Maserati's Spark of Genius
K.C. Colwell
From the May 2021 issue of Car and Driver
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Looking at Maserati's forthcoming twin-turbo 3.0-liter V-6, you wouldn't know the Italian automaker has been out of the engine-making game for more than 20 years. Set to debut in the MC20 supercar, the Nettuno (Italian for Neptune, a nod to the company's trident logo) vaults Maserati to the leading edge of internal-combustion technology just as exotic brands are getting serious about downsizing their V-8s. Using a derivative of prechamber ignition, which is common in Formula 1, engineers have squeezed a specific power output of 207.6 horses per liter from the V-6. That makes the Nettuno more power-dense than any current McLaren, Ferrari, Lamborghini, or Porsche engine.