The fast, spacious, assured Maserati Levante may be the least SUVish SUV in town

“Please mind the rims,” I’m reminded as I approach a pot-holed road. It’s a rather disquieting request, since we’re about to test the off-road capabilities of the Maserati Levante (pronounced “Levant-eh” and named after a warm, if changeable, Mediterranean wind), so the notion that the car may not be able to cope with a few little bumps is not the most promising start.

But Maserati is completely upfront about it: “Maybe 90 per cent of the Levante’s customers won’t take it in anything more off-road than deep grass in a field,” a company spokesman says. “But it still needs those off-road capabilities”.

Those who do go off-road in one will, it’s pointed out, wisely make sure their model comes with more of an “all-season” tyre and less of a “recently re-tarmacked, street-only” 21-inch chrome.

It’s hardly a confession, and yet it’s still odd to hear it said out loud. If this is the case, why bother buying a Maserati Levante at all? Why not buy one of the Italian maker’s other models? Indeed, if they’re not going to be used, perhaps there is a market for a cheaper Levante, and all it offers, minus those 4x4 talents.

Maybe this is something the car industry should consider: that all most people really want is a rugged people carrier, with a higher riding position and plenty of room inside. And, at five metres long - making it the longest class in its segment - and with a three-metre wheelbase, the Levante has plenty of that.

And yet, for all its interior size, the Levante - of all premium SUVs - looks the least SUVish. In off-road mode, it’s raised an additional 40mm off the neutral stance to provide extra ground clearance, much as in sport mode it’s lowered a little too. But in everyday mode - there’s no button labelled this, by the way - its profile is remarkably long and sleek, at least relative to the usual boxy form of most SUVs, even the Porsche Cayenne, its most obvious competition.

The Levante, Maserati claims, has the lowest drag co-efficient of any car in the category - which, together with its 3-litre, V6 engine, makes it capable of hitting 100km/h from zero in 6.9 seconds, marginally faster than the Cayenne. It is almost a new category of car altogether - an SUV/sports hybrid. It is, at least, the most shyly SUV SUV on the market.