[PacoSaca]

Hi guys...

I own a '04 CC, only single upgrade I've done has been to install a tubi exhaust, the rest of my baby is just as it came from the land of the ravioli. I gotta tell you... I'm totally amazed and satisfied by its performance when unleashing the 390 horses. I also feel very confortable with the handling on the curves but I cannot say the same with the handling on tight corners.

I driven my Maser as I've driven my other previous cars... using a bit of brakes just before entering into the corner and then putting the pedal to the metal once in the corner and I feel it banks way too much to the front wheel on the outside. Do any of you have the same feeling I do?

For you guys to build a better picture of the situation before giving me a diagnosis I gotta also tell you that my car is wearing the Michelin PS tires and I have not lowered the suspension.

Talking to a friend who has some experience with a Trofeo (I know it is a very different car) and he tells me that on tight corners I should use more of the brake pedal and less of the gas pedal...

What are your personal feelings on this issue?
How do you drive your car when entering and during a tight curve?

 

[demoe]

Part of the reason I believe for the issues with hard cornering or cornering for any matter, is that the Maserati is designed as a "daily driver", ...if you compare the ride height vs a Ferarri with similar Performance Figures, ie 355 Spider, the Ferarri is considerably lower....I have a Mercedes c43AMG, and Lotus Elan, all which have been lowered and they will corner/handle like no other.....My Spider has the power, but all that is lacks at this momment is the confidence I have to take hard corners

I really think it is a matter of lowering the vehicle which we have the benefit that unlike most cars, lowering the Trident does not stiffen or make the ride harsher........once I get my car back (she was hit while parked, other warranty work needed), I plan to finally lower my Spider.

 

[Swiss-Maserati]

The best way to solve this problem is to lower the car and readjust the front geometry. After this simple mod' my car handle without oversteer. Simple as that.

 

[PacoSaca]

Lionel, please explain me what exactly do you mean by readjusting the front geometry? how's that done? My Maserati mechanich is flying in tomorrow for a few days here and I would like to have that done... thanks for your reply.

Demoe, sorry to hear your baby was hit. I think I'll lower mine as well... just gotta find out what readjusting the front geometry means and how its done.

 

[haha]

my dealership said it was going to be about 10 hours including alignment... that sounds a bit too much, wouldn't you think?!

 

[STARDOC]

10 hours?!? No wonder they call them the Stealer. Shouldn't take more than 4-6 hours work. I called two different dealers and they quoted me about $700 including alignment. Paco, realigning the geometry means to align the wheels, as the camber is changed after lowering the car. Personally I would choose wider tires for some better grip, which should help to "unleash" all those horses.

 

[PacoSaca]

...a simple aligment?
...is that all?
...and they say it would take TEN HOURS of work :shock:

Wider tires are part of my project together with new wider rims and other fun stuff... I'm just going little by little and having fun while at it.

Right now I'm also looking for the rear lip spoiler... any clues on where I might find one?

 

[haha]

...a simple aligment?
...is that all?
...and they say it would take TEN HOURS of work

From what I was just told, there will be adjustments on the suspension (the service rep. suggested lowering it for about an inch). Then wheel alignment. I can't fathom why it will take 10 hours either. Well, nothing is cheap here in Los Angeles.

Right now I'm also looking for the rear lip spoiler... any clues on where I might find one?

STARDOC had posted two pictures in one of the threads.

 

[PacoSaca]

I can't fathom why it will take 10 hours either. Well, nothing is cheap here in Los Angeles.

cheap or expensive is not the issue here... in LA people are wayyy toooo s l o w

aligning a Chevy might take about up to one hour... considering we are talking about a fine Italian machinery aligning a Maserati should take up to 5 hours but TEN.

I'll check on those threads by STARDOC, Thanks!

 

[Swiss-Maserati]

Other way to improve the power-to-the-street ratio is to use better tyres, not specialy wider. The improvement from "Michelin Pilot Sport" to Michelin Pilot Sport PS2 Extraload is huge, about 80% of a P Zero Corsa grip (track tyre), but without the disadvantages. With these tyres you must want it or make a mistake to skid with the rear. On the front it is almost impossible to do it.

 

[mvarat]

aLIGNMENT tIME

A local alignment shop near my office has done in assortment of my cars over the years. He charged me $70 for a front end alignment on the Maserati. It is nothing special to do and every computerized alignment system has our cars in it. I do believe there are some special shims needed, though.

