RE: New Maser unveiled in the UK
Thursday 21st June 2007
The new GranTurismo in LondonThe new Maserati GranTurismo has been officially unveiled in Britain at London’s Royal Horticultural Halls. Maserati invited a host of celebs along, but we’re more interested in how the new four-seater super coupe behaves on the road. The model is released to the press next month.
Launch included an A6GCSThe GranTurismo goes on sale towards the end of the year with a starting price of £78,500.
New Maser unveiled in the UK
GranTurismo launch nears
The new GranTurismo in London
With a 4.2 litre V8 producing 405bhp, coupe looks, and genuine seating for four, the new Maser offers an intriguing and – on paper at least – appealing blend of qualities.
An Executive GT version of the Quattroporte Automatic was also on display, flanked by a 1953 Maserati A6GCS - one of four in the world, and also designed by Pininfarina.
Launch included an A6GCS
For now, there’s always the GranTurismo micro site to play with:
Discussion
As much as I have wanted a 911 for the last 20 years+, I can see it being a very difficult choice next summer.
Maserati are making big noises about reliability and built quality - longer and more affordable service gaps etc. I hope they live up to the claims with the new GT.
I am not entirely sure if there is a decent dealer/support centre in the NE of England tho...unlick the JCT600 we have for Porsche. Hmmmm....
P~
Maserati are making big noises about reliability and built quality - longer and more affordable service gaps etc. I hope they live up to the claims with the new GT.
I am not entirely sure if there is a decent dealer/support centre in the NE of England tho...unlick the JCT600 we have for Porsche. Hmmmm....
P~
I saw this at Geneva and I have to say I was underwhelmed. First off, it is a BIG car, feeling a whole stack bigger than a V8V of 911 for exmaple and feeling a lot more like a 2 door Quattroporte (a Duoporte?) than a sports coupe. Secondly, although on first viewing it appears stunning, when I started to look at its features close up they began to grate - Lexus front lights, new Mondeo rear lights, clumsy Yank-tank like grille...
I was left unimpressed. However, I believe there is a shorter wheelbase, 2 seater CC-top thing coming which look slike it will be more sporting. That may be worth waiting for.
I was left unimpressed. However, I believe there is a shorter wheelbase, 2 seater CC-top thing coming which look slike it will be more sporting. That may be worth waiting for.
Hendry said:
I saw this at Geneva and I have to say I was underwhelmed. First off, it is a BIG car, feeling a whole stack bigger than a V8V of 911 for exmaple and feeling a lot more like a 2 door Quattroporte (a Duoporte?) than a sports coupe. Secondly, although on first viewing it appears stunning, when I started to look at its features close up they began to grate - Lexus front lights, new Mondeo rear lights, clumsy Yank-tank like grille...
I was left unimpressed. However, I believe there is a shorter wheelbase, 2 seater CC-top thing coming which look slike it will be more sporting. That may be worth waiting for.
I was disappointed when I saw it in the flesh. I will probably cancel my order. I was left unimpressed. However, I believe there is a shorter wheelbase, 2 seater CC-top thing coming which look slike it will be more sporting. That may be worth waiting for.
Saw it at geneva too. Loved the front, wasn-t so sure about the rear. I found the rear lights looked a little too Mondeo-ish.
The most disapointing feature for me was the wheel design - too much visual mass - and somthing more delicate would suit it better IMO.
Will look forward to seeing one on the road though...
The most disapointing feature for me was the wheel design - too much visual mass - and somthing more delicate would suit it better IMO.
Will look forward to seeing one on the road though...
I was one of the lucky ones to attend this launch and to be honest I was a little disappointed on a number of scores about this car:
My initial impression is that the car sits somewhere between the new Jag and the Aston Martin Vantage. It is not as well built as the Aston, but is definitely more exclusive than the Jag. It looks much better in the flesh than the pictures and has a very aggressive look to it especially at the front.
