Wednesday 20th April 2011

Yanks Get Softened GranTurismo MC 'Stradale'

Stripped-out Stradale fattened-up again with 4 seats and auto

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Maserati has unveiled a fully auto version of its GranTurismo MC Stradale, in order that US customers needn't be 'challenged' by the electronically actuated manual gearbox.

Called the GranTurismo MC, the newcomer will be the fastest production car Maserati has ever sold in the US market with a top speed of 185mph and a 0-62mph time of just 4.9 seconds.

"The major difference between the MC Stradale and the GranTurismo MC is in the transmission. Where the MC Stradale boasts the fastest gearshift in the world, the GranTurismo MC has one of the fastest shifts of any full automatic transmission in production. Maserati has custom developed the GranTurismo MC to deliver US customers the increased power, intuitive handling and aerodynamic gains of the GranTurismo MC Stradale without challenging their tastes for automatic transmissions and four-seat practicality," runs the company line.

Powered by the latest development of the 4.7-litre all-alloy V8 engine, both cars share a shorter exhaust path, and a bypass valve that enriches and intensifies the engine note, and which exits via the centre of the rear bumper.

The US market GranTurismo MC also shares the tighter damping control and race-bred aerodynamics of the GranTurismo MC Stradale - which makes us wonder whether we wouldn't quite like to see it over here?

[Sicob]

Utterly gorgeous!!!

[James Dean]

Eh, what a great difference.

[Killer2005]

Sicob said:

Utterly gorgeous!!!

JCT600 in Leeds have one in at the moment which means I get to drive past it every day. Which is nice, however I'd far prefer to be driving one everyday

[Gizmo!]

So it's a Maserat-ish. I predict it'll sell like hot cakes anyway.

Just occurred to me, isn't it nice to see Maserati doing well? Looking forward to the next generation of their cars... the 3200/4200/GranSport are getting on a bit now?

[AbarthChris]

Gizmo! said:

So it's a Maserat-ish. I predict it'll sell like hot cakes anyway.

Just occurred to me, isn't it nice to see Maserati doing well? Looking forward to the next generation of their cars... the 3200/4200/GranSport are getting on a bit now?

The GranTurismo is the next generation? It replaced the 3200/4200/GranSport car

[Sicob]

One drove past me in Manhattan. Sounded spot-on, I was amazed to see it was a GranTurismo with that noise. Looked great, sounded better!

[Gun]

The GranTurismo Stradale is such a good looking car, stunning.

[sjmoore]

Why don't they sell this version (or at least the Stradale with 4 seats) in Europe? All the other mods over the standard GranTurismo sound great but deleting the rear seats seems odd in such a big car, especially when to many people (ok - it could just be me!) having 4 proper seats puts it on the possible acquisition list, as opposed to almost all Ferraris and Astons, etc.

[Gizmo!]

AbarthChris said:

Gizmo! said:

So it's a Maserat-ish. I predict it'll sell like hot cakes anyway.

Just occurred to me, isn't it nice to see Maserati doing well? Looking forward to the next generation of their cars... the 3200/4200/GranSport are getting on a bit now?

The GranTurismo is the next generation? It replaced the 3200/4200/GranSport car

Bloody hell, so it did. I assumed the GranSport was still going as a base-model (like the Aston V8) because the Granturismo's huge (like a DB9)...

[Goodfella 555]

These Maseratis have got quite popular where i live and they are stunning, only criticism would be the size which you really notice when you park next to one, but nonetheless they are seriously nice and look really aggressive when they race up behind you. Amongst the top 3 best designed cars for sale at the moment imo...

[LuS1fer]

Why?
It's not like the Americans don't have manual shifters and paddle shifts in the Corvette et al...

Still, at least this is slower.

[PhantomPH]

I'd like the full-on Euro-spec, but with the option of adding the rear seats back in.

Some of us have kids in Europe, too.

P~

[ptopman]

Only in the US could one get a manual transmission on an E60 BMW M5, so manual-only isn't really a sales killer in the US market and it's hard to understand why Maserati went for this differentiation. On the other hand, this car is so huge and heavy that deleting rear seats is entirely pointless, so it's hard to tell why a buyer should be interested in the European model in the first place. If I were looking for a sporty two seater, certainly there are far more interesting alternatives elsewhere, especially ones that don't carry around the extra skinfolds.

Edited by ptopman on Wednesday 20th April 15:54

[Ed.]

ptopman said:

Only in the US could one get a manual transmission on an E60 BMW M5, so manual-only isn't really a sales killer in the US market and it's hard to understand why Maserati went for this differentiation. On the other hand, this car is so huge and heavy that deleting rear seats is entirely pointless, so it's hard to tell why a buyer should be interested in the European model in the first place. If I were looking for a sporty two seater, certainly there are far more interesting alternatives elsewhere, especially ones that don't carry around the extra skinfolds.

Edited by ptopman on Wednesday 20th April 15:54

Since they sell the normal GranTurismo with the automated manual or the torque converter auto already one must assume customers don't like it.

[ZZ]

That is simply drop dead gorgeous

[DBSnappa]

sjmoore said:

Why don't they sell this version (or at least the Stradale with 4 seats) in Europe? All the other mods over the standard GranTurismo sound great but deleting the rear seats seems odd in such a big car, especially when to many people (ok - it could just be me!) having 4 proper seats puts it on the possible acquisition list, as opposed to almost all Ferraris and Astons, etc.

You're not alone in this. I have a slight bugbear about 4 seat coupes, which are quite large, but the rear seats are useless for anything other than amputees. Step forward Bentley with their Continental, Aston with their DB9/S/Virage, Jaguar with their XK/R. None of these are small cars yet their rear seats are so close to pointless as to be insulting. Either repackage the car properly or remove them entirely guys.

[soad]

ZZ said:

That is simply drop dead gorgeous

Sure is. Then there's the noise too

[zakelwe]

soad said:

Sure is. Then there's the noise too

It's fantastic isn't it.

Andy

[AndrewD]

sjmoore said:

Why don't they sell this version (or at least the Stradale with 4 seats) in Europe? All the other mods over the standard GranTurismo sound great but deleting the rear seats seems odd in such a big car, especially when to many people (ok - it could just be me!) having 4 proper seats puts it on the possible acquisition list, as opposed to almost all Ferraris and Astons, etc.

My dealer has told me three times now that they are doing a 4-seater

[Coltraine]

I had a Gran Turismo 4.2 but found it a bit slow off the mark. Test drove a MC shift 4.7 and it was awesome so i got one. Loved it!!! The down shifting was awesome and it took 4 adults easily on long runs to Riems from Kent.
The best feature was the sport button which opened the exhaust before the silencer...
Got rid of it to JCT600 and now drive a bashed 530d touring.
Why?? ......I loved my Massie.. i would have slept with it if the missus wasn't the jealous type, but, i couldn't leave it anywhere for fear of the "lets key a nice car brigade" and everyday it sat in the garage it lost £100 in value.
Now i don't care where i leave my car and i don't attract attention from every cop who wants a story about how they nicked a guy in a flash car.. I guess we'd all like a Massie MC etc but the truth is the grass is deffo not greener..