As Monday mornings go, this one’s not bad. The sun’s beating down on Silverstone’s asphalt, there’s a nice light breeze and the National circuit pit garages are full of interesting kit, from a 1960s TVR Griffith and some historic Mustangs to a McLaren P1, and all sorts of Porsche 911 GT3s of pretty much every variety in between. Lob in an Ariel Atom and a Caterham, and it’s a bustling mix of race teams and track day enthusiasts. All of which are blown into the weeds by the UK’s sole Maserati MCXtrema, prowling down the pitlane like a big cat scanning the horizon for its next gazelle…
The Maserati MCXtrema, prowls down the pitlane like a big cat scanning the horizon for its next gazelle
It belongs to long-time Maserati and Alfa Romeo enthusiast Mike Hilton, and is the only one of the 62 being built coming to the UK. He’s here today to see how close the car can get to a true GT3 racing car, and has enlisted official Ferrari and Maserati instructor, and two-time Italian GT3 championship winner, Sean Hudspeth for some driver training, and to push the car to its absolute limits.
It’s not the first time the car’s been out on track – Mike braved a chilly Silverstone not long after Magneto watched the car be delivered to Maserati’s Ascot dealership, and in March he came to Silverstone to get a feel for the car. However, that was 1ºC, this is a nice 20ºC; the engine modes are all up to the max, there’s fresh slick rubber due on the car in the afternoon and a new exhaust from Maserati that, in Mike’s words, ‘it means I don’t get black flagged for noise at every British racetrack’.
The MCXtrema is the most powerful Maserati ever built, with 730-740bhp from its twin-turbocharged 3.0-litre Nettuno V6. Though based on an MC20 in theory, there’s very little of that left under the bespoke lightweight composite bodywork, sequential six-speed racing gearbox, new turbochargers, adjustable aero, polycarbonate window and a whole host more.
Mike’s no stranger to racing – after spending time racing Caterhams he’s moved into racing an Alfa Romeo 4C and an ex-Jolly Club Alfa Romeo GTA. This is a completely different kind of car entirely,” Mike says. “It’s just so easy and rewarding to drive fast,” he says. It’s totally configurable too – he tours me around the driver-focused, fighter-jet inspired cockpit. Everything’s laid out for ease of use, rather than as an afterthought (like plenty of racing cars), and there’s a multitude of options for anti-lock braking and traction control levels – Mike favours level three or four, though the ABS is dialled higher than for instructor Sean.
You can also fine-tune the level of power assistance – a blessing and a stark contrast to his unassisted 4C racing car, Mike says. “The MCXtrema is definitely the fastest car I’ve driven, it’s 100 per cent a GT race car but extreme in every way – I’ve driven GT4 cars before but this is another level.”
As is the fuel consumption… With all the settings up to the max, a slight on-track pause for some extra fuel to be delivered prompted some quick maths – 1.7 litres per minute, at £4.60 a pop for 102 octane fuel. Add in £3000 for a set of new slicks for the day, and it’s certainly a commitment.
After each session Mike sits down to go through the side-by-side comparison of his efforts compared to Sean’s via the VBOX telemetry. Mike started the day around seven seconds shy of Sean’s fastest lap, and by the end he was down to four seconds. It’s something Sean puts down to confidence – Silverstone might not quite be the intimidating challenge of the 1980s and ’90s, in particular Bridge, but it still takes grit to take Maggots in full flow. However, the lines start to get closer and closer with seat time. It’s something Sean’s a big believer in; rather than fill the diary with races, it’s all about the testing time to fully understand the car, the track and yourself.
In addition to racing Ferraris, he’s also been lucky enough to drive some of the Corse Clienti/XX cars. Drawing an immediate comparison is difficult, because the closest car he’s driven in specification to the Maserati is a Ferrari FXX K EVO, dating from 2016. “That’s a lot more powerful, but it’s a lot heavier thanks to the hybrid system – the Maserati is only 1300kg, and it feels like a GT3 car but with an extra 200bhp,” Sean says.
He sees the MCXtrema as offering the performance of a GT3 car, but with the ease of use and drivability more akin to a GT4 car. “It’s a sub-1.58 Silverstone lap car, definitely,” he says. That’s tantalisingly close to the production car lap record of 1.56.42 set by the Aston Martin Valkyrie, which has 1140bhp. As for how that compares to, say, a Ferrari 296 GT3, a pole lap around Silverstone is 1.56 with no fuel, and around 1.58-1.59 fuelled for a race. It’s certainly quick – easily pulling more than 170mph by the end of the Hangar Straight.
On the day, the duo would miss out on the sub-2min figure due to traffic, each lap blighted by at least one slower car. Sean’s best time was 2.02, with Mike four seconds in arrears. Mike’s not deterred – he’s got more track days planned for the year, and the car will be on display at Auto Italia Brooklands this weekend and the London Concours in June. That’ll be a little more sedate, we should imagine…
For more information on the MCXtrema, head here. To get a further taste of the MCXtrema, here’s a lap from Mike.
