Which Masseratti 4200 Version
Which Masseratti 4200 Version
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Discussion

Mr Darcy

Original Poster:

1,006 posts

203 months

Thursday 15th July 2010
quotequote all
Mate of mine is after a 4200 and he asked me which one to get. I remember reading something about the 4200 and one version of it has a better gearbox than the other. Is it the Gransport Cambricossa or something like which has it or did I imgaine reading that one gearbox is rather jerky and slow?

Peter101

1,594 posts

236 months

Thursday 15th July 2010
quotequote all
Mr Darcy said:
Mate of mine is after a 4200 and he asked me which one to get. I remember reading something about the 4200 and one version of it has a better gearbox than the other. Is it the Gransport Cambricossa or something like which has it or did I imgaine reading that one gearbox is rather jerky and slow?
The gearbox on the Cambiocorsa is only Jerky and slow if you don't know how to change gear properly or your names Jeremy Clarkson, the secret I found was that if you lift off the power very very slightly when changing, the changes are hardly noticeable. But if you put your foot to the floor and change it will be jerky.

Pork

9,455 posts

265 months

Thursday 15th July 2010
quotequote all
As above, CC's (like SMG or F1's) need to be driven with a bit of sympathy to get the best out of them. The 4200 were also available in manual.

With regards to the evolution of the 4200, there was revision throughout the model life. The later 'facelift' models are considered to be the better cars (can be told apart by vents in the rear bumpers, among other things). The GranSport was the next and final evolution of the 4200 and was only available as a CC (Cambio Corsa - Maserati's SMG/F1/DSG). As with the 4200, the GS evolved throughout the life of the model and again, the later the better. I believe 2006 saw the finished product but this will cost considerably more than an early 4200, so I guess what you end up looking for will depend on the budget.

Happy shopping!

bertie

8,569 posts

315 months

Thursday 15th July 2010
quotequote all
Pork said:
As above, CC's (like SMG or F1's) need to be driven with a bit of sympathy to get the best out of them. The 4200 were also available in manual.

With regards to the evolution of the 4200, there was revision throughout the model life. The later 'facelift' models are considered to be the better cars (can be told apart by vents in the rear bumpers, among other things). The GranSport was the next and final evolution of the 4200 and was only available as a CC (Cambio Corsa - Maserati's SMG/F1/DSG). As with the 4200, the GS evolved throughout the life of the model and again, the later the better. I believe 2006 saw the finished product but this will cost considerably more than an early 4200, so I guess what you end up looking for will depend on the budget.

Happy shopping!
Just to be acurate, the Cambiocorsa / Duoselect / F1 / E-gear are all automated manual transmissions (ATM.)

They are not dual clutch boxes, that's your DSG / S tronic / DCT/ PDK, a very differnt thing in both operation and as a thing to drive.

Torque converter autos are your traditional auto slushbox.

Now correct me if I am wrong, but 4200 was only available as a manual or ATM.

andymadmak

15,724 posts

301 months

Thursday 15th July 2010
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The 2003 MY vehicles (identified by V8 badges on the front wings and a slightly revised interior) have a number of improvements to the earlier 4200. These include a reprogrammed Cambiocorsa gearbox to improve shift quality (it wasn't only Clarkson who said it was poor) and extend clutch life , some suspension tweaks and a chassis structure that was 20% more rigid thereby improving handling. This was the first big change to the 4200 following its launch and there were other changes and facelifts in later years. As with any marque, the later you buy, the better it is likely to be.
The manual box is a nice thing to use too, and its worth trying one if the whole CC thing is not to your taste. Spyder or coupe, they are a bargain and very desirable. (But then I would say that! hehe )


fieldl

1,320 posts

262 months

Thursday 15th July 2010
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I'd recommend a manual spyder probably in black wink but then I'm biased.

Pork

9,455 posts

265 months

Saturday 17th July 2010
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bertie said:
Pork said:
Stuff
Just to be acurate, the Cambiocorsa / Duoselect / F1 / E-gear are all automated manual transmissions (ATM.)

They are not dual clutch boxes, that's your DSG / S tronic / DCT/ PDK, a very differnt thing in both operation and as a thing to drive.

Torque converter autos are your traditional auto slushbox.

Now correct me if I am wrong, but 4200 was only available as a manual or ATM.
Apologies, ignore the DSG comment from me. I've not got experience of the DSG so dont know too much about them.

And yes, manual and CC only in the 4200's.

Redlake27

2,255 posts

275 months

Wednesday 4th August 2010
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After ten years of Lotus ownership, I want to go Italian again (my roots are in Alfas).

My head says get a 996GT3, but my heart is drawn to the Gransport. The 4200 is a bit too 'Touring' for me, but from what I read about the GS it seems to be the right compromise between GT and sportscar.

I see a few GS's on Auto trader at the moment and some good value ones at £25K-£30K with 30-55k miles have caught my eye.

I'd love to get an idea of foibles, running costs and potential nightmares before i take the plunge....


rotorheadcase

43 posts

193 months

Saturday 9th October 2010
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I drove a number of 4200's before settling on a 3200Gt and the manual gearbox was in my opinion an easy gearbox to live with as it has a light clutch with smooth take-up, if a little imprecise in the shifting. It doesn't suffer the same clutch wear as the CC boxes and is nearly as quick.

If you want the cachet of the CC shift paddles and you can live with the small quirks in traffic and the more freqient clutch changes...

Neil