It seems to be much bigger than the current coupe, although the lines of the car accentuate the low roofline and width of the car so it may not actually be that much bigger than your car. Overall, it is very eye catching and looks ‘sexy’ - here are the positive and negatives that I hope will be helpful.
Positives:
Aggressive styling and exclusivity.
Good engine (4.2l V8) , with excellent reviews on use of power especially given that it is an auto (revs to 7200rpm apparently).
Decent room in the back. I sat in the back and although not spacious, it wasn’t cramped and would be comfortable for a 6-foot adult for a couple of hours.
Excellent seats front and back – very comfortable with great side and back support and electronically adjustable to get the perfect driving position
Decent sized boot – enough room for golf clubs or a couple of big weekend bags.
Good instrument layout, very clear and driver focused.
Steering wheel very nice, chunky, comfortable and expensive looking.
Negatives:
Switchgear e.g. electric window switches etc are very plastic and flimsy, did not feel like they belonged in an £80,000 car.
The body coloured wing mirrors are attached to the car with a bit of black plastic – looked cheap, should definitely be body coloured.
The engine bay was a huge disappointment – the engine sits quite far back so you can’t see much – no attention to detail on the bits you can see and the rest is covered in acres of black plastic.
The front grille is stunning, but there is nowhere to attach the number plate – not sure how they are going to address that one.
They have played it very safe with the instrument dials, no separate binnacles for speedo etc, just black and quite boring. I much prefer the interior in the current coupe, it seems to cosset the driver much more and feel like a cockpit which adds to the driving experience.
I think Maserati need to listen to their customers about some of the negatives above as these are some of the comments I heard a number of people discussing last night. I am not sure whether the car on show was pre-production but it did feel quite flimsy in my honest opinion. They may sort some of these issues out ahead of production.
For £80K, this is a car that you definitely buy with your heart rather than your head. I think there are better cars out there for the money.
My initial impression is that the car sits somewhere between the new Jag and the Aston Martin Vantage. It is not as well built as the Aston, but is definitely more exclusive than the Jag. It looks much better in the flesh than the pictures and has a very aggressive look to it especially at the front.
It seems to be much bigger than the current coupe, although the lines of the car accentuate the low roofline and width of the car so it may not actually be that much bigger than your car. Overall, it is very eye catching and looks ‘sexy’ - here are the positive and negatives that I hope will be helpful.
Positives:
Aggressive styling and exclusivity.
Good engine (4.2l V8) , with excellent reviews on use of power especially given that it is an auto (revs to 7200rpm apparently).
Decent room in the back. I sat in the back and although not spacious, it wasn’t cramped and would be comfortable for a 6-foot adult for a couple of hours.
Excellent seats front and back – very comfortable with great side and back support and electronically adjustable to get the perfect driving position
Decent sized boot – enough room for golf clubs or a couple of big weekend bags.
Good instrument layout, very clear and driver focused.
Steering wheel very nice, chunky, comfortable and expensive looking.
Negatives:
Switchgear e.g. electric window switches etc are very plastic and flimsy, did not feel like they belonged in an £80,000 car.
The body coloured wing mirrors are attached to the car with a bit of black plastic – looked cheap, should definitely be body coloured.
The engine bay was a huge disappointment – the engine sits quite far back so you can’t see much – no attention to detail on the bits you can see and the rest is covered in acres of black plastic.
The front grille is stunning, but there is nowhere to attach the number plate – not sure how they are going to address that one.
They have played it very safe with the instrument dials, no separate binnacles for speedo etc, just black and quite boring. I much prefer the interior in the current coupe, it seems to cosset the driver much more and feel like a cockpit which adds to the driving experience.
I think Maserati need to listen to their customers about some of the negatives above as these are some of the comments I heard a number of people discussing last night. I am not sure whether the car on show was pre-production but it did feel quite flimsy in my honest opinion. They may sort some of these issues out ahead of production.
For £80K, this is a car that you definitely buy with your heart rather than your head. I think there are better cars out there for the money.
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