2026 Maserati MCPura Cielo | UK Review

Updated MC20 impressed in its native Italy - how about on the craggier roads of West Yorkshire?

Maserati declares the new MCPura its “most authentic driving experience”, a car that connects to its driver without filters. “It symbolises a return to the origins of the Trident's DNA,” we’re told, “pure speed, pure luxury and pure passion.” Pure everything. Hence the badge. The MC20 took its suffix from the year in which it launched; you can’t deny ‘MCPura’ is a notably more emotive name for its facelift than ‘MC26’.

We’ve already sampled it under the Tuscan sun, Cielo roof folded back, and perhaps unsurprisingly, rather liked it. For better or worse – though overwhelmingly the former – the ‘Pura changes little over the ’20 before it beyond some very minor styling tweaks and a more forceful lean into the Fuoriserie personalisation service. Spec one in basic black or white and you’ve almost certainly missed the point, while also removing a good chunk from the profit margin Maserati could certainly do with.

Its core components are inspirational whichever colours are daubed around them, though. The 3.0-litre ‘Nettuno’ V6 is still an almighty way to propel a carbon-tubbed supercar, while the snappy twin-clutch ‘box, sole driven axle and absence of hybrid boost mean the throwback feel which accompanied the MC20 at launch is very much retained. Going Cielo provides more opportunity to hear the whoosh, hiss and rumble of its prodigious turbo power, though it does remove any possibility of ogling the engine. Spec the cheaper Coupe if that’s a dealbreaker.

Priced from a mite over £200,000 with a fixed-roof or just shy of £230,000 with a folding hard-top, there’s a sense the MCPura represents a bargain if you can bring yourself to ignore the residuals. Which honestly might be a stretch. But it approaches hypercar levels of wow-factor, looking and sounding several times its asking price as it snorts its way through any British town. Those RRPs swell quickly, though: indulgent £17k paint is one thing, making pricey options out of near-necessities like the nose lift, electronic diff and heated seats is quite another. Maserati isn’t alone in such behaviour, of course, but it’s hard to imagine wanting to deploy its 630hp and 538lb ft peak outputs without the utmost precision from its rear axle.

A golden spell of weather ensures my overriding impressions of the MCPura in the Lancashire/Yorkshire borders match those acquired along the Italian coastline. A car that’s ragged (charmingly so) in wet and miserable conditions feels much more in its comfort zone in the warm and dry, feeling foolproof across its breadth of drive modes and – broadly – inviting as much commitment as you dare throw at it. Stumbling blocks remain, the brake pedal dishearteningly short on feel or progression unless it’s pushed firmly to the bulkhead, while communication from its tyres seems to ebb away as you approach their limits. There’s an overriding sense that some of its controls were calibrated on a frenzied afternoon at Balacco rather than a real-word blast across rural roads.

Perhaps I’m calling upon automotive journalistic licence here, but there’s an appeal to be gleaned from this. I grew up reading about the antagonistic low-speed controls of Diablos and their ilk, a context in which Italian supercars felt gloriously heroic things to take control of. Maserati’s measured hint at an old-school compromise did make me smile, even if those brakes undoubtedly impacted my flow on a favourite stretch of road.

The MCPura is otherwise a fairly sublime thing to drive, its 40/60 rearward weight split and uncorrupted power delivery making it an easy thing to grasp the ethos of. Skirt around its limits rather than targeting them, and you uncover a fluid, agile driving experience, light and eager steering paired with some seriously impressive damping to carve out a car that skims over undulating back roads with greater ease than my Hyundai i20N. Indeed, there’s arguably too much softness to its stock GT mode, ensuring you quickly ramp it up to Sport – and its midmost suspension setting – to tie things down without losing an ounce of composure. Even the tougher damping of Race mode is bearable across most surfaces, while its looser stability control holds no fear in the dry. Whatever your speed, the MCPura covers challenging ground without flinching.

It’s a joyous place to be, too. The steering wheel is perfectly proportioned and feels terrific in your hands. Fixed, elongated paddles delight every time, as do the sharp shifts of the transmission behind them, their most memorable performances unlocked by twirling the fiddly central dial to Race. The seats look and feel great, and the Cielo roof is suitably theatrical – this is a more thrilling car with it folded, beaming sunshine all the better to blind you to the MCPura’s flaws.

Perhaps it is sacrilegious to miss the mild electrification now commonplace in its competitors, yet its everyday abilities would undoubtedly improve with some hushed manoeuvring. Freshly moving house and immediately borrowing my new neighbours’ driveway to keep the MCPura cosy (thanks, Carole and Dave) made me pine for the option of slipping away unnoticed without the Nettuno rattling their morning brew. Though I’m sure such situations are atypical of Maserati ownership…

Efficiency could do with a helping hand, too. The digital trip indicated low-teens mpg (roughly half the official claim) to ensure frequent fills of its 60-litre tank. Its DCT doesn’t clamour for higher gears like an equivalent Ferrari item – appealing on the face of it, yet with an inevitable trade-off.

Those do feel like curmudgeonly things to fuss over when this car is so fabulous to behold. It blends the hyperactive response of a Ferrari with the easy-going manners of a McLaren, the surface sprinkled with unobtanium fairy dust if you’ve picked one of its dazzling Fuoriserie schemes. You can identify the rivals Maserati benchmarked, tangibly sense its engineers cherry-picking their favourite elements for inspiration, all coalesced in something with a character unequivocally its own.

It’s a car of bookends, tame and friendly at mooching speeds, then wild and a little unhinged when you lose your inhibition with it. Finding a sweet spot between those extremes can take a while, but there’s a rich reward to gradually unravelling its layers and finding the mood of MCPura that suits you. Just like the MC20 before it, this is a supercar that falls short of perfection. That ought to be the precise reason you covet it.

SPECIFICATION | 2026 MASERATI MCPURA CIELO

Engine: 2992cc V6, twin-turbocharged
Transmission: 8-speed twin-clutch, rear-wheel drive
Power (hp): 630@7,500rpm
Torque (lb ft): 538@3,000rpm
0-62mph: 2.9sec
Top speed: 199mph
Weight: 1,560kg
MPG: 24.1
CO2: 265g/km
Price: from £227,070, as tested £294,995, options including AI Aqua Rainbow paint (£17,955), Tridente livery (£9,505), Alcantara sports seats, upper dashboard and door panels (£7,285), driver assistance pack (£5,880), interior carbon pack (£4,260), suspension lifter (£3,180), electronic limited-slip differential (£2,160) and heated seats (£540)