[GregD]

I picked up my car this morning from Ferrari/Maserati Beverly Hills and man is it beautiful. The drive home was through pretty heavy traffic, but it was still a lot of fun. I am so blown away by this car and I havent even explored a tenth of its potential.

I was concerned about ride quality and smooth shifting, but found that it actually rides smoother than I expected. The shifts are very smooth for me in the sport mode and its a little slower in the standard setting, but with some practice, I'm sure it will be as smooth.

Anyways, I will post back after I take it out a few times. 8)

A picture of my car is still up on ferrari beverly hills website under the maserati section, inventory #11575, if you guys want to check it out. Hope this link will work:

http://www.ferrariportal.com/search/siteviewer/index.cfm?fuseaction=urlforward&site=150&parent=0&keywords=none&returnfuseaction=home


here's the specs

Nero/black with black interior and silver control panel.
Vintage Package
Skyhook
Leather headliner
heated seats (for the girlfriend)
CD Changer

I'll take some pictures to post soon.

Thanks for the info you guys provided while I was looking at the car. Your topics, posts, and responses really helped answer some questions for me.

The dealer is going to have a tubi installed on one of the cars within the next few weeks and I will take a test drive to see how I like it.

 

[scott]

Just checked it out, Have never seen the vintage on a nero car, It looks unbelievable. With that nero interior good thing Maserati gives you a very powerful A.C system. I have the nero on my Spyder and find on very hot days I put top up and you could freeze a side of beef in the car. Am glad you liked the ride, It seems that in doing some research before taking car you expect it to be an uncomfortable ride, Then find that it's not true. I remember bracing myself when I saw a bump in the road during my ride home and was very pleasantly surprised to find it no problem at all. Even found it to be more comfortable than my Boxster. And if this is your first car with a sequential type gear box make sure you give yourself plenty of time to learn to get the most out of the system. Am sure you will get the Tubi, I did the same thing as you, My dealer had just installed one and had me come over to check it out, He turned the key and before he could even look up at me I said "Put one my car as soon as it gets here" After 3 months of driving I still leave the radio turned way down as I just can't get enough of that sound Well, good luck with the car.

 

[Brad]

Wow, Greg. That deep black exterior is VERY good looking on the Maser body!

Congratulations -- you'll love the car.

I had the Tubi installed this week; it completes the car...

 

[Andrew]

Greg,

Congrats on getting the car. Looks beautiful. After you get the Tubi maybe slap a Powerchip on there? :wink:

Looking forward to hear how you enjoy the Tubi.

Brad,
Glad to hear you got your Tubi no problem. How does it run with?

Also for everyone else.

http://www.maseratibeverlyhills.com/homepage.htm

The above link didn't work for me.

Cheers,
Andrew

 

[Brad]

Brad,
Glad to hear you got your Tubi no problem. How does it run with?

Cheers,
Andrew

The car runs great and sounds even better! Dyno before/after shows about 7RWHP gain. Not much, but that is a side benefit; the real target was making the car sound more Ferrari than a Ferrari!

 

[Andrew]

Brad,
Glad to hear you got your Tubi no problem. How does it run with?

Cheers,
Andrew

Not much, but that is a side benefit; the real target was making the car sound more Ferrari than a Ferrari!

:mrgreen:

Well now you need to put a chip in and you'll have more performance than a Ferrari!

 

[scott]

Boy Andrew your starting to sound like George Forman hawking those power chips :wink:. I did check out their site and might be interested just wodering how it will effect my warranty with Maserati? Would hate to have Maserati tell me something not covered due to the chip. That is why I liked using Dinan for all my M3 upgrades they worked with BMW and their upgrades had no impact on warranty.

 

[Andrew]

Boy Andrew your starting to sound like George Forman hawking those power chips :wink:. I did check out their site and might be interested just wodering how it will effect my warranty with Maserati? Would hate to have Maserati tell me something not covered due to the chip. That is why I liked using Dinan for all my M3 upgrades they worked with BMW and their upgrades had no impact on warranty.

:mrgreen: I just want to hear first hand how much they really make a difference.

I will ask the contact person at Powerchip about this and installation. Company policy is they cannot post on forums or he would answer it direct on here.

 

[Andrew]

Scott,

Here is the answer. I was thinking, why doesn't the Tubi void the warranty? Here is some info I got from Powerchip:

> 1.  How easy are the chips to install on both the Ferraris and Maseratis?
 
They are fairly easy... All the customer needs to do is remove the ecu and overnight it to us. We then make the changes and overnight it back to the customer. Then all they need to do is plug in their ECU again and drive off with a smile We have full instructions (with color pics) on most models.

> 2.  Will the chip void the warranty (probably not your concern so I'll ask a dealer).

The dealer may in fact tell you it does... but this is not the case. Under several laws in place accross America, it is illegal for a warranty to be broken from the manufacturer due to fitment of a replacement aftermarket part. It is called the magnusson-moss warranty act. I can provide the entire act for you if required.

> I'm figuring if the installation is easy they can just unplug it each time they go into the dealer.  Is this recommended and would the dealer know there was a chip on the car?

Even though it is easy to remove the computer and have us return it to stock settings, it is not required. We have designed the software so that it is totally undetectable to the dealer both physically and electronically. So when the dealer plugs into the OBD-2 port for service, it shows as totally stock - and therefor no warranty is affected.

 

[GregD]

Thanks everyone,

I just took it out last night again from west los angeles down to manhattan beach then redondo beach. Everything about this car is fantastic. I dont think Ive actually used more than about 1/4 of the accelerator pedal range probably much less .

I didnt tell my girlfriend that I bought the car, so she was really suprised as she thought I was going to wait until november for the 2005 model.

Im also getting alot better at the paddle shifts. seems like im still a little clunky at low speeds.

Has anyone noticed that on right turns then at normal accelaration, the exhaust note was deeper, which sounds really good. I hope this is how the tubi will sound.

Coming back up highland, which is a pretty big street along the coast by the airport, I opened it up a bit, not much though, and was at 80mph in a flash. This car has so much power and is so stable.

The manual says not to go over 5,000 rpms for the first 600 miles, so Ive been careful to follow that except on a few occassions where i touched 6,000rpms. The dealer on the other hand said that i dont have to do the break in. Im probably going to take it slow since i need to really master the technique and get used to the car.

I look foward to finding a performance school where I can really learn to take full potential of the car in a safe environment.

 

[Andrew]

I don't know about LA but a couple guys were at Infineon three weeks ago with some 360s. They said the Maseratis were kicking ass. Laguna might have a school?

Also the Tubi will make it higher pitch but not like a rice. It will also be louder because it is smaller. You'll love it! Congrats on the car, enjoy it and tell us more when you get the Tubi.

Just for scott....did you consider a Powerchip?.... :wink: They are actually in your area.

 

[GregD]

Just for scott....did you consider a Powerchip?.... :wink: They are actually in your area.

Yes I saw that they are in santa monica which is about 5-10 minutes from where I live. I would consider the chip after I make the tubi determination and get used to the car a bit. Extra power is always desirable.

I could actually drive down there and let them remove and re-install the ecu.

I will be curious to hear from other owners who have the chip installed.

 

[Swiss-Maserati]

What is the URL of this Powerchip company? I am not very interested to be the beta-test, but very interested to listen any experience of their chip from a neutral maserati owner...

 

[Andrew]

Here is the link. I believe they have offices in the EU as well.

www.powerchipgroup.com/ferrariforums/