GranSport vs. GranTurismo S

it's a great question... I saw a really really nice Gransport in the reception area of the Maserati factory in Modena... I will dig up the pic, but it was really nice looking. It was some limited edition of the Gransport, and whole not the GT-S, this Gransport would make you think twice of spending twice the money for the GT-S.

 

I may be completely wrong on this, but here's my take.
Maserati charged back to the world market by building a very nice sportscar, 3200 then the coupe, and then it developed their sportscar to it's highest potential in the Gransport.
Then FIAT decided to differentiate the brands more thoroughly to capitalize on a missing niche here in the US.
Ferrari remains the premier Italian sportscar (of the FIAT group), Alfa will come back into the market for people craving something other than the "usual" and will sell at a price point a little north of the "usual" players. Maserati therefore will become the luxury Italian Sedan and Cruiser. They will build a couple models a little more sporty (like the GT-S and QP-S) but for the most part they are not to challenge Ferrari for perfomance...ever.
That means the Gransport will remain the very last of the Maserati sportscars (at least for the foreseeable future). I think this will protect their desirability in the future and hence their value.

I love my Gransport, and I can't think of a car out there that can replace all the things it does so well.

It is undeniably beautiful. One would have to be heartless to not see it's beauty.
It is fast enough to put a huge smile on my face everytime I drive it, and land me in jail if not careful.
It is dripping in leather (mine has full leather including leather headliner)...all beautiful black, and smells gorgeous.
It has 2 useable back seats for the kids, who love to go with Dad everywhere.
The engine is chain driven and has easy maintenance. I'm not worried about the miles on it...soI drive it virtually every dang day of the week.
The F1 tranny is a real hoot, especially in sport mode and pulling up to a stop light...Schumi has arrived at the light!
The Tubi sounds fantastic, better than a 355 I drove for a few days once.
It is exotic, but it doesn't scream, "hey look at me, I have made it, I have more money than the rest of 'ya here at this traffic light."
It is more understated and classy than just about any Ferrari, like the Astons, yet still has the "fire in it's belly" that only an Italian car can muster!
It's expensive and exclusibve enough that you don't see them very often.
Yet, it's not so expensive that I don't mind driving it to Publix supermarket and park it in any old spot.
Before going out I don't check the weather to make sur eit won't rain....when it gets dirty, I clean it...no sweat.


The absolute most perfect iteration of the automobile created by mankind....for me....for now anyway...that could all change tomorrow!!!
-Rob

 

When I owned my GranSport I wished it had some more guts, but I thought everything else wasn't bad at all, including the ride. It was the perfect mix of sporty and GT. Now with the Granturismo S, my desire is to feel progress not only over the regular GranTurismo, but over the GranSport too. I'm not sure I'll get that because Maserati is not necessarily targeting the GranSport owner anymore with this new luxury GT concept of a bigger car (I maybe wrong on that, I'm not sure how many GranSport owners have jumped to the GranTurismo and felt good or bad about the decision). The trend of losing weight is where everyone should be going, but for me the bottom line is I want a car thats more fun to drive than the previous model. My current AMG Black Series proved to me cars of this weight can be a blast in the twisties, so my simple desire is that when I test drive the "S" in a couple weeks can I clearly say this is a blast to drive and yep its better than my old GranSport. If its wallowing in the turns and doesn't feel fun then I'll be disappointed.

 

I have not owned a Maserati, but I do remember how my late S500 handled well, and I would be pretty darn disappointed if I was to spend $100kplus and get less response on accel and handling. That is why before I buy into the GT, I am going to have to have a serious test drive. I am not asking for F430 handling at all, but it does have to be better than my Land Rover.

 

I test drove the GranTurismo and QP GT-S back to back. Drove the GT to determine if the general ergonomics was doable (headroom, legroom, etc.) and to get a feel of the overall experience. Knowing that the GT is on a shortened QP chassis, I figured the buttoned down QP GT-S (which has the same suspension and brakes to be fitted to the GranTurismo S) would be a good representation of that upcoming car's handling capabilities. I was impressed. Only negative I found of the QP GT-S was that the new highly-hyped Brembo brakes felt a bit wooden through the pedal. But then the QP GT-S was fresh off the boat and maybe the brakes needed to bedded or possibly bled.

