2023 Maserati MC20 Cielo Convertible: Roofless Ambition

Buying a convertible version of a high-performance coupe once meant accepting significant compromises in return for the breezier thrills of life without a roof. Roadsters, spiders, and spyders were invariably heavier and less structurally rigid than the cars they were based on, making them slower and sacrificing some of the handling precision cars of this ilk are meant to exemplify. Yet many buyers chose them anyway. In the case of some fashionable supercars, a clear majority went topless.

These days, the sacrifices in foregoing a fixed roof have been practically abolished but for the inevitable need to dig deeper to afford one. The new Maserati MC20 Cielo—named after the Italian word for sky—is a claimed 143 pounds heavier than the coupe thanks to the additional mass of its folding glass hardtop. But that’s pretty much it for the minus column. The Cielo uses the same carbon-fiber tub as the coupe, so structural stiffness is unchanged, and the increased weight has done almost nothing to blunt the efforts of the twin-turbocharged Nettuno V-6 that sits behind the passenger compartment. And, with the hardtop stowed, the Cielo looks even more stylish and desirable than its perma-roofed counterpart. What’s not to love?

The hardtop’s glass panel features electrochromic dimming, which is a neat feature even though the difference between its light and dark settings is not especially noticeable. The electric mechanism that motors the top beneath the rear cover operates quickly and silently, taking just 12 seconds, and can be operated at speeds of up to 31 mph. With the roof raised, the Cielo feels impressively coupelike, with snug cruising refinement, and with it lowered, buffeting is minimized by a powered glass air deflector at the back of the cockpit.

Our biggest gripe is the need to control the roof function through the cockpit’s central touchscreen; you must hold the activation tab throughout the entirety of the up or down cycle. Maserati’s engineering team insists that reprogramming the user interface to do this was actually more expensive than fitting a conventional switch, an admission that seems to deny any justification for not using a physical control—one which would have undoubtedly felt nicer and been possible to operate while keeping your eyes on the road.

The folding roof gives the Cielo a distinct character relative to the coupe, but the Nettuno V-6 remains the starring feature. This is the engine that features a clever motorsport-inspired pre-ignition system and uses serious boost pressures to deliver 621 horsepower from just 3.0 liters of displacement.

The Nettuno’s noises are more redolent of rallying than circuit racing and are even louder than in the coupe. There’s the rush of induction and wastegate flutter overlaying the rasp of the exhausts, with a high-pitched buzz audible under steady throttle. That odd sonic signature is almost diesel-like and seemingly a product of the six cylinders’ dual combustion chambers, each with its own spark plug.

This definitely isn’t one of those snooty, high-bred supercar powerplants that tries to disguise its turbocharging—the Nettuno positively celebrates the 29 psi of boost required to produce its maximum output. So the V-6 is laggy and lethargic low in its rev range, and even with the crank spinning at 3000 rpm—at which the maximum 538 pound-feet of torque is available—there is still a discernible pause between throttle application and the arrival of boost. But there is a sizable iron fist inside the not-especially-velvety glove, and the Cielo feels every bit as fast as the MC20 coupe—at least once it’s rolling.

Yes, there was an implied asterisk at the end of that sentence. The Cielo’s Bridgestone Potenza Sport tires produced copious cornering grip but were less able to find traction off the line. There is a launch-control system, but it seemed to struggle for grip and felt no quicker than the age-old expedient of simply flooring the gas pedal. Maserati claims both versions of the MC20 have an identical 2.9-second zero-to-62-mph time, although when we tested the coupe we recorded a (still impressive) 3.2-second 60-mph dash.

The Cielo’s dynamic modes have been recalibrated compared to the coupe. The gentlest, GT, now has softer base suspension settings. It is also possible to toggle the firmness of the adaptive dampers separately in each mode—between soft and mid in GT and Sport and between mid and firm in Corsa. In GT, the Cielo felt calm and compliant, even over Sicily’s frequently poor-quality road surfaces, and the dampers’ mid position didn’t feel unduly harsh. The firmest setting definitely was too much for broken pavement, though.

The dynamic modes also tweak numerous other settings, with each bringing a significantly different character to the car. In GT mode, throttle mapping is relaxed, and the eight-speed dual-clutch transmission swaps its ratios nearly as unobtrusively as a torque-converter automatic. Sport mode adds steering weight, sharpens the throttle response, and gives the gearbox a binary quickness. Beyond those, Corsa adds a neck-snapping torque bump to upshifts while also switching the active exhaust to its loudest setting all the time. MC20 owners’ neighbors will hate it.

As in the coupe, steering is quick and delivers crisp front-end responses, but it resists kickback over bumps and undulations. The Cielo’s cornering attitude can be tweaked and tightened with the accelerator—it will even indulge in some carefully policed power oversteer with the stability control in its Sport setting—but the abiding dynamic impression is one of huge confidence at the very high speeds the MC20 can deliver in very short order.

Comfort and refinement aside, the Cielo is not going to be mistaken for a true grand tourer. The cabin materials have been chosen for light weight and functionality over luxury, with microfiber and carbon-fiber on almost every non-glazed surface. Getting in and out with the roof in place means squeezing through the narrow aperture of the dihedral door and over a wide sill. Luggage accommodation is unchanged from that of the coupe and thus equally minimal. There’s a three-cubic-foot compartment behind the engine guaranteed to bake anything consigned to it, plus two cubic feet of storage up front, under the hood.

For any potential MC20 buyer, choosing the Cielo feels like a very obvious thing to do. Beyond the fractional gain in weight and the loss of the coupe’s cool see-through engine cover, there don’t seem to be any obvious downsides, with an abundance of benefits, from the slinky roof-down looks to the enhanced ability to deliver a tanned forehead. We don’t have pricing yet but can safely predict a roughly $250,000 base price for what will be the most expensive model offered by any part of the Stellantis group when customer deliveries start in the U.S. in the second half of next year.

Source: Reviews - aranddriver.com