To lower and redo the alignment is not more than a few hours of work for someone who knows what they are doing.

 

[surfnirnava]

I did the same. Had my wheels aligned and it made a big difference on the road. Previously my front tyres wore out on the insides leaving lots of tread accross two thirds of the tyre - the car ate front tyres every 5k miles! I now get much better, even, wear.
You do need a good alignment centre though and they need to have the shims to be able to make any changes. Having my four wheels done cost £211.
It is also worth making sure the centre has the correct measurements. These are for a 4200 Coupe:
Fronts
Toe-in 2.5+/- 0.5mm
Caster +4 degrees 35' +/- 6'
Camber -20' +/- 10'

Rears
Toe-in 4.5 +/- 0.5mm
Camber -1degree 10' +/- 10'

 

[PacoSaca]

OK, my baby has now been lowered and it looks awesome!!!

Here is a picture while we were working on it and I gotta tell you... it took us about 7 hours :shock: to complete the job without doing the aligment, mostly because we did not know how much the car would go down so we started with just a few turns and tried...

I was satisfied after we lowered it 20 turns at the front and 15 turns at the rear...

...look at it now just as high as a F-430, it now looks more like the mean driving machine it is supposed to be.

We did not do the aligment mostly because of one doubt, here is the story: Yesterday, at the shop was also a good friend of mine who is modifying a Renault Clio... he installed coilovers, lowered it and he was talking to the mechanic about what meassurements they would use for doing the aligment when I said that the right meassurements should be provided by the aligning machine's software and they said that those parameters hold true for a stock model at regular height and that once the car has been lowered those numbers are not valid anymore and some adjustments must be made to them.

What do you guys think about this... right? wrong? should I use the stock meassurements as provided by surfnirnava?

 

[surfnirnava]

Congrats, the car looks good!!
I'm no expert in alignment but here are my thoughts:
In lowering the car it makes sense that the alignment will change. However, the alignment machine takes the measurements from where the actual wheel is in 'space' and not how it is attached to the car. I see no reason why the measurements should be different whatever the height is.
I just called the guys who did mine - they agree that the measurements should stay the same but added that is only if you are keeping the same springs. If you change the springs for harder ones then the setup should change as the travel will be different when the car is moving. Hope this makes sense!

Tim

 

[rovingardener]

what really matters here

8) The most important measurements for front end alignment are in caster/camber, toe in and toe out. These never change unless you change springs as deflection remains constant no matter with the exact geometric design.

 

[rovingardener]

what really matters here

8) The most important measurements for front end alignment are in caster/camber, toe in and toe out. These never change unless you change springs as deflection remains constant no matter with the exact geometric design.

 

[Andrew]

Paco,

Great photos. Does the Ferrari/Maserati dealer in El Salvador have a website? Can you post it?

 

[PacoSaca]

Yes Andrew, the site is www.grupoq.com but they do not have the Ferrari/Maserati brands included... I believe its due to the very limited amount of cars they have imported here.

For instance, in 2004 they imported their first two cars, one of them was a 360 Spider which was sold and taken to the US and the other was a Coupe Cambiocorsa which I ended up buying. This year they have brought two Quattroporte, one of them has already been sold and the other is at the showroom, the F-430 that has also been sold and the GranSport in the picture which is available. I already made them an offer on the GranSport and chances are it may end up in my garage if they find a customer for mine.

In the posts above I only commented on how I liked the new meaner look of my lowered car... now after driving it a few days I can add that I don't really feel the ride any softer that it was before... which is just what I wanted and in regards to the handling on curves and tight corners my baby is now STICKY STICKY STICKY thanks so much for all your helpful advise guys!!!

 

[Swiss-Maserati]

Paco, happy for you. But here, in Switzerland, my car is no more sticky, because the roads are frozen and the Pilot Alpin does not have the same grip as the Pilot Sport. You probably do not have the same problem in your country :wink:

 

[PacoSaca]

You're right on that Lionel, we are now in the dry season and this the time of the year where I enjoy my car the most and when I'm not driving my baby I'm out offshore riding the other toy, check the video...

http://mywebsite.register.com/db2/00149/farmaciabeethoven.com/_uimages/TunaGigging.wmv

I bet it will help melt the ice for you :wink:

...fresh sashimi anyone?

I'm the one planting the gaff.