I then climbed into my 2005 Spyder for the trip home, and instantly the car felt like the 1990's chassis that it is.

 

Rob, as you may or may not know, the story about the rebirth of Maserati in the USA illustrates why the Italians will never again rule the world. The original plan was great. Ferrari would go after the $200k market and Maser would aim for the under $200k market.

Predictably, the roll out was a disaster. The couple was a decent enough car, but it was NOT a $96k car. Because FNA forced the cars on Ferrari dealers, who had been previously forced to invest hundreds of thousands in new overhead, the dealers had no choice but to dump them BELOW invoice or in the 70s. Even with this beating, FNA kept shipping more cars to the dealers. Oh, you want another 360 Spider? Well, guess what.

Needless to say, the Ferrari dealers were pissed.

To make things worst, there were the predictable teething problems with the early cars. Even though the cars improved during 2003 and 2004, the dealers were still taking a beating. I brought a 2004 Maser Spyder in 2005 from a wholesaler for $65K. He paid a little more than $70K brand new. It was a great car, and I wish that I still had it. But when I had the chance to sell it for $65k six months later, I jumped on it.

Fast forward to the QP roll out, which in relative terms was a major hit. Suddenly, the Ferrari dealers had real traffic. More importantly, they had a car that they could sell at a profit. Imagine that.

Of course, now that things were turning around for Maser, the powers at Fiat had a major brain fart -- Let's do an IPO of Ferrari. (If you remember, Fiat was negotiating with GM on a buyout at the time.) So to dress up Ferrari, they decided to strip it of Maserati. <Heavy sigh.>

Later on, surprise, surprise, Fiat sticks it to GM and doesn't need the dough. Thus, Fiat cancels the Ferrari IPO. (Not to mention that nobody in their right mind would have brought more than one share because the deal sucked.)

After the smoke clears, Fiat ends up with Maser making 2,000 cars a year with a brand new plant that has a 10,000 annual capacity. Ferrari meanwhile is starting to max out its capacity. Moreover, Ferrari and Maserati had been working on a redo of the coupe/spyder that was aimed at Porsche.

So what does Fiat do? Yep, you guessed it. Add more capacity at Ferrari so that it can make what is now called the California. Maserati, meanwhile, struggles along with what amounts to duplicate overhead.

Sadly, the California is the new Mondial. Why does Ferrari insists on building a 2+2 when history has proved that they never sell? <shrug shoulders>, Eh?

Frankly, I think that Maserati has an opportunity to kick Ferrari's ass. If, instead of a $200k 2+2, Maser builds a rock 'n roll, two seater, with a drop top (think SL 63) that sells for slightly over $100k, they will sell the **** out them.

Will Maserati do this? If the past is ANY predicter of the future, nahh. Ain't gonna happen.

Dale

 

Look at AM Vanquish S vs. new DBS figures. Same story. No real progress just more beefed up numbers.

 

Yes. It shares its DNA with the California.

Dale

 

Actually the Aston DBS is around 3700lbs vs. 4100 for the Vanquish S. Also the newer DBS has 10 less horsepower. Top Gear did an accerlation test between the two cars and the old Vanquish was quicker than the new car, I'm sure around the track it would be a different story.

 

Maserati CEO Roberto Ronchi has repeatedly said the Company is a three model company and with a price point of 80K to 130K Euros. So now that Maserati has been aligned with Alfa Romeo - what is next?

Alfa only has front-drive platforms. Can the current Alfa "premium" platform be converted to AWD - a new Maserati drivetrain?
Will the third model be a GranSport replacement?
Or - a smaller sedan to compete against BMW/Merc 5 series/E-class? With V-6s?

I guess one good thing for us sun lovers is that - when asked about convertibles - Ronchi always replies that Maserati will have a Spyder.

 

BTW that wasn't my perspective. I got this back story from dealers back when I was more connected to the biz than I am now.

Two bad he didn't say that Maserati will always have a two-seat spyder. If they need to do a 2+2, do it in the coupe. But if they want to build a roadster, it has to be a top that drops over two seats.

Dale

 

very well put.



