The GT3 RS-Fighting Maserati GT2 Stradale Costs £339,000

Earlier this year, the Maserati GT2 Stradale was unveiled as comfortably the brand’s most hardcore, track-focused model since the old MC12. Set to take the fight to the likes of the Porsche 911 GT3 RS, we know now its suitably punchy price tag: £338,880.

Based on the MC20 supercar, it ditches that car’s name entirely to closer link it to Maserati’s GT2 racer which, despite itself being an MC20, is just called… the Maserati GT2. The Stradale (Italian for ‘road’, as aficionados of old Lancia rally homologation specials will doubtless know), takes the MC20’s 3.0-litre twin-turbo ‘Nettuno’ V6, and its eight-speed dual-clutch ’box, and bumps power up from 621 to 631bhp, although curiously it makes slightly less torque – 531lb ft versus 538lb ft.

Never mind, though – the GT2 Stradale will still hit 62mph in a brutally quick 2.8 seconds and a top speed of 201mph. Much of that gain comes from shedding 60kg from the regular MC20, via things like the GT2 racer’s forged wheels – the Stradale’s dry weight is 1365kg.

Of course, no self-respecting track special skimps on the aero, and there’s plenty of it here, again heavily based on the GT2 car. This includes a new front splitter, rear diffuser, adjustable rear wing and vented bonnet. This all contributes to a peak of 500kg of downforce at 174mph.

If none of this is hardcore enough, you can spec two Performance Packs. The first fiddles with both the hard- and software, bringing an electronic limited-slip diff with specific calibrations for different drive modes, carbon ceramic brakes, semi-slick Michelin rubber and different setups for things like traction and stability control. The second makes things altogether racier inside, with four-point harnesses and a fire extinguisher. Better safe than sorry.

Those Performance Packs also unlock a Corsa Evo drive mode. Disappointingly, this doesn’t make the car simultaneously behave like a Vauxhall supermini and a turbocharged Mitsubishi, but it does further slacken all the driver assists.

Even without the second Performance Pack, things are already quite serious inside, with swathes of carbon fibre and Alcantara and a pair of Sabelt bucket seats. There’s also a new steering wheel incorporating shift lights into the rim – although you can opt for less intense sports seats if you wish.

The results of all these changes are fairly profound: around Stellantis’ Balocco test track, the GT2 Stradale is some five seconds quicker than a standard MC20.

That meaty new price tag comfortably eclipses the official £192,600 RRP of arguably this car’s biggest rival, the outgoing 992.1 Porsche 911 GT3 RS. In reality, though, you’ll struggle to find a GT3 RS listed for anything below £250k. Perhaps a more left-field, but no less capable rival, the 804bhp Ford Mustang GTD will cost £315,000 when it arrives in the UK. 

In fact, the Maser starts to look like a bit of a bargain when you consider the roughly £276,000 being charged for the Alpine A110 R Ultime in ‘La Bleue’ guise, a car with around half the power of the GT2 Stradale. Deliveries of Maserati’s new track day toy are set to begin in April next year.