Another QLD drive day to Boonah

Nice to see, Cam. Thanks for the pics. Keep 'em coming!

 

Cool pics Cam.
Looked like fun.

 

sorry i couldn't make it

 

is that a BiTurbo or Quattroporte? what is it like?

 

A guy from Canberra ran a Biturbo in Targa a few times but either it was a HOS or he couldn't pedal it.

 

Not too many knives in the back eh Cam?

 

They are a cool car. I remember seeing a red one on Fchat somewhere and it looked really cool IMO. Not that I have really looked, but what do these cars retail for? Would be a nice 'family' hack if not too expensive for Pappy.

 

Thanks mate! There are 2 for sale. One for $34K and $54K.
Cool cars.

 

I have some photos also but my computer that I use to access the program has a virus on it. So when I get it sorted I’ll post them.

The Maserati Ghibli GT is the last run of the Bi-turbo series.

.My car has a 2.8 litre six cylinder quad cam 4 valve twin turbo charged engine. The turbos are water cooled IHI compressors with air to air intercoolers with a Weber Marelli multi point electronic injection. Power is around 280 horses. The compression is 7.6:1. It is equipped with the 6 speed Getrag gearbox. This makes parts easy to get as they are shared across many manufacturers. It has the twin mass flywheel (all the rage at the moment) which translates to a perishable item that can’t be machined easily so requires replacement when worn. It has the Ranger Diff which is also rated highly. Front suspension is McPherson’s, coiled springs with 4 position electronic adjustment. Rear is independent semi trailing arms dual effect hydraulic telescopic shock absorbers also with 4 position electronic adjustment. They come with airbags, ABS (3channel 4 sensor) with a dual hydraulic circuits’, TRW power operated rack and pinion steering with double gearing servo.

Interior is in Connolly leather. Seats are comfortable and adjust easily when you know where everything is! Climate air-conditioning, adjustable steering (up and down only), central locking.


The car is fast enough. 0-100 5.7 sec (fast in the mid 90’s) 260km/h top speed. It doesn’t seem that fast by today’s standards but the acceleration beyond 100km/h is quite remarkable. I wouldn’t doubt the potential for 260 top speed.

The turbo system means that you do NOT hear the exhaust note under full throttle and I often hit the cutout. I will change the system to get more noise but from what I hear, it won’t make much difference.
The instruments look like they came from Japan into an Italian car. It needed a more delicate dignified look.

The temperature display is like an 80’s digital watch experiment. You can not adjust the dim and at night it sits right in my line of sight.
The electronic control for the suspension sits on the centre console between the gear lever and the handbrake. You will always have to take your eyes off the road when you press the button and in the daytime it requires you to shield the light with one hand to see the setting. It also looks like I put it in after I purchased it from Super cheap Auto.

It is a comfortable car. It can take 5 people and has a boot.
Styling is not for everyone
I bought my car because it was a late model Maserati with no airbags and no traction control. The colour combinations are great, dark blue with a tan interior and complementing wood highlights. It is a 6 speed and relatively small capacity 6. It has the capacity to be modified with its twin turbo set up. It is a bit too quiet for an Italian car but I can live with that. Insurance is fairly cheap, it gets good mileage. It is a discrete car where it is not really recognized as an exotic as such so I don’t have any issues with Johnny ford and Peter Holden wanting to race my from the lights or having them drive like a madman through traffic to tailgate me or try to tempt me to race when I’m cruising down the highway. On the other side this also means that I get no street cred either. I have to put up with knobs at work telling me that it’s a “bi-turbo” or that Top Gear dropped a bin on it. I hear repeatedly that these cars are unreliable from people that have never owned one. I have had it modified (reversible) to take 2 baby seats ( I have 3 kids under 4 though) and it seems easy enough to get them in and out of. If you ask me whether it makes a good daily driver, I’m a shift worker in an essential service sector and I ride my motorbike sometimes as the car is off the road (sometimes in the rain), but I wouldn’t have it any other way.
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Nice Maser!

The late model Nissan 200SX has the dual mass f/wheel too...major PITA.

In terms of mods, the usual turbo route starts with a 3" system from the turbos back, intake setup, boost controller and an ECU remap to suit. That level of simple mods liberates a LOT of ponies in a jap car...do you know what turbo model is used?

im guessing not many off-the-shelf Ghibli exhaust systems? a custom 3" from the merge spot wouldnt be too bad, but the turbo down pipes may require a bit of fiddling. nothing a good exhaust shop cant do though.

 

very nice pics so far, great angles.

 

Looking at the picture I have posted for that interior it is disgusting. Look at the centre console rest and the front pad on the seat. Filthy would be the kindest word I could use. It took 2 days to clean. The rest of the car was similar.
You could be right with the mods.
Enricos Maserati page has mods for a 440 hp engine with the following:-

• Modified engine management system (EPROM) with fuel-cut out point at 8500 rpm.
• Crankshaft, connecting-rods and pistons are all matched and balanced.
• Modified cylinder heads with new larger diameter valves.
• All inlet and exhaust ports are enlarged and polished.
• Modified valve timing.
• Larger diameter (approx. 50 mm) air intake pipes and sleeves.
• New high performance air filters.
• New larger roller-bearing IHI turbochargers.
• New Indy-type 'pop-off' (dump) valves (with metal non-return valve).
• New larger purpose-made engine oil cooler and turbo intercoolers.
• Stainless steel freeflow exhaust system.

 

yep theres really no end to what you can do. its a 2.8 6 so plenty of capacity to push turbos. skyline GTRs do pretty amazing things with 2.6 litres

start small and add things as you go. you may find that the transformation with just a few bolt ons will impress you for years to come.

exhaust, chip, intakes, boost controller and some upgraded blowoff valves that dont leak with higher boost (some standard cars' valves tend to leak) would make a world of difference.

another thing you could do now is fit an oil catch can setup to filter the crankcase/head vapours of oil before they vent into your intake.

if your intercoolers are anything like that on my silvia was, theyll be full of oil by now, which restricts them, plus, oil vapours in your intake reduce the octane of your fuel to a degree

take the coolers out and give them a good flush out with kero several times, you might be amazed at the crap that comes out

 

Thanks Cam for organising was a great day, lots of fun

 

Nice pics guys, a good variation of cars! Marks F430 is a stunner!

 

.....be grateful that I was able to text that early in the morning.....