Dr. WHO,

Maserati has been one of the the few manufacturers who've experienced tremendous growth during the past 4 quarters - a period when almost every car manufacturer has suffered sale declines (the past 2 quarters in declines include porsche and bmw...2 that almost never experience sales declines)....so i'd say they're doing pretty well with what they're doing....sometimes you don't need to sell "the ****" out of cars to do very well. in fact it's the ones that did sell as much as possible that are the ones suffering right now. it's nice to own a car that isn't on every street corner!

 

I think there's more to it than that. Haven driven several Coupes, GranSports, and a "base" GranTurismo, I think there's a huge difference between the two vehicles. To me, the Coupe feels much more sporty, with the GranSport feeling even more so. The Coupe and GranSport are quite raw in that the handing is very direct and you hear the engine very well - particularly in the GranSport. While I like the GranTurismo, I feel like Maserati has taken things a new direction, with the GranTurismo more of a two-door version of the Quattroporte than the sports car the Coupe was. Steering is much lighter, the ride is a lot less firm, the interior is much more luxurious, and the engine is a lot more muted. I really think the GranTurismo is a good car when looked at as a two-door Quattroporte, but I wish Maserati made a "sports car" once again...

 

Killing time in my local bookstore today I read an article on the GranTurismo S in I believe CAR magazine (it was one of those euro mags) and they pointed out the way this car is tuned its more in line with the personality of the GranSport, so thats positive news.

 

The GS and GT are two different cars that are targeting different markets. The gransport was about a sporty gentlemans racer where the GT is more in line with an exotic/unique daily driver with character. The car is heavier, roomier inside, and easier to use/understand paddle shift that has aligned itself with the other car companies. The point of the GT is to shake the traditional BMW and Mercedes tree and find the ones that want something easy but different.

If you want to upgrade the GS, talk to some of the known maserati aftermarket co's about a set of stiffer springs. I rode in a coupe with stiffer springs, it was notably better in handling than the GS and similar in ride comfort. The GS and Coupe are pretty similar in design just a few changes and handling improved quite a bit. Go a little further and you will be suprised. There is most likely a substantial amount of untapped potential under the hood of the GS & earlier coupes.

 

We are doomed. My husband saw the GT at FOH and last night was gently introducing the topic of how much he loves my GS and how we should get the GT/GTS for me so he could drive the GS. Of course it would be only to make me happy. LOL But.. I'm thinking that GS will be out of warranty in another two years, at which point it would only make sense to have a newer (read: warrantied) daily driver in form of GT-S and relegate GS to a beat around town/fix as necessary or desirable/park in the living room and adore. So tell me this.. given we need the back seat for our son, if he's ok with buying the GT-S for my daily driver, what's wrong with buying the 612 as my daily driver?! LOL

So, guys, somebody hurry up, buy the GT-S already and take the depreciation hickey for the team, we'll gladly take it off your hands in a year or two

 

I was with my dad when we test drove the new Granturismo S last weekend and that car is crazy car. Shifting is instant, great ride, and no annoying resonance from inside the car. When your are cruising on the highway it becomes a settled and quiet GT car and when you go from 4 to 2nd the car flys. I felt like I was in a Ferrari for once. I recommend you test drive a GT-S, and I was in the back seat.

 

Apples and Oranges. The GS doesn't have 33 or so ECU'S in it micro managing every aspect of your drive.
The GT, as beautifull as it is, is more refined, the driving experience is more akin to the sterile German offerings than a hot blooded Italian.
I will not buy a Mercedes, ANY Mercedes because I do not like to sit behind the wheel and feel as if I am driving from my couch.
The GS Trofeo, which is very similar in preparation to a 360 challenge car (both factory race cars) will run circles around a 360 on the track and it is front engined.
Until Maserati gets through there identity crisis, they will continue to make cars that are just off center of a target they are not sure about.

 

http://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/showthread.php?t=182997&highlight=trofeo

Earlier this year, Maserati of San Fran had two up for sale, but I don't see them listed anymore.

 

Do you recall what your father said about the suspension? Some reviews have said its too hard for the character of the car.

 

I will ask him, but he did have the same reaction that I had. He may wait for the Quattroporte S though, because of more room. I'm assuming both cars will perform pretty close even though the QP is a heavier car.