2011 maserati granturismo s review

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If you're lucky or dare I say "unlucky" enough to be around Canary Wharf at 7 in the morning , you'll catch a glimpse of one of The City of London's greatest phenomena. Rush hour. This parade of sorts has in its ranks financial analysts, traders and executives who played varying roles in highly-publicised events you may remember such as "The Financial Crisis ", "The Financial Crisis ", "The Financial Crisis " and "The Continued Financial Crisis ". It's safe to say that these commuting individuals form the bulk of Occupy Wallstreet's Hit List. The bad kind of hit list. OK, so I might be being a bit melodramatic. You may mistake your Economics degree'd author here to be part of that very same crew and in reality, the automotive world and the world of finance - as has been seen in the ongoing Saab saga - continue to be closely aligned.

2011 maserati granturismo s review

The Maserati GranTurismo Convertible combines a spacious, finely executed interior with an engaging powertrain to create a fast, stylish and comfortable four-seat touring car. The GranTurismo Convertible is new to the North American market for , and it's the first four-seat convertible in Maserati history. Sun-loving buyers will appreciate a comfortable open-air experience, relatively free of wind buffeting, excessive noise, or compromised amenities. The combined demands of high-performance, luxury, and open-top operation are notoriously difficult to reconcile. In the case of the GranTurismo Convertible, every effort has been made to overcome those conflicting priorities, so the car can offer the best of all three personalities. The performance part of the design envelope is based on a high-revving, horsepower V8 engine, mated to an adaptive six-speed automatic transmission with paddle-shift capability. The suspension consists of a four-link, coil-strut arrangement with active, electronically controlled damping on both ends. Powerful drilled-disc brakes supply confident braking control behind inch wheels shod with low-profile Pirelli tires. A substantial pounds in weight, the Maserati can still do in 5. Luxury and comfort considerations are built around a custom-crafted Pininfarina-styled coach that incorporates fine leather, rare wood, and uncommon consideration for the rear seat passengers. In the rear there is ample legroom and shoulder room for full-size adults, surround sound audio, and separate climate control. Interior detail is evident, including fine chrome rings around buttons and switches, and hand-sewn exposed stitching. The interior is available in 10 different colors with three choices of wood. As with any ultra-luxury car, all adjustments are power controlled, including seats, folding mirrors and steering wheel.

And boy, just like a Formula 1 car, this Maserati takes your breath away when you place your right foot on the accelerator.

Hannibal Lecter in The Silence of the Lambs. We did notice some shuddering through the steering column on the rough old Roman roads and some side-to-side creaking of the body over sunken SPQR manhole covers. But on the E80, the car felt solidly overbuilt, tracking true through corners with beautifully weighted steering, its powerful pump giving instant feedback in high-speed lane-change maneuvers. Think of the throttle-response curve as S-shaped. We had to kill sport mode at high speeds because the high-frequency drone was too grating. But hearing this open Italian exhaust caroming off the tunnel that runs under the Vatican is the closest this writer has come to a religious experience.

With its models, Maserati incensed a lot of old-school sports-car fans by doing away with traditional manual transmissions, with their clutch pedals and stick shifts. Even Ferrari has been bailing on clutch pedals and stick shifters. Automatic, but Still Italian at Heart. The ZF shifts the 4. Zero to 62 mph should come in 4. Just ask me. The ZF is also the transmission in the standard GranTurismo , with its smaller hp, 4. The step-up GranTurismo S has the modernist Graziano sequential manual gearbox, best known as an F1-style transmission, and no relation to Rocky. The S automatic can, of course, be driven in fully automatic mode. On a rainy day over winding roads in Italian farmland, the car was hugely fun to drive.

2011 maserati granturismo s review

On our drive, we found out that it does move the excitement needle for Maserati—a bit. The company is introducing the Sport version of the GranTurismo convertible at the same time; click here for our first drive. What is it about an Italian machine that gets people to open their wallets wide for one? The dead-sexy styling that seems only to bubble up from an Italian brain is one thing. But there is one thing more, and to many, the most important quality: the uncanny sound. With the magic of the internet, we can even post their siren songs here so you can hear the who-bwaaaaah! Ferrari makes this engine, so count this as a crime against aesthetics. A little more, anyway.

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One could even award a bonus point for the soundtrack. Other Models. The Maserati GranTurismo Convertible is designed to offer enough space for four adults, seated in an elegant and luxurious cabin. On top of an understanding of exclusivity, there is a tangible sense of well-being that comes from occupying the car, and a sense of remorse when the key is turned off. Astounding tech wizardry this may however be. Aston Martin Virage review The best of both worlds? And boy, just like a Formula 1 car, this Maserati takes your breath away when you place your right foot on the accelerator. It also earns top score for cabin ambience, thanks to lightweight body-shaping bucket seats, a four -oint shoulder harness, a partial roll cage dislodging the rear seats, wall-to-wall Alcantara and carbonfibre trim. But there was trouble in paradise for the GranTurismo never really felt fast enough; certainly not enough to tempt many customers away from Porsche, Aston Martin and the like. Things aren't all peachy however under "Sport" settings. Looking for smoother control of the lower gears, we tried the paddle shifters. Viewed from the front, the distinctive oval Maserati grille with chrome trident dominates.

Hannibal Lecter in The Silence of the Lambs. We did notice some shuddering through the steering column on the rough old Roman roads and some side-to-side creaking of the body over sunken SPQR manhole covers.

Drive Journalists. We found it plenty powerful enough for spirited driving and high speed cruising. How quick is that? View specs. Third and finally, I learnt that despite all the negativity, bad press and public hatred, The City Slicker isn't just a symbol of extravagance and class separation. The six-speed sequential manual gearbox is the same unit that Ferrari fitted to the epic Scuderia and can be used like a traditional automatic. For starters, the GranTurismo Convertible is an easy car to drive. New Car Showroom. In the end, this is a car that will happily go along with whatever you want. Further enhancing the ground-effect talents are a lower ride height by 10mm and 12mm front and rear respectively , stiffer springs and tauter fixed-rate dampers, thicker anti-roll bars as well as minor camber and castor changes.