What nails the Grecale Trofeo down as a brilliant sport crossover is how well it handles everyday traffic and cruising. There’s a little vibration through the chassis at idle, but we didn’t care – it fits the car’s persona, and it’s the only criticism we can find in terms of street comfort. It’s a stylish, quick, luxurious race car for the road, except it’s a crossover and in no way a hardship to drive daily. However, there’s a price to pay – and it’s six figures. Our tester showed a $105,500 starting price and the build sheet ended at $135,300 after options and packages. That’s a starting price of almost $20,000 more than an Alfa Romeo Stelvio Quadrifoglio with its 505 hp and similar corner performance. We would say that the interior build quality of the Maserati trumps the Stelvio, and the Grecale is a little longer with better cargo space. If you’re wondering about the BMW X3 M, the Grecale trumps it in a big way in ride quality.
But $105,500 for a sports crossover before adding options? That’s a lot, particularly considering the infotainment and interior control experiance. But if you have that kind of disposable income and a smaller crossover is your ideal daily driver… why the hell not? It’s an Italian car and the stereotype demands foibles and annoyances to be offset by the sheer joy of driving the thing. We won’t blame anyone for embracing that.