Melbourne Maserati owners?

George Kacher is one of the most respected European motoring journalists. He writes for top mags in the UK, Europe and the US. He has his (rare) moments of odd comments, but I think most journalists try too hard to invent an "angle" when they're reviewing cars - their job is to be entertaining as well as informative.

 

You CAN post pics.

PS-Can I get your autograph please?

 

C'mon!!

Ill even let you sign it here.......
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For what it is worth the Gran Turismo at SCC hasn't missed a beat (with the exception of driver related issues such as tyre/wheel issues from hitting pot holes) and the cars at SCC sure get treated meaner than most. It certainly has a better record than a lot of cars they have seen / have in their fleet.

Speaking of SCC and GT cars - this was finally just registered and so I'm going to take it for a spin this afternoon. I'll let you all know how it goes

 

+1

I have been around a long time, know a lot of folks in the right circles and deal with people every day. There is an appropriate course of action. Maserati Australia and the dealer are working towards a solution that will keep everybody happy and calling out the dogs of war will not help anyone.

At the end of the day, I have had one major problem that has proved difficult to diagnose and permanently fix. My car appears to be the only example with such an affliction (lucky me).
The wavy sills are being fixed under warranty and THAT is a common problem. This is a design fault IMHO as it is a very long panel made out of thin plastic moulding. It sinks between the mounting points and creates the waves. The parts have been ordered and are in the paint shop at the moment. They then have to get the 3M stone chip film re applied and they will be fitted.
I forgot to mention it in my post, probably because in my view it has been correctly dealt with.

The seats. I really think this comes down to personal choice; but for me there is honestly not a problem. I do a LOT of miles and I find them tremendously comfortable. I am 6 feet tall and pretty big, so I can't see 6 ft 1 and probably a smaller build making the car unusable for you? Take a 4.2 for a decent test drive and give it a decent shot. Perhaps coming from a BMW or Mercedes with "comfort seats option" you might find them firm; but I can't see anyone complaining of them being unbearable as has been suggested in tests.

Points I love about the Granturismo:

The exterior styling is stunning and the personalisation program means you can have the car in about 4 million different combinations; but boy will you pay for it. My car has only 2 options- phone and red brake calipers. My initial spec had $40k of options; but I cracked it when I couldn't get what I wanted and went "bare bones" on the respec.
The interior is just beautifully made and the materials are gorgeous. The ergonomics are great, certainly as good as your average BMW,my previous choice of daily driver (times about 5).
The inbuilt phone system is brilliant and worth going for as an option. The sound system is great and the 30 gig hard drive means you can load all your CD's on permanently. I have something like 50 albums on there and still loading. The satnav is fast and the display is as good as anything else that I have seen.

Performance. I would describe it as more than enough for the GT role it is designed for. Certainly the equal of your CLK 500 or similar. Try and push the car hard and it is a different matter. The only times I have found it wanting are punting it up Mt Buller and roaring around the back roads of Tassie behind a bunch of much faster sports cars. Lets face it, the car was never meant for that sort of driving and it is 2000 kg and the size of an X5. The brakes were fine at all sensible speeds BTW, so I see the stuff on the "S" as a bit irrelevant. It's never going to keep up with a 430, Evo 9 or hard driven M5. FWIW, I seriously doubt that the "S" will be any different and as mentioned, it's changes may in fact take away from the areas the GT is actually good at. I will be trying one for a weekend when the "S" gets here in a couple of months, so we shall see.

Sound. The car is very quite inside and you won't hear the Italian V8 music unless you really step on it, or wind the windows down. The car is louder outside; but nothing like the barage of noise you get from a 430. For me this is fine as it is daily transport. I wouldn't bother fitting an aftermarket exhaust; but suspect others might. The videos of the "S" that I have seen seem to suggest that car is a bit too far in the opposite direction. I will know either way when I test drive one .

Gearbox. I like the auto and I think it suits the character and nature of the car. I had an SMG in my M3 CSL and did 110k km's without any mechanical drama. The same can't be said about the Italian product in the past. I don't know how the new 599 type box fitted to the "S" will go. I found the CSL box to be a bit harsh at times; but it suited the nature of a sports car. I am not convinced the bang, clunk and rumble harshness of such a system gels with a luxury car. I 'think" the new QP has the 4.7 ltr engine and auto gearbox, so there is a chance the GT might have this too down the track.

Would I buy from Zagames again? Yes, I ordered my Ducati Desmosedici through Zagame Ducati so I guess that answers that. The people try hard and the dealer principle is always available to step in and get things moving if necessary. There have been some frustrations along the way; but things seem to have got better now.
You can buy from other states FWIW and I have several friends who have done so. The dealers have delivered the cars in Melbourne and flown down to hand them over. You will of course be reliant on getting it serviced in Melbourne and I don't know how that ongoing relationship would be viewed.


Over and out until I get my car back tomorrow. Hopefully it's fixed for good this time around.

 

hopefully we'll see it on sunday

btw, call you tonight, i've book the joint

 

i still think it's a dumb system. inbuilt bluetooth is a better option in modern cars. syncs with all your contact numbers and inbuilt car microphone and speakers complete the system. needing to have a separate sim seems silly to me compared to the other option. lexus had what you've got in 1991 btw.

and a 308 GT4

or a 308 GT4

 

People buy from interstate for all sorts of reasons. Price, personal relationships with other dealers, stamp duty etc, etc. This is the way it has always been for the 25 years I have been involved with exotics.

The Satnav issues were common in the early build cars and were fixed with an upgrade. My car has been perfect in this regard as it is a Jan 2008 Build.

There is no way the meagre increase in HP and torque will make a material difference to the performance of a 2000 kg car. No doubt the experience is more visceral and that can cloud objective performance comparisons IMHO.

 

You drove the GT and your first comment was "**** this thing is big!" Give me a small and nimble mid engined 250 hp and 1300kg car over a mammoth 2000kg, 400hp car on those roads any day of the week.

 

BMW X3- no way I am putting a baby seat in the GT.

 

don't forget perception = reality!

just like i think i'm good looking...it's my perception, so it's reality..................





to me.

 

scared me stupid!

 

nah, too easy.

 

i know...i'm stupid and you're easy.

 

I wish.

 

you wish PP is stupid or you're easy?

 

well he knows i'm stupid, so it's pretty obvious

 

hmmm

you don't say.

 

ummmmm...actually, i just did.

 

you said it, i got it.

you're stupid and he just wish he is easy.

 

Quick extrapolation of 250HP/1300KG gives us 2080KG @ 400HP.

Size and agility wins out over actual power : weight, it seems.