Maserati Rumored to Replace 4.7L V8 With Twin-turbo Pentastar

Maserati sure know how to turn chicken legs into chicken stew (you know what we mean!). They’ve been using older Ferrari engines and platforms in their cars for years, and while the 4.7-liter V8 in the Gran Turismo makes an all-Italian sound, it’s not that torquey at low revvs and burns quite a bit of fuel when you press the go-fast pedal..

However, if you’re not a big fan of the V8 mill, you might want to reconsider your words, as rumors indicate something a bit strange a potentially a lot worse could be replacing it. According to Inside Line, the top brass at Fiat and Chrysler want to introduce a twin-turbocharged version of the award-winning Pentastar V6.

The six-pot makes a lot of sense in a Jeep Wrangler or a 300 sedan, but Italian luxury and American muscle aren’t supposed to mix in a product with a global reputation. We really don’t think that “Maserati. Imported from Detroit.” has all that nice of a ring to it either.

What’s more, it looks like the V6 unit will not be the 3.6-liter we’ve grown to know and love, but a smaller 3.0-liter onto which two turbochargers will be bolted. Both Audi and Mercedes are big on this very configuration, but will Fiat Group be able to pull of such a technological program?

We don’t really understand why Maserati would want to shy away from Ferrari engines and let Americans built them. Surely, the move will affect their image and the owner’s resale values.