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RE: Maserati GranTurismo MC Stradale: Review

Tuesday 26th November 2013

Maserati GranTurismo MC Stradale: Review

Logic be damned, the MC Stradale is the best GranTurismo yet

The Maserati GranTurismo is one of those admirable cars that just quietly ploughs its own furrow.

MC Stradale is intended as track focused...

Quietly? Oh, well, not that quietly actually.

This being the MC Stradale version and supposedly the most focused and track-honed iteration of the GT currently available we take it to a circuit - Goodwood as it happens. Now, the noise regs here are more stringent than most. But the grin on the sound test marshal's face - once recomposed having had a 5,500rpm blast of Maserati V8 - tells a very clear story about the chances of MC Stradale demonstrating its circuit skills. Scores on the doors? 112db. Bacon butty and a brew it is then.

A pity then but, frankly, even with all the Trofeo championship overtones the MC Stradale probably isn't a car to be mixing it with GT3s, Caterhams and ruded up MX-5s. It's a car for those with nothing to prove and little need to fight for space among those with a burning desperation to do so.

...though noise test begs to differ

No, this is a car for appreciating the journey as well as the destination. Which is probably why this latest version has regained its rear seats and another 10hp over the first MC Stradale into the bargain. On a break of dawn run across the South Downs, mist hanging in the fields and a light frost on the branches, the spit and crackle of an Italian V8 echoing through the sleepy countryside offers exactly the kind of evocative experience the famous trident badge stands for. Not sure those disturbed in its wake with the sun barely over the horizon would be so charitable but there we go.

By any rational measure the GranTurismo MC Stradale doesn't add up. At £120K as tested it's four-cylinders and a decent interior down on its nearest rival the Aston Martin DB9. The automated manual gearbox - transaxle mounted in this instance - shunts, hesitates and slurs in a way that simply underlines how far dual-clutch and regular autos have moved the game on. It's too big to really enjoy on a British B-road. It doesn't feel all that quick, initially at least. The pitiful infotainment system would be derided as a bit passé in a Citroen. What's that? It is from a Citroen? Oh. And to think the last time the two collaborated it was on the SM and Merak.

Dan wouldn't be smiling if he'd paid for a slot

All the above goes to show what little value objective measures have when assessing a car like this. Because even with all the above it's a glorious machine, oozing caddish style and old school opulence. Think of it as a Ferrari F12-style vehicle for a third of the price and you're part-way there. Never mind that the F12 is several leagues down the road in terms of status, quality and performance; park them next to each other in Mayfair and the Maserati wouldn't necessarily look like the poor and antiquated relation the uncharitable might consider it to be.

And you know what, it doesn't half drive nicely too. Standard GranTurismos live up to that evocative name as well as any car ever has. But the MC Stradale distracts from some of the irritations and cheaper fixtures and fittings by sheer force of character.

The open-exhaust blip on start-up is fearsome, even if it defaults to a more muted tickover. If you're like us you'll immediately be hitting the Race button again to open the valves permanently. Well, the neighbours are all awake anyway - damage done.

Vented carbon bonnet part of the package

Robo manuals were never that popular in their day, and that was at least a decade ago. Which is why the standard GranTurismo has an auto and the 4.7-litre Sport version retains that option in addition to the automated manual. For the bloody minded who crave an 'experience' it's compulsory on the MC Stradale though, improved 48:52 weight distribution from its transaxle layout (the auto is conventionally located) part of the appeal for more spirited driving. The clunk through the transmission when you pull the big carbon paddle, the hesitance at parking speeds, the head-nodding auto shifts - they're all what regular roadtests would dismiss as annoyances. But in a car like this you'll accept them as character.

The steering lacks the hyperactive dartiness of a Ferrari and the standard carbon ceramic brakes need a little waking up before giving their best but the engine is always there in the MC Stradale. A cross-plane version of Ferrari's V8, you've basically got the drivetrain of an Alfa Romeo 8C beneath you. In an age of turbocharged AMG and supercharged Jag equivalents it seems more mouth than trousers initially but you underestimate it at your peril. Where those engines would be getting a bit out of their stride the classic Latin character really comes into its own as the rev counter passes 5, 6, 7 and then ... clunk ... another gear and repeat.

Mean and moody car, mean and moody conditions

And it handles too. If you want a demonstration of why a well-judged passive set-up is still the optimum choice the MC Stradale is that. Lower than the GranTurismo Sport by 10mm front and 12mm rear (and 80kg lighter), it's a little chuntery around town but the springing is oily smooth early in the stroke and controlled at the extremes by damping that permits a sense of weight shift but admirably contains the considerable mass around you.

In character it's not unlike the DB9, albeit with a lot less weight on the nose and a beautifully telegraphed transition into easily collected oversteer. You need space to drive it like this but the Maserati can switch seamlessly between raffish GT and proper hooligan as and when the mood takes you, rather than according to some mode button on the dash.

And boy can it cover ground. The noise bores into your skull on a cruise but that's OK because Sport or Auto mode puts it in the background and here the GranTurismo lives up to the name. You have to be careful though; default pace is best described as 'naughty' and you have to keep an eye on the speedo to avoid settling into the kind of cruising speed that could bring your journey to a premature and costly end at the hands of the boys in blue.

Alcantara distracts from cheaper fittings

All of which is a roundabout way of saying for £120K it's a bit of a bargain, relatively speaking. And all the more so when you delve into the classifieds and see early examples of the 4.2-litre regular ones for a quarter of that and examples of the S that shares the same 4.7-litre engine from not much more.

With the restrained aggression of that vented carbon bonnet, the lower stance and the curious mix of GT ambience and track influenced handling the MC Stradale is the pick of the bunch though. And if none of that sells it to you the noise just might.

MASERATI GRANTURISMO MC STRADALE
Engine: 4,691cc V8
Transmission: 6-speed automated manual, rear-wheel drive
Power (hp): 460@7,000rpm
Torque (lb ft): 383@4,750rpm
0-62mph: 4.5sec
Top speed: 189mph
Weight: 1,700kg (dry), 1,800kg (kerb)
MPG: 19.6mpg (NEDC combined)
CO2: 337g/km
Price: £110,110 (£118,036 as tested)

Maserati GranTurismo timeline:
GranTurismo, 2007-current (six-speed auto, 4.2-litre V8, 405hp)
GranTurismo S, 2008-2012 (transaxle automated manual, 4.7-litre V8, 440hp)
GranTurismo S Automatic, 2009-2012 (six-speed auto, 4.7-litre V8, 440hp)
GranTurismo MC Stradale, 2010 (transaxle automated manual, 4.7-litre V8, 450hp, two-seat interior)
GranTurismo Sport 2012-current (six-speed auto or transaxle automated manual, 4.7-litre V8, 460hp)
GranTurismo MC Stradale, 2013-current (transaxle automated manual, 4.7-litre V8, 460hp)

Vid clip here.

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Andy ap

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