RE: Spotted: Maserati 3200 GT
Discussion
I owned a 4200 Spider for nearly 2 years & all I bought was Petrol! bloody loads of it too!
This CAR IS REAL THIRSTY if driven hard but still on the heavy side, say 15MPG driving carefully.
Amazing car though, handling a tad twitchy especially if you hit say a drain on a corner.
I had Tubi exhausts on mine which sounded superb! The interior is stunning,
the car is a real bargain now and I would buy another, its TVR money but with reliability & Ferrari engine too!
This CAR IS REAL THIRSTY if driven hard but still on the heavy side, say 15MPG driving carefully.
Amazing car though, handling a tad twitchy especially if you hit say a drain on a corner.
I had Tubi exhausts on mine which sounded superb! The interior is stunning,
the car is a real bargain now and I would buy another, its TVR money but with reliability & Ferrari engine too!
Love these. Somehow because the styling is more 'modern', you think "perhaps it won't rip my heart out through my wallet and beat me to death with a still-twitching and bloodied ventricle".
Although having said that, they must be less financially-vicious than the older Shamal/Ghibli generation.
Out of interest, why does every article seem to end with a "tell me I'm wrong" these days? I come here to listen to opinions (and volunteer my own ill-informed ones, natch).
Although having said that, they must be less financially-vicious than the older Shamal/Ghibli generation.
Out of interest, why does every article seem to end with a "tell me I'm wrong" these days? I come here to listen to opinions (and volunteer my own ill-informed ones, natch).
This was my first 'real' quick car after an Elise and Boxster S. A friend a I bought one in 2003, only kept it for about 5 months before swapping it for a 4200 Spyder which we took down to Rome on the Cannonball. Good memories, great noise, terrible steering as I recall... Great boooooooost! 
Edited by djon on Thursday 9th February 10:49
willfinch36 said:
anything fast said:
Great car. love it, looks more appealing than a 911.
The reliability isnt quite as appealing as a 911 though....very nearly ten years ago, I was fortunate enough to be able to have an early F355. However, A week after picking it up, it had to go back for loads of work that the dealer "forgot" to do. A day after delivering a Zafira 1.6 loan car and the same day as getting a right ear-bending from me, a silver dealer-demo 3200GTA was delivered.
Very nice, and very different to the F355. Monumentally quick (OK, it wasn't that quick, but it felt it)
Tragic fuel consumption though - I had it for a couple of weeks and never reached 20mpg, but quite often reached 11mpg!
The styling is great though - very individual
And the noise.... Even through standard pipes and a pair of turbos, it makes a proper V8 woofle. Chuck on a Tubi or Capristo and it must be epic.
I'm well into my forced induction (my Fiat Coupe produces far more power than the 3200GT), which got me wondering what the potential of the Maser is - a couple of nice roller-bearing turbos - up the boost a bit - should be good for 500bhp, which would make it properly quick (and properly lairy, I would imagine)
After a couple of weeks with the GTA, my F355 still wasn't ready and the dealer needed the 3200 back, so they found me a brand new, zero-mile 3200GT manual-box.
Now that was MUCH nicer to drive than the auto, far more lively and controllable. However, the box was a bit agricultural and always baulked fast changes, so it was better to drive it as a GT, rather than a sports car. The main problem with the manual was that the footwell wasn't big enough for three pedals - it was almost impossible to drive with boots on.
The ones I drove were still running the original fly-by-wire throttle maps, so they were very jerky at town speeds. I understand that this has now been sorted.
The only other failing (in my opinion) was that the suspension wasn't particularly well resolved. It was jiggly and some speeds and vague/floaty at others. However, both of mine were early cars - I would dearly love to try an Assetto Corsa to see if the better suspension turned the car into what it should always have been.
I reckon if you found a good one and used it sparingly, it would be a hugely entertaining left-field alterative the the usual suspects. However, I would imagine a bad one is a horrifying, wallet-draining experience. How long before sub £10k cars become too hard to resist?....
