne Turbo/ Turbo S/ GT-S 

We'd love the opportunity to test drive one of the high-performance versions of the Cayenne. We've only managed to get our hands on a entry-level Cayenne with a 3.6 six-cylinder pumping out 300hp. It seems very hard to find places willing to let us test drive one, even if it's just around the corner and back. The next generation of the Cayenne is around the corner, and it looks light years better inside out. We hope that it lives up to the hype that we've read about in several reviews. 

Ford Eco Sport 

We know that it's just a crossover version of the Fiesta, but we do find the styling rather cute. The 1-liter ecoboost three-cylinder engine is the one that sparks our curiosity the most. It has less horsepower than an HRV but running costs should be lower also thanks to a turbo and high torque at low revs. This pint sized crossover should be urban friendly and has a very attractive starting price under $20k. (Sourced from Ford USA website.)