Maserati News
Maserati takes Superstars Series title
Oct 25th
Truth be told, I hadn’t heard of the Superstars Series, which is similar to the German DTM, Japanese Super GT, and Australian V8 Supercars series. The competitive field is made up of naturally aspirated V8 two and four door cars like the Mercedes C63 AMG, BMW M3, Audi RS4, Cadillac CTS-V, Jaguar S-Type R, Porsche Panamera S, and Maserati Quattroporte EVO. The EVO is a specialty race version of the Quattroporte featuring the bad ass widebody setup you see above, in full race trim.
Driver Andrea Bertolini drove his Swiss team Maserati Quattroporte to the championship, after trailing by 20 points leading into the final races at Vallelunga. Bertolini is a driver and test driver for Maserati and Ferrari, and previously won the FIA GT series in the Maserati MC12 in 2006, 2008, 2009, and 2010 – the only Italian driver to have won four international FIA titles.
Here’s a rather raw video of some highlights from the race at Monza, earlier this year:
The Swiss team was founded in 2008, to kick off the Maserati Quattroporte Superstars project. Based in Switzerland, the team now consists of 13 people, with Engineer Giuseppe Angiulli acting as Technical Director. Giuseppe’s experience covers 5 years in F1, 2 years in Alfa’s DTM project, 2 years working for BMW Motorsport, and work on ALMS prototypes. He collaborated with Michelotto Corse in developing the Ferrari F360 and F430, and worked with team Villorba Corse’ F430 in the Italian GT series. He worked for Vitaphone racing for two years as Track Engineer while they competed in the FIA GT championship, running Maserati MC12s.
Here are some more photos of the fantastic Maserati Quattroporte EVO:
Maserati GranTurismo MC Stradale – making music
May 17th
The only thing that makes this better, is knowing I’ll get to hear it in person. We just ordered our only allotted MC Stradale.
Via Autoblog: Maserati Quattroporte Replacement Coming to Frankfurt
Mar 24th
2011 Maserati Quattroporte
It’s been around for some time now, but the Maserati Quattroporte is still one of the best looking, sounding, and driving sedans on the planet. The competition is only getting more and more fierce, though, with the likes of the Porsche Panamera and the Aston Martin Rapide fighting for the same buyers as the Quattroporte.
Autoblog is reporting that we should see the replacement for the long-in-the-tooth Quattroporte later this year at the Frankfurt Motor Show. Expect to see styling that echoes the design language used on the current GranTurismo and GranTurismo Convertible, as well as a more powerful and more fuel efficient version of the 4.7L V8 currently used in the Quattroporte S (the 4.2L is being phased out later this year), as well as an all-wheel drive option. There is also a possibility that the base powerplant could be an all-new turbocharged V6, though nothing has yet been confirmed.
Head on over to Autoblog to read what they had to say.
Stay tuned to our blog for more information as we get it.
source [Inside Line]
via [Autoblog]
Maserati’s E-Class/5-Series Fighter
Jan 14th
Maserati's New "Baby Quattroporte" Mule
We’ve all been hearing for some time now that Maserati will soon have a smaller sedan in its ranks. For far too long, the Germans have dominated the mid-size luxury segment, but Maserati wants a piece of the action. Though the car is still in it’s final development stages, Maserati looks to be in the thick of the E-segment battle sooner rather than later.
From Autoblog:
“If you’ve been listening to the whispers about a new smaller version of the Maserati Quattroporte and wondering exactly what the machine will look like when it debuts, you can quit your pondering. Sort of. Our task force of stealthy spy photographers have managed to lay their lenses on a mule version of the new baby Quattroporte. This particular evaluation car sports a shorter wheelbase and smaller brakes than its bigger brother, and a single exhaust outlet hints to a slightly lower level of performance. Though this tester seems to have raided the parts bin of the larger Quattroporte for some ill-fitting glass, we’re told that the production version of the car will look significantly different.
“Maserati has been itching to tango with the likes of the Mercedes-Benz AMG E-Class, Jaguar XFR and BMW M5, and this machine could be the beast that allows the company to do just that. As of right now, there’s no indication as to exactly what will lurk underhood when it debuts in 2012, though with a mule running around, we’re guessing it won’t be too long before we hear more about the smaller Quattroporte’s drivetrain.”
Head on over to Autoblog to see the spy photos and read what their readers have to say. What do you think? Will this baby QP be a threat to the E63, M5, and XFR?
via [Autoblog]
source [CarPix]
Maserati Gran Turismo MC Stradale
Jan 7th
Maserati GranTurismo MC Stradale
This is slightly old news, but I thought it was worth another look.
Let’s start with the bad news: the worst thing about the Maserati GranTurismo MC Stradale is that it isn’t coming here.
Now for the good news: here’s what Maserati has to say about their new wild child:
“The Maserati GranTurismo MC Stradale is a car of “firsts.” It is inspired by the podium-topping performance of the GranTurismo MC Trofeo motorsport programmes. It is the first road-going Maserati to have a dedicated Race mode to add to its upgraded Automatic and Sport modes. It is the first to boast light and powerful carbon-ceramic Brembo brakes and the first to top 300km/h. It is the first to use advanced electronics to slash gear-shift times to just 60 milliseconds and the first to offer sequential down-shifting. Put simply, it is the first street legal Maserati race car.”
