Maserati GranSport: PH Carpool
If you need four seats in your sports car then 911 isn't the only way...
Car: 2006 Maserati GranSport
Owned since: February 2016
Why I bought it:
"I'd reached a time in my life when I could finally justify laying out the cash for something more exotic than my SEAT Leon Cupra. But I'd also reached a time in my life where I had two small children. So I needed something that had back seats, and a boot that could swallow a stroller. 911s, GT-Rs and XKRs were all obvious contenders. I'd read about the Maserati 4200 back in the day, but remembered the criticisms regarding the handling and clunky Cambiocorsa gearbox. Then I revisited the period road tests for the GranSport, which suggested that the lower ride height and larger wheels transformed the handling (and the standard 4200 actually benefitted from a number of tweaks in the 2003 and 2005 model years). It seemed like a good compromise between the softer Jag and the smaller Porsche. So I joined a well known specialist forum, started browsing the classifieds and bought the car you see in the pictures. I'd never even seen one in the metal, but I trusted the photos, the mag reviews and the guy I sent to do an inspection on it."
What I wish I'd known:
"The GS is a very capable GT. But with that high-revving naturally aspirated engine, it can also be a very frustrating one, because I want to give it the beans at all times. So, although it can accommodate three passengers with ease, I often take it out alone so that I can enjoy a spirited drive without cries of 'slow down' from the person to my left, or worrying that I might wipe out the next generation of my family if I forget that I don't have six-piston calipers up front."
Things I love:
"Well, the engine, obviously. It is a 4.2-litre V8 with input from Maranello and sounds spectacular with an angry roar at the top end. The car is pretty handy on a B-road and devastating on a smooth A-road. And I always thought the driving experience was everything, but just look at it. I get to see that every day when I leave for work and return in the evening. Oh, and the Cambiocorsa 'box is also something that owners often grow to love. Maybe it's a bit clunky in town, but then I don't use it for trundling around Knightsbridge. Taking the engine to the redline in second, third and fourth (on a private road of course), snapping thorough the gears, is certainly addictive. And the paddleshift helps you keep the revvy engine on the boil and make very rapid progress."
Things I hate:
"It's not the car's fault that it's kept outside and I feel that, as the custodian of a beautiful machine, I have to clean it a lot. Er, what else? The rubbery coating on the back of the front seats is easily scratched and scuffed by little feet and these cars suffer from the 'sticky buttons' problem that afflicts other Italian exotica from the same period. And the brakes aren't eye-poppingly strong, but a set of stainless steel hoses and Ferodo DS2500 pads has made a big improvement. I also sometimes forget to put the car in sport mode when I start it up, then spend a few minutes wondering why the handling has lost its edge and the gear changes are so sloppy..."
Costs:
"I melted the tyres at Brands. A new set of four Goodyear F1s can be had for not much more than £500 if you shop around and they're better than the standard fit Pirellis. I just had it serviced and a couple of well known issues cropped up - leaky cam covers and some worn suspension components (it's quite a heavy car). But I budgeted £2-3K a year for running costs so it's been in line with expectations. And that's what I pay each year to lease a Mazda 6 estate... Maserati parts are notoriously expensive, but there are pattern components available and the forums have discovered numerous ways to save money. Ferrari 550M discs fit (and are actually cheaper) and the £900 F1 gearbox pump is exactly the same as a £300 Alfa Selespeed pump."
Where I've been:
"As well as a track evening at Brands Hatch, I treated myself to a mid-week road trip last October. After putting the kids to bed, I drove up to Wrexham and spent the next day taking in the Evo triangle, the A44 from Aberystwyth to Llangurig and the B4520 from Builth Wells to Brecon. The GS is a great road trip car - fast and exciting on these roads, but the excellent seats meant 10 hours in the seat caused no aches and pains."
What's next?
"A lot of GranSport and GranTurismo owners complain that there's nothing at a similar price that looks, sounds and drives as well as these cars while being a genuine four-seater. If I had the garage space and cash, I'd need two cars to replace this, perhaps a Quattroporte GTS and something mid-engined. But for now its all-round abilities and feel-good factor mean it's a keeper. It could do with a respray, as well as sports cats and a remap to free up a few extra horses and decibels (I've already swapped the standard centre section for an H pipe, as many owners do). There'll be some more UK road trips this year and hopefully some longer ones across the Channel at some point. And a lot more gazing at the body and taking it to the redline whenever I get the chance!"
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Seems you're getting on a treat - tell the kiddies not to kick the seat backs anymore though!
I do not have a lot to add to the article other than buy well (get an inspection and don't be scared of miles as long as it has been serviced every year or more in line with requirements and do budget the £2-£3K a year mentioned. A well serviced high miler may be a more reliable proposition than a garage queen that has missed services).
