Maserati GranCabrio

Cabin

Quite fitting to the car’s stature, the cabin is truly impressive in so many ways. There is leather seating trim throughout the cabin, with sportiness on the Trofeo that keeps occupants properly supported under hard cornering, even with the roof down. As you would expect, there is a digital instrument cluster ahead of the driver, and additional wind-management features help keep cabin turbulence down at speed.

Like other Maserati models, there is a 12.3-inch central touchscreen that controls the roof mechanism alongside navigation, climate, and vehicle settings, and Maserati’s connected app lets Folgore owners check charge status remotely or lets any GranCabrio owner monitor the roof’s position from a smartphone.

You have the choice to go with the customized options, which are offered as Fuoriserie personalization for specific paint, interior trim, and stitching combinations at Maserati’s Modena facility, a level of bespoke detailing that is actually more than what you get on most of its rivals at a standard price.

Front Seat

• Leather seating with sport bolstering standard across the range
• Heated front seats standard
• Wind-management features reduce cabin turbulence with the roof down
• The driving position is low, as you would expect from a GT

The front seats are quite comfortable for passengers. There is extra vibration and wind buffeting inherent to a convertible body, and you should experience it on an actual open-top drive.

Rear Seat

• Two rear seats, which are not the most spacious
• Headroom is limited by the folding-roof mechanism’s packaging needs
• USB charging point included in the rear
• Mostly good for children or shorter adults

But given the car’s purpose, the rear seats are intended for short drives rather than regular use, much like the GranTurismo coupé on which this car is based.

Climate Control

Automatic climate control is standard across the range. The Folgore’s electric powertrain allows the cabin to be preconditioned. A wind deflector cuts down on turbulence reaching the cabin with the roof lowered, letting passengers hold a conversation at speed without raising their voices.

Storage

• Reduced boot space compared with the GranTurismo coupé due to roof storage
• Reasonable capacity for a weekend bag with the roof either up or down
• Reduced further on Folgore due to battery packaging
• Small additional storage space up front on some versions

Boot space takes a real hit compared with the coupé, an honest trade-off for the folding-roof mechanism, so they cannot quite match the GranTurismo’s practicality. A soft weekend bag fits without much trouble, though a hard-shell suitcase needs careful angling, given the roof mechanism’s intrusion into the load space.

Not short on safety, the GranCabrio has a full suite of driver-assistance features as standard, backed by additional systems available depending on trim and package, and reinforced with a strengthened structure to compensate for the lack of a fixed roof.

• Emergency braking is included as standard
• Blind-spot monitoring and lane-keeping assistance
• Adaptive cruise control available
• 360-degree camera system available
• Parking sensors front and rear
• Reinforced body structure and rollover protection are built into the convertible platform

The reinforced windscreen frame and deployable rollover hoops work well to protect passengers in case of a rollover, with the system being triggered automatically the moment sensors detect the car tipping past a safe angle.

Front

The front has the familiar wide, trident-badged grille, low between slim Matrix LED headlamps, sharing its basic face with the GranTurismo coupé but based on a reinforced structure needed to keep the convertible body rigid without a fixed roof. The Trofeo’s front splitter and larger brake-cooling ducts carry over from the coupé, giving the GranCabrio the same purposeful stance nose-on.

Side Profile

The GranCabrio is a sizeable convertible, longer than most rivals in this segment, with 4.97 meters of length and a 2.93-meter wheelbase, plus the extra structural reinforcement needed for open-top rigidity, giving a small amount of weight over the coupé.

With the roof stowed, the GranCabrio’s rear deck rises smoothly behind the seats, keeping the shape clean and not bulky the way some folding-roof convertibles do once the top disappears.

Alloy Wheels

Trofeo and Folgore each come with their wheel designs, styled to complement the different characters of the two powertrains. Trofeo’s wheels lean sportier, while Folgore’s are shaped with a degree of aerodynamic efficiency in mind, useful for stretching range on a longer drive.

Rear

A full-width LED light bar stretches across the tail, quite similar to the GranTurismo coupé, and the roof mechanism folds away cleanly under a body-colored tonneau cover rather than leaving an untidy stack of fabric visible when driving with the top down. The rear haunches stay wide and muscular even with the roof retracted, keeping the GranCabrio looking purposeful from behind rather than exposed.

Colors

• Bianco Audace
• Nero Enigma
• Grigio Lava
• Blu Nobile
• Rosso Folgore
• Giallo Corse
• Verde Royale
• Blu Intenso
• Bianco Astro
• Nero Tempesta
• Grigio Lava Opaco
• Rame Folgore
• Blu Emozione
• Ottanio
• Bianco
• Blu Royale
• Grigio Maratea

No shortage of colors; there are 17 standard colors offered on the GranCabrio in the UAE. From the practical black, white, and silver through to Rosso Folgore and Giallo Corse. Then you have Maserati’s Fuoriserie personalization program, which allows a wider range of custom finishes.