To create the beast that is the MC Stradale, Maserati took the already well-rounded GranTurismo S and fitted a 450-horsepower V8, a track-ready chassis, new bodywork that increases downforce without increasing drag, and stripped out the interior.
All of this equals a 0-60 time somewhere in the low to mid 4-second range and a top speed somewhere around 187 mph. Now if you’ll all excuse me for a moment, I need to wipe the drool from my chin…
Get all of the information and check out hi-res photos of the MC Stradale at Maserati’s new mini-site.
source [Maserati]
2010 Maserati GranTurismo Convertible Road Test
Feb 22nd
2010 Maserati GranTurismo Convertible
Evo magazine has posted a brief road test review of the 2010 GranTurismo Convertible – I suspect this is a teaser for an upcoming article, but they did give it 4.5 out of 5 stars.
From the article: “What’s it like to drive? As good as Maserati claims; accurate steering, responsive, poised handling, fine ride. With the roof up, you really could believe you were driving the coupe. The engine isn’t over-endowed with torque but there’s enough, and the noise the V8 makes in ‘Sport’ mode is glorious.”
source: evo
2010 GranTurismo Convertible Makes Frankfurt Debut
Sep 15th
The introduction of the GranCabrio – the Trident’s third prong – completes Maserati’s product line-up that now consists of three different families of models: Quattroporte, GranTurismo, GranCabrio.
The GranCabrio represents the very essence of Maserati in terms of open-top cars. It’s a Maserati in the purest sense of the word: from the unmistakable style by Pininfarina to the spacious interior, from the craftsmanship of each detail to the driving pleasure and performance. The Maserati GranCabrio enriches all five senses in a shared open-air experience, without sacrificing comfort and performance. A dream car designed and built for men and women who love to live life in an understated – though sophisticated – manner. Like all the made in Maserati open-top convertibles: special cars aimed at refined connoisseurs.
Source: Autoblog.com
USA Today’s Review of the Maserati GranTurismo
Jan 8th
USA Today had a great review of the Maserati GranTurismo recently, here are some excerpts:
If you can talk about the Maserati Gran Turismo high-performance coupe for more than two minutes without using a naughty innuendo, you should get a prize. We’ll try to remain prizeless.Just looking at the $121,000 GT is enough to make you vibrate, so you can imagine what happens when you actually drive it.
You lean into the throttle coaxing the Maserati-designed, Ferrari-built, 4.2-liter V-8 into delivering as much power and speed as your lawyer and bank account can handle. And you wonder: If this is a car, what are all those frumpy lumps of metal getting in your way? Or, if those are cars, what on earth is the GT? Because it’s sure not like those.
Read the full article here: USA Today
GranTurismo MC Corse In-Car Video
Dec 15th
I ran across this in-car video of the GranTurismo MC Corse testing at Monza on YouTube today and had to share:
New Production Car Speed Record at the Nurburgring!
Oct 9th
For a long time I’ve pushed the fact that even though the Quattroporte was beat in horsepower and straight-line acceleration by the BMW M5 and the Mercedes S66 AMG, it was faster on the racetrack. The whole package of weight balance, suspension, chassis tuning, and electronics was such a superb setup that the car really is a lot faster than it looks on paper. EVO magazine proved it when they ran it around their Bedford Autodrome track in England. The Quattroporte was the fastest sedan, until they reconfigured the track and re-set the scores. Just look at these track times and the Quattroporte bests a lot of cars that should be faster.
Well now another Maserati has proven that it isn’t all about horsepower or straight-line speed. EVO magazine teamed up with a car fanatic we can all be jealous of, and a professional driver to push 5 supercars around the legendary ‘Green Hell’, otherwise known as the Nürburgring Nordschleife, all in an effort to answer one question: “Which one’s fastest?”
Apparently ONE guy is lucky enough to own an MC12, an Enzo, a Carrera GT, a Koenigsegg CCX, and a Zonda F. Now keep in mind, these cars range from 600 – 901 hp and are capable of sub 4 second 0-60 mph.
Surprisingly the most expensive car in the group – the Koenigsegg CCX came in dead last. Fast in a straight line, but the “…peaky way the power is delivered made it challenging to control.” No lap time was published for the CCX. The Carrera GT came in 4th with a lap time of 7.28.71 – matching the time set by factory driver Robert Rohrl during development.
Third place went to the Ferrari Enzo, with a lap time of 7:25.21. The Pagani Zonda, powered by a 7.3 liter Mercedes powerplant came in second with a lap time of 7:24.65.
With a lap time of 7:24.29 the Maserati MC12 came in first place. Not only did it beat the rest of these massively capable supercars, but it set a new production car lap record in the process. The MC12 was the heaviest car in the group, had ‘old-fashioned’ steel brakes and conventional dampers, but still took them on and won. Just like in the GranTurismo and the Quattroporte, the MC12′s sum is greater than its individual parts.
Just because one car should be faster than another on paper, doesn’t make it so.