There is very little to compete with the Gransport in terms of packaging. 4 proper seats with easy entry and decent boot. I looked at DB7/9 and XK and they do not compete in this area. A logical upgrade to the Gransport might be the Granturismo but that somehow manages to be (slightly) smaller on the inside and (much) larger on the outside. A Granturismo will not fit in my garage and the Gransport offers a slightly more raw driving experience (you will need the MC-Shift version of the Granturismo to emulate that).
My running costs have been pretty good and with doing an average of 4500 miles a year it has cost roughly £2k p/a
Fuel economy is usually mid-teens but can easily be single figures when driving it properly, it will do just over 20mpg on a run at under 80
The only things I don't really like are that you can't split the sport mode functions i.e. the gear change is beyond crap when not in sport but the suspension can be a little hard when in sport mode, It would be great to be able to set each independently. Also I have the light coloured 'Tech Cloth' and it looks a mess within a few days of cleaning it
Quite interesting in that both this and the Mazda 6 Sport Estate are similar in that they are both great cars to drive and yet neither are obvious choices in their respective fields, you need to be an enthusiast to spot both which offer good solutions/value in different ways.
The gearbox can't compare to something modern, and is pretty hopeless at everything but flat out. In traffic I wince, thinking of the clutch wear and the £2k+ clutch job that's coming. As OP says though, bang it through the gears to redline and the shift still feel fast and harsh.
I paid £16.5k for mine needing a bit of bodywork and servicing, had all that sorted and I've probably done ok with the value, probably still worth what I've spent including all the bodywork and running costs. Not many come up under 23k now, even private with high miles.
Moody in the woods on a recent trip to Wales.
Definitely a classic in the making.
I came very, very close to getting one of these last year. I test-drove one and was very favourably impressed. I was a bit circumspect, having previously owned an E60 M5 whose SMG gearbox I loathed, but I had read bad things about the manual 'box in these so decided to try the CC version. It somehow works well with the rest of the package. And I agree that the engine is quite sublime - it makes a wonderful noise and just makes you grin dementedly. I also agree that it has very sharp responses - I doubt overall performance is meaningfully different from that dished out by my current 440i, but the delivery is much more instant. For example, I quickly found that if I accelerated onto a roundabout with the vim I would usually apply in the BMW, then I'd find myself damn near taking off and thwacking the back of the car that had gone around the roundabout in front of me.
I did notice however that you need to shop carefully. They don't seem to age well, particularly inside, unless lovingly cared for. And it was interesting, reading through service histories, that even on immaculate examples with scrupulous histories from Meridien or wherever, individual cars often had the same faults (quirks?) cropping up and being fixed year after year after year.
Picked mine up after winning a swiss ebay bid in late march for a ridicoulously low price.
Surly, after enjoying an epic engine failure on the way home it was due for a thourough once-over and after having a complete new engine from autoshields (thanks again, Marios!), new clutch and a rework of all body issues, it runs as it should, and seems to send positive vibes compared to newer stuff.
Having now spent way more than I wanted originally, it still is close to reasonable pricewise compared to... well, what compares, really?
Most interesting cars that could have been bought for that kind of budget a few years ago became gradually ever more expensive (anything Ferrari), are even more flimsy, close to uninsurable or simply not usable for daily use.
And it seems that it ages well, too, a real classic in the making.
Was thinking of 997, may be a bit sportier on a certain road, but for the rest - no contest at all
Best italian bravado and sense of occasion, nothing comes close, and then considering the price
Best pick, but I'm biased, obviously, and really do like it.
There was certainly some tricks to getting the best out of the gearbox, such as slightly lifting off the accelerator just before a gear change and whilst not un-noticed, I can't say I remember the gearchanges at speed being that noticeable unlike my average of 11mpg !
What I do remember is the gorgeous interior, the gem of an engine and the under bonnet art. Also one of the most laughably bad sat nav's that I can recall but I didn't care.
As stated in the post, many of the bits can be sourced elsewhere. The F1 pump and brakes are the best known, there are little things like the interior light from an Alfa GTV 916 that are less know. The Shell 5w40 was always good value and less than the 10w60 needed in my current Alfa but there were some things like oil filters that were still Maserati only (or eurospares) and I do remember bulking at £170 for a 5cm bit of rubber tubing on the F1 pump....so my specialist did the right thing and bought the same grade tubing for about £2 elsewhere.
Lovely things.
I ended up deciding on a GS in much the same way as the OP and others. I probably can't justify going out on a day long thrash more than once every couple of months and to enjoy a real 'drive' I have my 205 for that. Keeping a 360 or Exige or some other out-and-out sportscar for such infrequent trips just seemed ridiculous. So it had to be something the family could go out in, something a bit luxurious and different.
Toyed with an Arnage until the reliability frightened me off, a Conti wasn't special enough, M3 was ho hum and I am too tight to spend AU$100k on something new only for it to be $50k in 5 years.
So I was set on a late 996 until I stumbled onto the GS. Everything I have read says this is the car. And over here, it's less than a late 996. Result.
All that remains is for a property sale in a few weeks and I'm in.
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