You really can't turn down a chance to drive a 2010 Maserati GranCabrio. And so Executive Editor Michael Jordan and I recently made an obligatory lap of Beverly Hills in the GranCabrio, the four-place convertible version of the Maserati GranTurismo coupe. Maserati hopes to sell about 700 GranCabrios annually in the U.S. (though not in 2010 since sales just began in April).
Right away, we noticed, as Richard Bremner did on his first drive in the UK, that the GranCabrio is pretty rigid for a big, luxury convertible from the brand that plays second fiddle to Ferrari.
Maserati made substantial updates to the chassis during the intermission period between working on the coupe and the convertible. There's now a lot more aluminum in the chassis, including a flat aluminum underbelly that's a stressed structural member. This comes thanks to Harald Jacob Wester. He's the CEO of the Maserati division, but before he came to Ferrari in 1999, he worked for Audi where he oversaw the engineering of the all-aluminum Audi A2.
We also noticed that the Maserati GranCabrio doesn't quite move out with the haste you'd expect from a rear-drive car with a 4.7-liter (4691cc) V8 rated at 440 horsepower and 361 pound-feet of torque. In fact, with the ZF six-speed automatic transmission (you can't get the automated manual rear transaxle in the convertible) in regular "D" mode, it's actually a tad sluggish off the line. Must be the car's 4,365 pounds, plus 300+ pounds of human cargo.
We switched to sport mode. Hard to say if the car is actually quicker in this mode (no Vbox in the cockpit), but it sure sounded quicker. In addition to sharpening the throttle response and shift points, sport mode opens a baffle in the exhaust. And it's a gloriously loud experience. All the Porsche and Ferrari owners who weren't already looking at our Maserati have their eyes on it now. This convertible is so very Italian, and if you ever forget that, pressing this one button will whisk you away to Varano de Melegari. That's the small Italian town where Maserati runs an owners' driving school staffed by former F1 drivers.
This particular car, by the way, is the GranCabrio that appears in Entourage, and this bit of product placement has gone some distance in getting more American women to buy Maseratis, Jeff Ehoodin, the automaker's North American PR manager, told us. Back in 2002, Maserati was second only to the Dodge Viper in the "maleness" of its U.S. customer base. These days, said Ehoodin, Maserati buyers are 70-80 percent male.
"Thirty-three percent of our cars are sold on the West Coast," Ehoodin added. "So we built a technical training center in Costa Mesa, CA, that we also use for customer service. It made good business sense -- it keeps the customers happy."
Ehoodin also noted that Maserati's relations within the Fiat Group have never been better than they are now. Maserati, he said, will be be looking to incorporate Fiat's drivetrain (the MultiAir variable valves, we'd guess) and hybrid technology.
By the way, while were looking up specs on the Maserati GranCabrio, a colleague directed our attention to the configurator on the Maserati Web site. It includes this x-ray vision feature. You can change the size of the x-ray viewer and change the angle of the photo. It's a time-killer, yeah, but worth the 5 minutes.
First Drive: 2010 Maserati GranCabrio
Straightline: Fiat Reveals Ferrari and Maserati Future Product Plans
sgude says:
04:44 PM, 06/16/10
Nice to see that Maserati put more effort into the Cabrio than just chopping the roof off. Should do very well on the coasts.
charlesb says:
08:04 PM, 06/16/10
That red dash looks like crap.
exnevadan says:
09:54 AM, 06/17/10
beautiful car, but what the heck is that pink thing where the gear shift ought to be?
cr_driver says:
10:45 AM, 06/17/10
This car has so little storage space and the rigidity in not so smooth roads translates into side to side creaking and steering wheel shuddering. So a convertible for four? Not if you got luggage.
Aside from that, the overall package is appealing, I mean, look at that exterior design, is definitely sexy. You go, you relax, enjoy the sun, push the sport button, enjoy the glorious exhaust note and then, you have a good time in this italian machine.