Blues Brothers

Maserati's stage-setting mid-engine MC20 meets Porsche's apex-predator 911, the Turbo S Lightweight.

-  Ezra Dyer

The debut of a mid-engine supercar is always an event worth commemorating. Roll out a new car with a gnarly engine mounted somewhere just ahead of the rear wheels, and we'll be scouring Google Maps for twisty roads quicker than you can say “The C8 Corvette democratized this whole category." So when Maserati unveiled the 2022 MC20, we couldn't let the occasion pass without smashing a figurative champagne bottle over the prow. By which we mean to bring an MC20 to the most glorious, desolate roads we could find and see how it stacks up against the 2021 Porsche 911 Turbo S Lightweight.

“But," you cry, as your blood pressure skyrockets and your dog runs away, “the Porsche 911 Turbo S is not mid-engined! I reject this premise!" Well, we're sorry, but the 911 Turbo S resists easy categorization. Life is messy-sometimes two cars compete for the same customers, but one has its engine behind the rear wheels and the other just ahead of them. That difference aside, both the MC20 and the 911 Turbo S Lightweight use 600-plus-hp turbocharged six-cylinders and eight-speed dual-clutch automatics, and their base prices are close to each other. Plus, if you're going to compare a new Maserati to anything, you may as well pit it against the reigning king of exotic-adjacent performance for going on 47 years.