It’s brutally fast and highly beautiful. It’s black and red. It’s a masterpiece from Modena. And we got an opportunity to drive it in and around its home-town in Italy!
“’Stradale’ in Italian means road in English,” said Andrea, the Italian race driver who would be accompanying me for the rest of the day. I figured out that ‘MC’ stood for Maserati Corsa and, thus interpreted, the name of the strikingly beautiful Maserati MC Stradale would mean a race car, but one made and set up for the roads. Basically hailing from the GranTurismo family, the MC Stradale stands at the top in the Maserati line-up when it comes to outright performance – a fact that was enough to make me believe that a day behind the wheel of this machine would be nothing short of an exhilarating experience.
Standing outside the Maserati headquarters in Modena stood the MC Stradale, looking stunning in all-round matte-black paint on everything from body to bumpers and roof to wheels. We have to give it to the Italian designers, who manage to come up with styling that just doesn’t fail to make your jaw drop in awe. This car’s is no exception. You can actually spend hours admiring the MC Stradale, wondering how magnificent it looks. The muscular flares, mean looking headlights, excessively sporty aero splitter, twin creases and vents on the bonnet and Maserati’s typical, vertically slotted grille make for the most aggressive yet extremely stylish and classy front end.
The car at my disposal even had the Maserati trident emblem painted in red on the roof, which looked out of the world – that is, if you happened to view the car from above. At the rear were triangular tail-lights, a lip spoiler on the boot-lid and a couple of exhaust pipes peeping out from under the bumper through the mesh – all of this making for a rather understated tail. Then there were side skirts, carbon mirrors and brake callipers painted in red that added aggression to the MC Stradale’s stance.
Moving on (or rather in) from such racy exterior, there is more on offer inside the cabin. In a two-seater configuration, this Maserati manages to conjure up a perfect race car feel with its carbon seats that neatly hug your body, a roll-cage (optional) that occupies all the space behind the seats, a fire extinguisher (yes, they have given one in this road car), a four-point harness and a dash clad in carbon and Alcantara trim. After spending a lot of time ogling at the stupendous craftsmanship that went into the making of the MC Stradale, I finally turned the ignition on and brought its 4.7-litre V8 to life.
Getting out of Modena was easy enough with hardly any traffic obstructing either Andrea’s GranCabrio, whom I was following for directions, or my GranTurismo. Before getting to the highway the city roads were negotiated in the ‘Auto’ mode, which kept things rather comfy on the drive front – this is with reference to the fact that we are talking of a sports car that is generally purpose-designed for sporty use. However, this one is different and that is why Maserati claim its practical usability on a day-to-day basis. The steering feels light and suspension not too stiff while driving at 60 km/h on city roads and streets. The engine’s hum delights the ears, but it doesn’t entice you much in the ‘Auto’ mode, when the exhaust note tends to be suppressed to a great extent.
Once on the highway, I shifted to the ‘Sport’ mode and things became livelier. There was better response from the engine and transmission and the suspension felt a little stiffer than before. Whizzing past what looked like slow moving cars, we entered Maranello. I must say that either the Italians can’t have enough of their own cars or the MC Stradale is so superlatively gorgeous that every other person on the road had to give it a second look. It was quite surprising to see so many Italians in the home town of Ferrari turning around for a second look at the visual treat that whizzed past them in the form of the Maserati.
As I left the town I saw a speed limit board with black stripes across the number, indicating that the limit was not applicable thenceforth. The road was winding up the hill. Though narrow and twisting, it invited me to play around with the car. The MC Stradale, subdued so far, was now eager to enter the high adrenaline mode. The Italian company claims that this is almost a race car. What can be a better place than the mountain roads to test the abilities of this Stradale, I thought to myself.
As I shifted to the ‘Race’ mode, the game was transformed drastically. The V8’s roar and growl gave a whole new perspective to the drive. The subdued guise suddenly disappeared and the car turned into something that would scare the living daylights out of the faint-hearted. The 450 PS of power and 510 Nm of torque sitting under the hood turned the passing trees and milestones into the merest blur in the rear-view mirror. Between 3,000 and 7,000 RPM, the MC Stradale is so blisteringly quick that adjectives like ‘brutal’ and ‘maniacal’ easily spring to your mind.
This engine has been mated to a six-speed robotised manual gearbox that refuses to shift on its own once in the ‘Race’ mode. Paddles to shift through the cogs work excellently. However, it is a rather unsettling experience to shift through the gears in the ‘Race’ mode. With the pedal floored, the gear changes occur in as little as 60 milliseconds and with a very harsh thud. The Stradale’s well-sorted chassis and committed suspension support the powerful engine and keep things under control. The steering, which otherwise is light and easy, stiffens up adequately in the ‘Race’ mode and gives a very progressive yet extremely precise feedback that makes sure you stick to the line that you intend to take.
My drive on public roads naturally put a restriction on exploring the car any further and even gave rise to a strong urge to take this machine to a nearby race-track. If only I could!
I drove up to Serramazzoni and took another road to complete a loop back to Modena, making it roughly a 100-kilometre drive. There is no doubt that this car means serious business. On a straight line, it might not be fast enough to fit into the super car bracket, but take it round the corners and it is a wild beast that constantly warns you that misbehaviour would be harshly dealt with. Quite simply, the car’s potential is far beyond yours.
The MC Stradale is not as practical as the company portrays it to be with its two seats, 20-inch wheels (they look superb, though) and a price tag of 1.63 crore. But then, who would want practicality from this unique, gorgeous, fast and impeccably Italian beast of a machine?
Story: Adhish Alawani
Photography: Adhish Alawani and Maserati
