2023 Maserati MC20 Cielo First Drive: Touch the Sky and Come Alive

"Cielo." It means "sky" in Italian. Such is the lyrical beauty of the Italian language, Maserati didn't need to think beyond the prosaic to come up with a great-sounding name for the convertible version of its mid-engine supercar: the 2023 MC20 Cielo. It's worked before: This is, remember, the company that calls its four-door sedan, simply, the Quattroporte. Plain old English "Four Door" somehow doesn't conjure the same romantic elegance.

Not that the MC20 needs any more romance. In coupé form, Maserati's first mid-engine supercar in decades is a beguiling machine, a confident and capable car powered by one of the most charismatic high-performance V-6 engines of the modern era—an engine designed and engineered in-house at Maserati. It's not quite a Ferrari 296GTB and not quite a Lamborghini Huracán, but something all its own: a sports car with a soupçon of grand turismo evident in the mix that makes it as easy and comfortable to drive every day as a C8 Corvette.

The stuff we like about the MC20 is all there in the 2023 Maserati MC20 Cielo. The output of the twin-turbo dry-sump Nettuno V-6—Nettuno is Italian for Neptune, the ancient Roman god of the sea whose trident inspired the Maserati logo—remains unchanged at 621 hp at 7,500 rpm and 538 lb-ft of torque from 3,000 to 5,500 rpm. It drives the rear wheels through the same slick eight-speed dual-clutch automated manual transmission.

Performance is unchanged, too. The small carmaker claims the 2023 Maserati MC20 Cielo will sprint from 0 to 60 mph in about 2.7 seconds, just like the coupe. Claimed top speed is similarly just more than 200 mph.

As with the coupe, one of the keys to the MC20 Cielo's performance is its relatively low overall mass. The MC20 coupe's central carbon-fiber monocoque is made up of 57 molded pieces. Aluminum structures bolted to the front and rear of the monocoque anchor the front suspension and steering bits, as well as the rear suspension and V-6 engine and transmission assembly.

Cleverly, the monocoque was designed from the outset to facilitate a convertible version with only minor changes. As a result, the MC20 Cielo weighs only 143 pounds more than the MC20 coupe; the weight increase is pretty much all down to the glass roof and the mechanisms that stow it within/retrieve it from a compartment above the engine, in just 12 seconds.

The 2023 Maserati MC20 Cielo also shares its compact multilink suspension and giant Brembo carbon-ceramic brakes with the coupe, but it boasts several detail changes to the chassis setup. Rear suspension stiffness, for example, increased slightly to allow for the extra mass of the retractable roof to rest on the rear axle, and the e-differential is recalibrated to be less reactive, easing the load on the steering.

The default GT drive mode is also recalibrated to give a slightly softer, smoother ride at cruising speeds, but this is not—as in the case of many coupe-based convertibles—to compensate for the loss of rigidity that comes with removing the roof, says Maserati vehicle line executive Federico Landini: "We wanted the car to have a slightly different character."

That's not to say the 2023 Maserati MC20 Cielo is the soft option, a cruisy-schmoozy take on Maserati's mid-engine supercar. Far from it. Yes, the low-speed ride in GT mode is impressively compliant, but it's surprisingly syrupy in the coupe, too. And when you twist the glass-topped rotary controller on the center console into Sport or Corsa mode, the MC20 Cielo tells you it's ready to play, the suspension stiffening its sinews and the Nettuno V-6 clearing its throat.

Nail the gas, and the MC20 Cielo slingshots down the road. The Nettuno is an engine of truly impressive range, crisp and responsive at low to middling revs yet searingly relentless in its power delivery from 6,000 rpm all the way to the 8,000-rpm redline, its baritone rumble morphing into an edgy snarl. It doesn't feel or sound like a turbocharged engine.

The eight-speed dual-clutch is impressively quick through the ratios when used manually, and the carbon-ceramic brakes are strong and progressive. Maserati offers four drive modes: Wet, GT, Sport, and Corsa, the latter activated only when you twist and hold the large rotary controller on the center console for a few seconds, not least because Corsa also switches off the stability control.

Two different shock settings, one soft and one medium, are available in each mode: soft and mid in Wet and GT, with soft being the default setting; soft and mid in Sport setting, with mid being the default setting; and mid and hard in Corsa, with hard being the default setting. The settings are changed via a swipe across the glass touchscreen surface of the rotary controller on the center console. Another separate button on the console lets you switch the transmission between automatic and manual in all modes.

In GT mode with the transmission in automatic, the 2023 Maserati MC20 Cielo will happily mooch around South Beach or Beverly Hills with no more fuss than a Bentley Continental GT. It's a supremely relaxed and comfortable mode for the freeway, too, the tall eighth gear keeping the Nettuno V-6 turning barely 1,500 rpm at 70 mph.

But if you want to have some fun, Sport mode and manual shifting is the way to go, especially on roads as slippery as those that snaked through the Sicilian hills on our test route, where the stability control's safety net earned its keep on a couple of occasions. Save Corsa for the track, where, in extremis, the MC20 Cielo is a little snappier at the rear than either a Ferrari 296 GTB or a Lamborghini Huracán Tecnica.

Roof up, the MC20 Cielo feels as snug and solid as the coupe version. The roof is mostly glass—at 35.7 inches long and 24.2 inches wide, it's the biggest glass roof in the segment, says Maserati—and you can switch it between clear and opaque via the central touchscreen thanks to something called polymer-dispersed liquid crystal (PDLC) technology.

Roof all the way down, there's the slightest of shimmies through the steering column, but otherwise the car feels as tight as a drum. With the side windows and the small rear screen raised, the wind barely tousles your hair; even at triple-digit speeds the cabin remains relatively calm, apart from the overhead air roaring like the slipstream around a Boeing Dreamliner. Hearing the turbochargers' whooshes and whistles as you run the MC20 Cielo hard up through the gears adds to the surround-sound experience.

In terms of hardware, the 2023 Maserati MC20 Cielo's cabin is a relatively minimalist affair. There's a 10.25-inch digital dash and a 10.25-inch touchscreen above the center console and a handful of buttons. But sophisticated forms and materials including carbon fiber and Alcantara and contrast stitching on the leather seats mean the ambiance is a million miles away from a Tesla's spartan grimness.

Our test car was finished in Aquamarina, a handsome blue pearl over gray developed especially for the Cielo, with the seats trimmed in pale gray leather. Also new is a diamond-cut 20-inch wheel design that will be available as an option on both the Cielo and the MC20 coupe. Carbon-fiber wheels are available as an option, trimming a total of 66 pounds from the car's overall weight.

The MC20 coupe is already a hit, with all 2022 model year cars sold out. The 2023 Maserati MC20 Cielo, which overlays all the coupe's goodness with the open-air appeal of an easy-to-use convertible roof, should be no less popular. The first Cielos are scheduled to arrive in the U.S. during the first half of 2023. There is yet no official word on pricing from Maserati Americas, other than to confirm the starting point will be in the mid-$200,000 range.