Even with today’s inflation, $125 grand seems like a ton of money for a luxury compact SUV. It may make fabulous Italian music and dance down a twisty road better than Beyoncé, but our expectations for the range-topping, Nettuno-V-6-powered 2023 Maserati Grecale Trofeo proved too high to earn it a trofeo (or finalist berth) at our 2023 SUV of the Year event. Might a four-cylinder Grecale in GT or Modena trim have fared better? We went to Italy to sample them in the hills above (where else) Modena to find out.

“Important” undersells the Grecale’s significance to Maserati. As the brand’s entry-level, most affordable product competing in one of the globe’s hottest segments, its success is vital to the Trident’s ability to market supercars like the MC20 and luxury grand tourers like the GranTurismo, to field a Formula E racing team (launching this spring), and to electrify its lineup by 2030. Perhaps it’s fitting then that the entry-level variants may prove to be the strongest.

For the uninitiated, the Grecale is a compact luxury SUV based on the same Giorgio platform that underpins the Alfa Romeo Stelvio, but it’s stretched a half-size to provide more rear-seat space and cargo volume. Its interior is finished and trimmed to the same high standard Maserati is renowned for, even when its cars were grossly subpar (think DeTomaso-era Biturbos). That’s basically true whether you purchase the $64,995 base GT model, the $74,395 Modena version we…