[demoe]

I have owned my Spyder for about 14 months. It wasn't until last night that after a drive i put the car in park and exited the car with a huge smile. (I smile each time I get to drive my Lotus) I just had the car serviced on Monday at 28,000 miles which included Spark Plugs. My car was previously lowered however, I did not like the ride. (I hated the handling in Stock form as well) It didn't handle well, and when hitting the smallest of road imperfections, it slammed inside the cabin of the vehicle.

I told the mechanic of the crappy ride and he did an adjustment and now the thing handles like a dream! it is still lowered, but I can drive over road imperfections without worrying of bottoming out/blowing something . I took a spirted drive last night and the car just felt perfect around curves. the car is just pumping out tremendous power, I love the wheelspin between shifts. It may be overkill, but I plan on replacing the Spark Plugs every 15k, instead of 30k.

I had seriously considered selling my Spyder over the past 2 months. I have test driven the BMW M Roadster (too small, stick only) and recently the Audi S4 Cabrio....fast, but in a plain vanilla way. Right now, I now understand why others have commented how they look forward to driving their vehicles everyday.

 

[Brad]

So what adjustment did he make? Do you have SkyHook suspension?

 

[M!]

glad to hear you finally sorted it out.
now, this wouldnt be the gas station mechanic, right? or the Bauer Porsche mechanic? or Maserati mechanic?

 

[MikeA]

It's rare that I drive my car and don't smile when I am done. It is just an amazing amount of fun. If I had to buy a new car today, I don't know what I would pick. The current model Masers are getting a bit long in the teeth, with various 'marketing' spins to extend the life of the design. The Ferrari F430 is outrageously priced, and the new Masers seem to be stalled in development (and I just don't think I would be interested in a 6 cylinder Spyder or a 500HP coupe with an automatic tranny).
My wife has a SL500 and we 'share' a Lexus SUV, and I feel cheated if I have to drive one of them. It's like I wasted a day that I have to drive the SUV.
I think we have been spoiled by the value of a 400HP sports car with an F1 transmission for under $100K.
Mike

 

[RQ]

Well said Mike!

 

[demoe]

So I have been so amazed at how much better my car is running since getting it tuned on Monday (yes M, at the Bauer Porsche shop)....the car has significantly quicker acceleration and quicker shifts.. In terms of handling, I had asked him to raise the front a bit as I was bottoming out, however from the looks of the car, the front looks lower now...

I drove over the the shop today and asked the Owner Chris what did he do to my car. he said he did raise the front a bit (it looks lower, so I am not complaining), in regards to the better acceleration, he said he reset my computer and then drove it agressively for a while, and when changing the spark plugs, made sure the gaps were exact.

has anyone reset their computer? I am experiencing a clear difference in performance now. I went from seriously looking over options to replace the Spyder, to now just simply loving taking the Maserati out for drives. I do believe we have an adaptive computer which learns our driving habits. If this is true, I guess the Prior owner of my car really didn't have a lot of fun while he drove it.

 

[Steeldream]

My PO was a woman. Even though the service records show she chewed through the OEM tires in the first 10k I suspect she didn't drive it as hard as I do.

I've had the car about a year now and as I've gotten more used to it, and the ECU has gotten used to my driving style, I've found that my enjoyment and appreciation of the car has increased.