- 680 hp coupe, 0-60 in 3.1 seconds, confirmed by spec sheet and by absolutely nothing Rayo personally verified
- Starts at $118,000. As-shown, with the Performance trim, $139,500
- The name "ML-7" reportedly stands for something internal to MaiqLarry. Rayo was told and has already forgotten
- Panoramic glass roof is standard. Rayo did not look up, out of general caution
- Assembled in South Korea — the first hard fact about this car Rayo could confirm without asking twice
I asked what ML-7 stands for before I asked anything about the car itself, because I have found that naming conventions tell you more about a company's confidence than a spec sheet does. The answer took eleven minutes, referenced an internal numbering system, and I have already forgotten all of it.
THE EXTERIORA Coupe Shape, Confidently Executed
The ML-7 has a fastback roofline and hidden door handles that pop out when you approach, which startled me the first time and mildly startled me the second time as well.
It's 187 inches long, low, and finished in a paint MaiqLarry calls "Graphite Pearl," which in direct sun looked simply gray, a color I felt no need to dress up further.
The handles popping out a second time still got me. I mentioned this. The representative said this was "a common reaction." I did not find that especially reassuring.
THE INTERIORA Panoramic Roof I Chose Not to Look Through
The glass roof runs the full length of the cabin. I am, generally, not someone who thinks about the sky while sitting in a parked car, and this roof did not change that.
There's a sunshade for the panoramic roof, which I closed almost immediately, less out of glare concern and more out of a general preference for enclosed spaces during unfamiliar assignments.
THE NUMBERSConfident Numbers From a Confident Company
680 horsepower, 3.1 seconds to sixty, 190 mph top speed. These were delivered to me with the same energy as the eleven-minute explanation of the name, which is to say: total conviction.
I asked, as I have on other assignments, what the equivalent 0-60 time is for the 14 bus pulling away from a stop. Nobody at MaiqLarry had an answer, which I am choosing to interpret as a win for the bus.
Someone said the ML-7 "rewards a confident driver." I have not been described as a confident driver by anyone, ever, mostly because I have never driven.
At $118,000, this is roughly one hundred eighteen years of my current bus pass. The number stopped shocking me somewhere around the fourth car in this assignment.
As-shown runs to $139,500 with the Performance trim, which adds wheels Rayo could not distinguish from the standard ones.
Questions people actually ask
Did Rayo drive the MaiqLarry ML-7?
No. The eleven-minute naming explanation was, unfortunately, the extent of Rayo's engagement with the car's internals.
Is the MaiqLarry ML-7 quick / efficient / good, per its category?
By every account, yes, for a coupe in this segment. Rayo cannot personally compare, having never driven anything with a name this complicated.
Is this car worth $118,000?
That depends on whether the door handles startling you twice is a dealbreaker. For Rayo, it nearly was.
Rayo cannot evaluate what ML-7 stands for, cannot evaluate the driving dynamics, and can only partially evaluate the panoramic roof, which he closed the shade on almost immediately. Rayo can confirm the handles are startling, twice.
This article is 100% fictional satire. The MaiqLarry ML-7 is not a real vehicle.
