Oct 20, 2006 8:16:56 PM
- Carlos from Spain
- Rennteam Moderator
- Loc: Spain. , Spain
- Posts: 21141, Gallery
- Registered on: Feb 9, 2003
Test drove a Maserati Coupe today
Sorry about the quality of the pics, but their were taken with my phone.
The styling of the GranSport version is more aggressive, with side skirts, and sportier bumpers, 19" wheels, lower ride height, etc. which suits the car very well. Has an elegant yet sporty styling, but for me, Aston Martin is the king of the hill in that respect.
Found the interior a bit smaller that what you'd expect from looking at the car form the outside. The steering wheel was a great fit to the hand. Rear seats are no bigger than the 997's. The driver's seat was very supportive and sporty, I really liked it.
In terms of driving dinamics, you can feel its more tailored to a less sporty crowd. The suspensions are fairly compliant, more in line with a sport-sedan. However the character of the car in its handling is sporty, doesn't tend to understeer like sportsedans, its well balanced. The turn radious of the car was a bit of a pain becuase its not too much, so in maneuvering, it would requiere you to do more maneuvers in tighter spaces.
Now one of the most important things in a sportcar, the steering. This was the biggest downsides that I found, the steering was lacking feel (being used to a -20mm 997) which takes out some of the involment and fun. Maybe if you are used to a less sportier car it would be OK I guess but for me it was to numb.
The Cambiocorsa secuential tranny was smooth in its shifting, and the paddles work well. In the Grandsport they shifts are supposed t be quicker than the regular Coupe but I found the upshifts to be a bit slow, no neck snapping, but then again I had the car in Normal mode, since it was raining slightly and wasn't my car. Upshifts in normal mode, were about as fast as you would take with a manual, so you would need the Sport mode to bring out the secuential's speed in the shifts.
Downshifts are automatically rev matched by the secuential tranny, which calls some attention when downshifting to 1st as you slow the car to a stop in a stoplight for example.
But one thing that threw me off is that when braking before a corner and downshifting, the rear end sometimes tended to loose grip and caused you to miss the apex a bit. Since you can't decice how progresively you can decluth, if you were coming in with the rear to unloaded, then it was hard to judge if the downshift would provoke rear slippage since you had no control over the downshift. In a manual you would prolong the declutching until you felt the rear could take it, so I found myself downshifting like if I were in my 911 manual, and causing me to elongate the turn in because sometimes the rear being unsettled by the downshift and was not ready for the turn in. I suppose this is something you have to get used to and learn how to calibrate to extract the maximum potential. Its not the car's fault, its the driver's. Also the fact that the asfalt was wet would have a lot to do with it, in dry it probably would not be that evident at all.
The engine had a very nice sound, a powerful V8 growl. You can feel the torque of the V8 but the 400HP didn't feel any faster in accelerations than the 355HP 997S, the extra power probably offset by the heavier weight. Power delivery was a bit slugglish though, it wasn't very instantaneous, its felt like a torque converter automatic car, maybe its due to the "normal" setting of the tranny. For comparison sake, the 997S' throttle is much more agressive, even in normal mode, not to mention sporty.
All in all a very stylish car and with a personality, but more geared for an older segment of the population than mine.
Those were some quick, very personal, impressions I liked to share of the experience