City Performance

The Trofeo makes its character known before it even accelerates. On Al Wasl Road in morning traffic, the V6’s exhaust feels different with the roof down than it does sealed up: more personal, more immediate, the kind of sound that makes the driver next to you look across at the junction.

The power delivery in city mode is clean rather than aggressive, and the car never feels oversized for Dubai’s wider boulevards despite its grand-tourer footprint. The Folgore operates completely differently, remaining silent at low speeds, but the tri-motor response means that closing a gap in traffic happens ahead of the thought rather than after it.

Dropping the roof at a red light or raising it ahead of a sudden shower takes a few seconds through the touchscreen and works at low speeds, which in the UAE matters considerably more than it would in a cooler climate.

• Trofeo’s exhaust note shifts character noticeably with the roof down, more raw than refined and more interesting than simply loud
• Folgore’s torque makes city gaps close without drama or throttle planning
• Roof operation at low speed is practical enough for the UAE’s occasional coastal downpours on the Sheikh Zayed Overpass
• AWD on both versions keeps wet roads composed rather than nervous

Highway Performance

Longer runs towards Ras Al Khaimah or Abu Dhabi are where the two versions reveal just how different their motorway personalities actually are.

The Folgore pulls without interruption from the moment the throttle opens: no gear hunting, no turbo building, just a sustained wall of torque that turns overtaking lanes into formalities. Its weight becomes real at sustained speed through faster sweeping bends, where it asks more from the driver than the straight-line confidence prepares them for.

The Trofeo at 120 km/h with the roof down is the other side of that argument entirely, a V6 soundtrack that settles into something between a conversation and a performance with the wind.

The wind buffeting stays controlled across both versions at those speeds, the windscreen header and deflectors doing enough work to keep a longer run on the right side of the tire, though road noise rises considerably once the roof goes down.

• Folgore’s tri-motor delivery makes highway overtaking a non-event; the weight only reveals itself in long, committed corners
• A trofeo with the roof down at motorway speed offers a sound experience, which is closed roof rival simply cannot replicate
• Wind management is competent across both versions, not exceptional, but never exhausting
• Both sit comfortably at UAE highway speeds without feeling stretched or anxious

Ride and Handling

The reinforced convertible structure earns its additional weight on smooth, faster roads. Through quicker corners, there is no scuttle shake, no vague flex reminding the driver the roof has been removed; the car responds like a coupé without the GranCabrio having to pretend the open body shell is not there.

The Trofeo’s firmer suspension tune is the more demanding of the two across the older, patchier surfaces through Sharjah’s industrial outskirts, but it rewards that trade with flat, precise body control once the road quality improves.

The Folgore carries more mass, but positions it lower, and the result is a car that feels heavier without ever feeling ponderous through a long sweeper. Steering across both is well weighted for a car this size, direct enough that every input feels deliberate rather than approximate.

• Trofeo’s firmer tune earns its place on smooth roads and asks more from the driver when the tarmac deteriorates
• Folgore’s battery placement keeps handling composed despite the added mass; the car corners with more authority than the weight alone would suggest
• The reinforced body structure removes the imprecision that makes lesser convertibles feel approximate

Here in the UAE, Maserati offers the GranCabrio across two distinct versions. One is the traditional, highly capable, and proven V6 with petrol power, which is what has historically been available. But with changing times, you get a purely electric version in this high-powered sports car’s GT segment. Maserati is addressing the needs of both the buyers and the UAE.

Trofeo

This is the only petrol GranCabrio on offer. It has 542 hp, standard all-wheel drive, and the full Maserati cabin technology suite. It is for buyers who want open-top motoring with proper V6 character and a soundtrack to match.

Folgore

Maserati’s fully electric GranCabrio has up to 761 hp, an 800-volt tri-motor architecture, and instant torque delivery, making it noticeably quicker than the Trofeo despite its greater weight. It is for buyers ready to go electric without giving up open-top grand touring.

Zigwheels Recommendation

With only two variants on offer, the choice is mainly between the V6 soundtrack and Folgore’s electric powertrain, which offers pace and quiet sophistication. Trofeo is ideal for those buyers who see the GranCabrio as a proper open-top sports car first, while Folgore could be the best pick for anyone who has reliable access to home or workplace charging and wants the quickest, most technically advanced convertible Maserati currently builds.

The GranCabrio does not easily fit into the category of convertibles that sacrifice driving engagement for visual appeal. Maserati built two distinctly different cars under the same name: one that wants the driver to hear and feel every mechanical interaction, and one that makes a serious case for whether an open-top grand tourer needs an internal combustion engine at all.

The Trofeo is the best if V6 sound and mechanical involvement form part of what a sports car means to you. The Folgore is what happens when an electric powertrain is taken seriously rather than treated as a marketing exercise. What both share is a chassis that prioritizes the driving experience over styling, which is a less consistent achievement than it should be at this price and in this segment.

The German and British alternatives are established quantities with known ownership experiences. The GranCabrio deserves your serious consideration precisely because it is neither, and because both versions make that difference felt rather than merely claimed.

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