Well I hope everyone is enjoying the pictures.
I have now driven about 180 miles and I have to say that those initial first drive nerves are long gone. The car is a joy to drive. Very smooth and comfortable, lots more room than a 996 (baby seat fits fine in the back), and boy does it cause a stir wherever it goes.
I started in normal mode thinking I’d take it easy for a while but stuck it in sport mode after about 15 minutes and have not gone back. The noise as you park up is quite something, but you wait until the revs rise….
I am keeping it under 5000 revs for the first 600miles as recommended by the book, but it’s no hardship really. The only tricky bit is pulling out quickly at a junction, especially when turning right, when juggling wheel, paddles and right foot is not yet natural and that particular gear shift does need some work with the right foot. Other changes are easy to do smoothly and it’s all becoming second nature much faster than I expected.
The car itself is utterly gorgeous. A few wrinkles with some spots of glue inside and too much wrapping left around the base of the seats etc. Also some funny discolouration on the Maserati badge at the back which I will keep an eye on.
There’s too much wind noise too, but pressing the buttons “up” for the windows abolishes much of that - so that leads me to worry whether there is a proper seal after I exit the car (the windows drop when you open the door and go back up as you shut it) - I’ll have to wait for the first downpour to see, I guess.
The ride is very good and not too harsh in sports mode. It’s lapping up my country roads into town and that will only get better of course. On the main roads there’s a lot of low down torque in top, which I didn’t expect, and when stuck in traffic it’s quite happy trundling along, thrumming with potential (and turning those heads).
Overall? WOW! And, I know it’s just going to keep on growing on me…