Very nice, and very different to the F355. Monumentally quick (OK, it wasn't that quick, but it felt it)
Tragic fuel consumption though - I had it for a couple of weeks and never reached 20mpg, but quite often reached 11mpg!
The styling is great though - very individual
And the noise.... Even through standard pipes and a pair of turbos, it makes a proper V8 woofle. Chuck on a Tubi or Capristo and it must be epic.
I'm well into my forced induction (my Fiat Coupe produces far more power than the 3200GT), which got me wondering what the potential of the Maser is - a couple of nice roller-bearing turbos - up the boost a bit - should be good for 500bhp, which would make it properly quick (and properly lairy, I would imagine)
After a couple of weeks with the GTA, my F355 still wasn't ready and the dealer needed the 3200 back, so they found me a brand new, zero-mile 3200GT manual-box.
Now that was MUCH nicer to drive than the auto, far more lively and controllable. However, the box was a bit agricultural and always baulked fast changes, so it was better to drive it as a GT, rather than a sports car. The main problem with the manual was that the footwell wasn't big enough for three pedals - it was almost impossible to drive with boots on.
The ones I drove were still running the original fly-by-wire throttle maps, so they were very jerky at town speeds. I understand that this has now been sorted.
The only other failing (in my opinion) was that the suspension wasn't particularly well resolved. It was jiggly and some speeds and vague/floaty at others. However, both of mine were early cars - I would dearly love to try an Assetto Corsa to see if the better suspension turned the car into what it should always have been.
I reckon if you found a good one and used it sparingly, it would be a hugely entertaining left-field alterative the the usual suspects. However, I would imagine a bad one is a horrifying, wallet-draining experience. How long before sub £10k cars become too hard to resist?....
I still have a copy of the autocar magazine mentioned in this article. IIRC the left hand drive one in the test had dials that went anti-clockwise.
I think that these are such beautiful cars, I have always had a soft spot for the 3200GT, I could be tempted to have a dabble with one of these once I have moved out and settled in should finances allow.
Are they actually as unreliable as people make out or is it just Internet pub chat?
I think that these are such beautiful cars, I have always had a soft spot for the 3200GT, I could be tempted to have a dabble with one of these once I have moved out and settled in should finances allow.
Are they actually as unreliable as people make out or is it just Internet pub chat?
Mate of mine overseas got a second hand one when they were still current and was delighted with it for a few years of happy trouble free motoring, so went to get whatever the latest version was as a new purchase - thoroughly smitten by the whole thing.
But got a 911 instead - the people at the Maserati dealer said they didn't like to take 3200s as a PX so couldn't offer him much for it as they had a bit of a reputation. Would sir please pay cash for the new one! Can't work out why he ended up with the 911!!
As a friend with an R8 says when complaining about the local Audi dealer - its not the car its the experience!!
But got a 911 instead - the people at the Maserati dealer said they didn't like to take 3200s as a PX so couldn't offer him much for it as they had a bit of a reputation. Would sir please pay cash for the new one! Can't work out why he ended up with the 911!!
As a friend with an R8 says when complaining about the local Audi dealer - its not the car its the experience!!
Lovely cars.
I remember the first one I saw. It was on a fairly regular basis too, on my way to school. Silver thing - some kid used to be driven to one of the local public schools in it (I went to the scruffy comp' down the road but for some reason there's a cluster of three of four public schools practically next to it, so we'd toddle up the road every day passed by smart-liveried buses and kids being driven around in supercars and huge saloons).
Within a few days it'd had a nasty frontal accident. Weird thing was, the owner didn't repair it for at least a year, and just drove around in it day-in, day-out with the nose all mangled and the grille bent.
I remember the first one I saw. It was on a fairly regular basis too, on my way to school. Silver thing - some kid used to be driven to one of the local public schools in it (I went to the scruffy comp' down the road but for some reason there's a cluster of three of four public schools practically next to it, so we'd toddle up the road every day passed by smart-liveried buses and kids being driven around in supercars and huge saloons).
Within a few days it'd had a nasty frontal accident. Weird thing was, the owner didn't repair it for at least a year, and just drove around in it day-in, day-out with the nose all mangled and the grille bent.
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