2011 maserati granturismo s review

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The Maserati GranTurismo Convertible combines a spacious, finely executed interior with an engaging powertrain to create a fast, stylish and comfortable four-seat touring car. The GranTurismo Convertible is new to the North American market for , and it's the first four-seat convertible in Maserati history. Sun-loving buyers will appreciate a comfortable open-air experience, relatively free of wind buffeting, excessive noise, or compromised amenities. The combined demands of high-performance, luxury, and open-top operation are notoriously difficult to reconcile. In the case of the GranTurismo Convertible, every effort has been made to overcome those conflicting priorities, so the car can offer the best of all three personalities. The performance part of the design envelope is based on a high-revving, horsepower V8 engine, mated to an adaptive six-speed automatic transmission with paddle-shift capability.

2011 maserati granturismo s review

By Georg Kacher. But although the optional roll cage, significant weight reduction, more powerful engine and higher price tag seemingly puts the MC Stradale on par with the Porsche GT3, Maserati is adamant that its new stripped-out coupe is still a comfortable, everyday car. The new Maserati deserves full marks for street cred alone. Just look at the matt black 20in alloys, ground-hugging bad boy front splitter, go-faster flares and bulges, additional air intakes and massive decals — including an optional stylised trident that covers almost the entire roof. It also earns top score for cabin ambience, thanks to lightweight body-shaping bucket seats, a four -oint shoulder harness, a partial roll cage dislodging the rear seats, wall-to-wall Alcantara and carbonfibre trim. One could even award a bonus point for the soundtrack. Listen to the dense V8 hum in standard mode, the impatient rasp in Sport mode, and the howl-and-roar in Race, all the way from idle speed grumble to a game-over yell at rpm. But how does the MC Stradale score for handling and road-holding, for ride comfort and stability, for driver involvement and overall desirability? To find out, we headed north from Barcelona to the oads through the Manresa mountain range. Through Barcelona, the big coupe catered primarily for eyes and ears. Eyes because the modified shape turns even more heads thanks to fender flares, sill extensions, and a bootlid spoiler.

Chat with Agent. Long and low, with a long sloping hood, the GranTurismo Convertible has inch wheels with three trapezoidal side ports.

Hannibal Lecter in The Silence of the Lambs. We did notice some shuddering through the steering column on the rough old Roman roads and some side-to-side creaking of the body over sunken SPQR manhole covers. But on the E80, the car felt solidly overbuilt, tracking true through corners with beautifully weighted steering, its powerful pump giving instant feedback in high-speed lane-change maneuvers. Think of the throttle-response curve as S-shaped. We had to kill sport mode at high speeds because the high-frequency drone was too grating. But hearing this open Italian exhaust caroming off the tunnel that runs under the Vatican is the closest this writer has come to a religious experience.

The Maserati GranTurismo Convertible combines a spacious, finely executed interior with an engaging powertrain to create a fast, stylish and comfortable four-seat touring car. The GranTurismo Convertible is new to the North American market for , and it's the first four-seat convertible in Maserati history. Sun-loving buyers will appreciate a comfortable open-air experience, relatively free of wind buffeting, excessive noise, or compromised amenities. The combined demands of high-performance, luxury, and open-top operation are notoriously difficult to reconcile. In the case of the GranTurismo Convertible, every effort has been made to overcome those conflicting priorities, so the car can offer the best of all three personalities. The performance part of the design envelope is based on a high-revving, horsepower V8 engine, mated to an adaptive six-speed automatic transmission with paddle-shift capability. The suspension consists of a four-link, coil-strut arrangement with active, electronically controlled damping on both ends. Powerful drilled-disc brakes supply confident braking control behind inch wheels shod with low-profile Pirelli tires. A substantial pounds in weight, the Maserati can still do in 5.

2011 maserati granturismo s review

Slicked back hair, gold necklace, and some famous hamburger meat peeking out from a Versace button up is the exact character you would expect to find behind the wheel of the Maserati GranTurismo. Well not exactly. Recently Maserati has expand their audience, which now includes: trophy wives and 60 year olds thinking their manhood is about to stop working. Aside from the funny characters that drive the GranTurismo, Maserati has actually made a semi reliable fun Italian sports car. The GranTurismo debuted in and while it carried the same engine platform from the Quattroporte, it was the sexy design that caused most to drool and leave their spouses. How did Maserati accomplish this? Maserati made few missteps with the GranTurismo, the biggest being the lack of power. Under the sleek and sexy skin of the Maserati was a Ferrari derived horsepower 4. Now horsepower might seem like a lot but those ponies had a tough time dragging pounds of sexiness around. This was the one major criticism the GranTurismo faced.

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For starters, the GranTurismo Convertible is an easy car to drive. Chat with Agent. Even in Los Angeles, even in Beverly Hills, chances of pulling up next to another one at a stoplight are zero. Thank the serious diet: lightweight seats kg , minimised sound deadening kg , the now standard carbon brakes kg , and the absent rear seats kg. Drive Live Chat. In real world driving from the traffic lights, this unit is capable of doing the mph sprint in a spritely 4. The engine is a modern V8 in every way, with variable intake valve timing, four valves per cylinder and Bosch injection. Wheel arch flares? Further enhancing the ground-effect talents are a lower ride height by 10mm and 12mm front and rear respectively , stiffer springs and tauter fixed-rate dampers, thicker anti-roll bars as well as minor camber and castor changes. These turned out to be a surprisingly intuitive, playful way to shift: easy up, easy down. The extendable roll bars work with the top down or up. If the top is down, the roll bars extend through the rear window to protect the occupants.

From the July issue of Car and Driver. Test jalopies rarely show up on a Saturday evening, but this one did.

The convertible top adds a final element of style and luxury to the Maserati. First Drives. Paul Fickers chief creator of both models said that the S appended to this particular piece of metal denotes not only sport, style, shifts and seven spoke alloy wheels, but also sex. Kez Casey. Further enhancing the ground-effect talents are a lower ride height by 10mm and 12mm front and rear respectively , stiffer springs and tauter fixed-rate dampers, thicker anti-roll bars as well as minor camber and castor changes. Accelerative performance is there when you want it, but the car does not have to be driven hard to be enjoyed. See all. It would be rude not to, really…. Shop Used Cars. The bad kind of hit list. We found the brakes are very powerful under medium pressure, but not too sensitive at the top, so short, smooth stops from higher speeds are not hard to achieve. The windshield is large and steeply raked, and with headlights mounted high above the grille, the effect is something like a shark or ray.