Maserati's new Levante luxury SUV combines beauty and performance

The scenery is spectacular. This is a working farm. There are cows and sheep in the fields, a beekeeping area, and lots of farming plots and pastures.

Gorgeous. A fine day to drive an Italian luxury SUV.

This is not an Italian luxury SUV. I did say this was a working farm, after all.

The actual stone barns come into view as I head up the driveway.

The stones are dappled, weathered gray. This is a relaxing place.

The weather vane is a cow! And thusly was the scene set for ...

... my first look at the Levante in the wild. Built with pride, entirely in Italy.

For me, the sharpest luxury SUV coming in a wave of such vehicles is Jaguar's new F-PACE. But it only took a few seconds for the Levante to steal my heart. What can I do? I have a weakness for Maseratis.

I would be driving this one, in a lush brown paint job. For the record, I love brown cars.

The design is aggressive, but in creating an SUV, Maserati worked hard to avoid compromising the essential sexiness that its cars have always projected. The airy grille might bother some: you can see right through to the fins.

The Maserati trident badge is large and in charge on the grille, but more subdued on the hood.

From the rear, as with all luxury SUVs, the effect is more utilitarian. A giant hatch is hard to make sensual.

Lots of cargo space!

There's a nice rise and curve to the rear haunches. The Levante's center of gravity is purposefully low and although the vehicle has a strong road presence, it doesn't seem tall.

The Levante name originally belonged to a "warm wind" that could "change from gentle to a gale force in an instant," according to Maserati. Can you guess what they had in mind by picking that moniker? (The Ghibli sedan, by the way, is also named after a wind.)

The classic Maserati script, in chrome.

The script is also nearly hidden above the headlight and turn-signal cluster.

It isn't hidden when you step into the SUV.

All Maseratis get these ventilation ports on the fender: three per side.

The trident is also tastefully applied, again in chrome.

Here it is on the steering wheel.

More chrome: quad exhaust pipes are a foretaste of what will happen when the engine is fired up.

Serious calipers and serious ventilated rotors will provide ample stopping power. The 0-60 mph time is a Maserati-claimed 5 seconds with the 424-horsepower engine option. It also has a top speed of 164 mph (the 345hp motor will do it in 5.8 and top out at 156 mph).

Italian rubber on those alloy wheels.

The powerplant: a 3.0-liter, twin-turbocharged V6, built by Maserati's illustrious stablemate, Ferrari. I have to say that they could have done a better job dressing up the plastic cowling.

But they got the details right.

Ready to roll? This key fob is a hefty thing. You won't forget it's in your pocket.

The steering is hydraulic — old-school, not electric as on so many luxury SUVs these days. The wheel itself has a great feel, and on the road the steering tightens up and gets heavier as you pick up speed. Oh, and a word about those paddle shifters: superb. Only Ferrari's feel better. Shifting with them is crisp and quick.

Apple CarPlay in the house. Android Auto, as well. We wound up defaulting to CarPlay, as the learning curve on Maserati's improved infotainment system was too steep for a short media drive.

CarPlay made for some interesting tunes. Not my iPhone! But I'd forgotten that I kinda like Howard Jones.

The sounds were piped through a Harman/Kardon audio setup. Some trim levels of the Levante, which starts at $72,000 and can be optioned up north of $100,000, will get a Bowers & Wilkins premium system. The Harman sounded pretty sweet, though.

The front seats get some nice contrast stitching and are are quite comfortable, yet adequately bolstered for spirited driving. You can get a Zegna Luxury Package which brings some snazzy silk to the leather seats. We experienced it in the Quattroporte and decided that it was the best interior offering in the auto business at the moment, so it's good to see it available on Levante.

The back seat is roomy. Large adults will be happy.

The shifter is a tad annoying, but I got used to it. We kept the Levante in Sport mode for the most part, but it does have a Normal cruising mode; something called "ICE," which serves up better fuel-economy at the expense of performance; and and Off-Road setting. The SUV can also be raised or lowered to five levels (and it will do so itself based on speed). The knobs control the infotainment screen, which also has touch functionality.

There's a very snappy eight-speed transmission — we've had some issues with these gearboxes, but in this case, there's was no detectable confusion in shift programming, although I couldn't get the Levante to downshift with the paddles when I wanted it to a couple of times. We also couldn't get the slowpoke in the pickup to get out of the way!

When the road did open up, the driving was heavenly.

Man oh man! Maserati has just crushed it with the Levante.

I didn't drive the car for long, but when I was driving it, I thought it was brilliant. This is easily the best luxury performance crossover SUV to hit the market this year and worthy competition for the Cayenne. Maserati set a tall order for itself with that one, but they appear to have pulled it off.

I drove the 424-horsepower-engined Levante and when I kicked it into Sport mode, the engine made growling, joyful, and at-times sorta nasty music. The all-wheel-drive system can interpret your driving style and keep most of the traction on the rear wheels or move some grip farther forward, if you need some help. I was used to this from the Ghibli, and it continues to do a fine job with the Levante.

The suspension is taut without being overly stiff, and bodyroll is limited in the corners, which the Levante gobbles up smoothly for a vehicle that tips the scale at over 4,500 lbs. In a straight line, the SUV from Modena flat-out cooks. That dropped center of gravity and the 50-50 weight split gives you more control than you're probably accustomed to, if you've been piloting traditional SUVs. It might give you more control than you get from some sports cars!

I like the way I feel in a Maserati, and the Levante did not fail to make me feel those feelings. I'm really, really, really looking forward to a slightly longer date with this budding masterpiece of Italian SUV-ness.