[Coops]

Did anyone anyone watch last nights 5th gear (UK TV) with that balloon-head Plato testing the new GT last night? he starts off fine singing it's praises and saying how beautiful it is and how Maserati don't jump on the old horse-power / zero-to-60 bandwagon but build cars for a purpose, in this case, long distance high speed touring in comfort.

Brilliant - then in his next breath it's..."oh I wish it had a bit more go" and " it's not as fast as the BMW M5"....Burke!

The new GT is beautiful, well made, fast and comfortable - exactly what Maserati intended it should be and lucky owners will fully appreciate if they are not overly influenced by the motoring press.

Rant over.....

 

[maseratifan]

I agree.
I generally find the motoring press to be unhelpful for anything that matters, and would never ever let them influence my decision to buy.
I love TopGear purely for the zany comedy, but those blokes don't know jack about cars.

 

[DeaneG]

... but those blokes don't know jack about cars.

Except when they like a car that I like, then they're geniuses of discrimination!

 

[Bcube]

http://www.coresworld.net/5thgear/grandturismo.avi

right click save as - its big.

 

[shed17]

Don't really know what the problem is. Plato heaped praise on the car but said he wished it had more grunt in the lower ranges. His example of doing about 40 then hitting a hill where he wanted it to effortlessly climb to the top without dropping gears was valid.

 

[Coops]

Perhaps I'm being over sensitive towards the car (which I don't own and haven't driven so Plato's definately got one on me there) or even the Maserati name (or 'brand' as I guess they would call it today). But I have driven that track in several Maserati's and I reckon many cars would feel sluggish trying to climb that hill in top from 40. I know my wife's 500SL would do just the same and I don't think that is particularly underpowered (although Clarkson clearly does).

I just think that these guys are so spoiled by hypercar performances that anything that doesn't pull like a Veyron is labelled as slow, when to those of us living in the real world of daily motoring that performance would feel pretty sensational.

Hey, it's only TV afterall. Which reminds me; what about that shower of so-called 'judges' on 'Strictly Come Dancing'...............

 

[shed17]

I took the positive from it because normally as you say the TV journos lambast everything that does not have hypercar performance

I was in Graypaul yesterday and while I think the GT is a stunning looking car, it is sooo big!

 

[Bcube]

As an owner of a few BMWs - which is the one of the largest customers to ZF - I know a little bit of how these trannys are set up. (Just enough to be dangerous ) While the software is designed per each maker's specs, generally normal "Drive" mode is set up for best optimal fuel economy, it will take a lot of throttle input to drop a gear. Consequently, the tranny can seem pretty lazy in this mode and the engine "gutless". "Sport" mode is a different ballgame, it usually drops a gear immediately, it will hold a gear longer, and is very responsive to throttle inputs.

My current Bimmer weighs a bit more than the Maser GT, and makes less torque and hp than the V8. I have no 'drops a gear on a hill' issues at freeway speeds in "D" and if I was driving the same roads as in the video, I would have already been in Sport mode or using the paddles.

I guess I'm saying that just declaring that the GT needs another 100hp is misleading and myoptic wrt to Plato's hill test. Does the GT need the 4.7? IMO probably yes - mainly for the extra torque of that engine to offset the weight.

 

[Coops]

If I get an invite to drive it one day I'm sure it's not going to feel as lively as the Gran Sport. But I wouldn't say no!
My Missus is a huge Gran Sport fan since we went on a maserati driving day, I reckon she'd chop-in the SL in a second if she had the chance.

We're going to the DBS launch at JCT600 in Leeds tomorrow night. If my old Ghibli is up-to the jaunt we might go in that, just in case my wife gets wasted on free Champagne (again) and signs us up for one.