New Maserati Grecale 300 2026 review: little engine at a lower price makes sense

Verdict

If the usual German cohort of SUVs doesn’t appeal, the Maserati Grecale 300 remains a genuinely intriguing option. It’s one of the most fun mid-size premium SUVs to chuck around your favourite roads and while some might scoff at the idea of a four-cylinder Maserati, it’s quick enough, with a bit of theatre thrown in, too. It’s not particularly efficient, however, and a lack of some options is disappointing, as are elements of the interior.

Despite being named after a Mediterranean wind, the Maserati Grecale has never really taken the premium SUV class by storm and with the range-topping Levante waving goodbye several years ago, the pressure is very much on.

To broaden its appeal, Maserati has replaced the old entry-level GT with a new 300 model, but crucially it now starts at £59,990, £4,065 less than before. That price drop also makes it £15,000 less than the Grecale Modena (with which the 300 shares its basic engine layout) and a whopping £45,655 less than the V6-powered Trofeo. 

In a show of sibling rivalry with the Alfa Romeo Stelvio – as the two share the same Giorgio platform – the Grecale now starts at a cheaper price point than the Alfa, which costs from £61,520 in its sole Intensa trim, as well as the Porsche Macan, which can only be had in £66,000 T guise. 

Used - available now

2026 Maserati

Grecale

45,399 milesAutomaticPetrol3.0L

Cash £56,000

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2024 Maserati

Grecale

31,477 milesAutomaticPetrol2.0L

Cash £35,200

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2026 Maserati

Grecale

27,034 milesAutomaticPetrol2.0L

Cash £41,650

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2024 Maserati

Grecale

22,272 milesAutomaticPetrol2.0L

Cash £34,995

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However, entry-level versions of the BMW X3, Mercedes GLC and Audi Q5 all undercut the Maserati by a few thousand pounds, and it’s possible to get a similarly powerful version of the Mercedes for around the same price as the Italian car. 

So the Grecale is now much more competitive on price, but what do you actually get for £60,000? Well, the same engine as before for starters. It’s a turbocharged 2.0-litre four-cylinder petrol with a belt-driven, 48-volt, mild-hybrid system to help smooth out the torque curve rather than provide electric range – which means it’s pretty thirsty no matter the journey you’re doing. It’s an iteration of the same engine used in the Alfa Romeo Giulia and Stelvio for the past decade.

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Power stands at 296bhp (the 300 name comes from metric horsepower) while there’s 450Nm of torque. The 0-62mph time is only 0.3 seconds slower than that of the 325bhp Modena version, although the pair share the same top speed of 149mph. 

You might think a measly four-cylinder would not suit a Maserati – especially a mid-size SUV such as the Grecale – but there’s some character here. The engine has a distant growl and is slightly raucous; the almost hot hatch-like crackling from the exhaust is an interesting choice, although not quite as exciting as the 3.0-litre V6 in the Trofeo shared with the MC20 supercar. 

Straight-line performance is solid with torque spread across the rev range, although it doesn’t exactly flourish getting towards the fairly lofty 6,700rpm red line. Leaving the Comfort mode and moving into GT or Sport means more responsiveness from the eight-speed automatic and aside from that, the gearshifts seem to work more cleverly in these modes in normal driving, too. Operating the manual shift paddles is a delight as well, because they’re massive aluminium units that you barely have to reach for, plus the action is superbly weighted. 

Where you might think the Maserati trumps its rivals is in terms of handling, because it’s significantly lighter than similarly specced Mercedes GLCs and BMW X3s at 1,870kg. Our car didn’t get the £300 optional electronic rear differential and as a result, the Grecale never really offered confidence-inspiring adjustability on the limit of grip. The steering is well calibrated and front-end response is up there with any of its rivals, but the Grecale is happier to rely on four-wheel-drive adhesion to straighten things out when needed. 

Our Grecale 300 also wasn’t fitted with the optional £1,500 electronically variable active damping suspension system called Skyhook, although from our experience, it doesn’t add too much sophistication to the ride. The passive coil spring set-up is just as good when you’re pushing on, and while there is body roll, it feels natural in comparison to the size and weight. As with the GT before, the brakes are set up well, with impressive stopping power combined with a brake pedal that never feels imprecise or jerky. 

Compared to its German rivals, there’s a certain level of expectation when it comes to Maserati, even with the Grecale 300, which is the cheapest car in the Italian brand’s range. The design of the 300 is identical to the old GT, and while it’s neatly proportioned with some key Maserati design traits (a huge grille, the three air vents on the front arch, trident badge on the rear pillar and quad exhausts), it strangely doesn’t have a tremendous amount of road presence. 

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The interior is also a mix of genuine luxury and some suspect parts sourced from Maserati’s parent company Stellantis. Quality items in the Grecale’s cabin include that customisable clock at the top of the dash which takes a classic Maserati design cue into the digital era, open-pore wood trim (far better than the carbon fibre offered as an option), and squishy leather almost everywhere else. 

The driver’s display is a classy layout, too, while being perfectly easy to scan on the move. What isn’t as good is the central infotainment screen – it’s the same 12.3-inch unit you’ll find in other Stellantis products such as the Vauxhall Astra and Peugeot 3008, and while the Grecale gets its own bespoke display, the truly awful integrated sat-nav is carried over. A positive, however, is that Apple CarPlay connected almost instantly for us, so we could avoid the slow, narrow-view sat-nav. 

Other slight oddities to the interior include the only physical volume controls being hidden behind the steering wheel, door opening buttons taken from the Fiat 500 and a strip of gear selector buttons on the dash which are suspiciously similar to the ones you find in the Jeep Avenger, and just as sluggish and annoying to use. That the wireless phone charger is a £300 option is a tight move from Maserati as well. 

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