Maserati’s new era begins with a new engine. Nettuno is the beating heart of the MC20 super sportscar that will make its world premiere in September. The unit was designed at Maserati’s Modena facilities: the Maserati Innovation Lab on Via Emilia Ovest, the workshops on Via Delle Nazioni (Maserati Corse’s historic base) and developed at the Engine Hub, situated at the famous Viale Ciro Menotti address where it will be built. Currently, the new production line and new paint shop are being modified to host the much-anticipated MC20.
The project was born from the passion and commitment of a team of highly-qualified technicians and engineers. After twenty years, Maserati has once again enthusiastically taken on the challenge of returning to its Modena HQ with the development and production of a new, highly-technological, high-performance engine.
The new power unit is a V90° architecture, with a three-litre, six-cylinder twin-turbo, and features a dry sump (a classic solution on super sportscars). It delivers 615bhp@7,500rpm and 730Nm of torque from 3,000rpm. The soul of the engine is the innovative pre-chamber combustion system featuring twin-spark plugs. This technology is derived from Formula 1 and is now available, for the first time, on an engine destined for the road.
The engine has three main features, a pre-chamber which is set between the central electrode and the traditional combustion chamber and connected by a series of specially-designed holes, a lateral sparkplug which acts as a support to ensure constant combustion when the engine is operating at a level that doesn’t need the pre-chamber to kick in, and a twin injection system – direct and indirect, linked to the fuel supply pressure at 350bar, the system reduces noise low down on the rev range, lowering emissions and improving consumption.
The new “Made in Modena” engine, a traditional 90° V6, has been taken to unheard of power and torque levels and will be used for the first time on the MC20 super sportscar, which will take Maserati back to the world of racing.
