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First Drive: Maserati GranTurismo automatic. Image by Maserati.

First Drive: Maserati GranTurismo automatic
Maserati combines its 4.7-litre V8 with a smooth automatic in the beautiful GranTurismo. It's been worth the wait.

   



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| First Drive | Modena, Italy | Maserati GranTurismo S Automatic |

There has never been any doubting its beauty, but the GranTurismo in either its standard 4.2-litre guise or more focussed 4.7-litre S specification has always come with some compromises. This 'completion' model (at least until the drop-top arrives) promises to be the best, combining the glorious-sounding and more potent 4.7-litre V8 of the S with a conventional six-speed automatic - instead of the flagship's robotised manual. Worthy of its evocative grand touring name, it's the most rounded model in the line-up, so it's hardly surprising then that Maserati anticipates 50 percent of its customers opting for the new GranTurismo S Automatic over its siblings.

In the Metal

Few - if any - cars can turn heads like the GranTurismo does. The Pininfarina-penned lines are among the most sensual and flowing in the car world. There's only one contemporary car that can rival its beauty, that being Alfa Romeo's 8C Competizione. Fittingly it shares its 4.7-litre V8 heart with the Maserati. That's some bloodline. It's arguably easier to make a two-seater more visually appealing, which make the GranTurismo's looks even more remarkable, as inside it's a genuine four-seater.

An Aston Martin might attract admiring glances, but the Maserati seduces you completely and fixes your gaze. In S Automatic guise it loses the technical-looking trident effect smoked alloy wheels of the sportier S, the simpler wheel design less overt in keeping with the Automatic's less focussed aim. The trident badging loses the devilish red inserts too, the Automatic not shouting quite as loudly both visually and literally - the Sport button on the dash only opening the exhaust's valves above 3,000rpm for greater refinement compared to its extremely vocal S relative.

What you get for your Money

Aside from one of the most beautiful cars money can buy you get a genuine four-seat grand tourer. You'd happily ask people to sit in the back, where you'd be calling for a taxi if you were in a Bentley Continental GT; the GranTurismo is one of only a handful of four-seat coupés that genuinely offers useful rear pews.

The S Automatic gains the same sonorous high-revving 434bhp V8 that is born in Ferrari's foundry in Maranello. It's a sensational sounding engine; the shrill metallic blare it makes at high revs is partnered with a bass-rich V8 roar, which combined makes for one of the finest-sounding engines ever - a fine voice to match its sensational looks. The key addition to the Maserati GranTurismo S here though is the six-speed automatic transmission, the self-shifter being the same item that's used to good effect by BMW and Jaguar.

Driving it

Getting in a GranTurismo is never anything less than an occasion. Starting that 4.7-litre V8 is a real event, if let down slightly by the rather cheap-feeling Fiat-derived key. You'll forgive Maserati this oversight when the V8 catches and the revs flare before settling down to a steady idle. Slip the gear selector into drive and there's no clunking, whirring or odd pauses, as you'd find in a robotised manual as the clutch engages. Instead there's a smooth transition from being stationary to movement, the automatic immediately making the S friendlier - particularly in traffic.

The addition of the automatic gearbox hasn't been a simple job in the GranTurismo. With the automated manual, the transmission is located at the rear in a transaxle layout, whereas the automatic gearbox needed to be fitted directly to the back of the 4.7-litre V8. That's moved the weight distribution forward slightly, though at 49%/51% front-to-rear there's only a few percent difference between it and the paddle-shift manual S.

You'll be pushed to notice the difference on the road either, the GranTurismo S feeling as balanced as ever. It's a big car, which fills a mixed brief excellently. There's enough ability in the bends to make it entertaining, yet plenty of cosseting comfort for eating up big mileages. The steering is light and direct - though low on feel - and the big coupe's Skyhook adaptive suspension's default damper setting brings smooth-riding comfort. Although that can mean some roll in the bends, Maserati is happy to sell you an MC Sport suspension option if you want a stiffer GranTurismo S Automatic. Doing so would inevitably upset the car's balance and all-round ability.

If there's a weak link in the driving experience it's the GranTurismo S Automatic's brakes and low-rev torque. The middle pedal really needs a good prod before there's any meaningful bite, so you'll often arrive at a corner with the front wheels struggling to reduce the Maserati's velocity. You need to be quick on the gears too to ensure there's enough punch to power out of those bends, as the 4.7-litre V8's torque does not arrive until well up the rev range. The automatic's torque convertor and the gap between second and third gears exacerbates this, the GranTurismo S Auto not having the sort of vicious low-rev punch of rivals like Mercedes-Benz's CL or Jaguar's XKR.

Worth Noting

The addition of the automatic transmission to the GranTurismo S means a slightly slower 0-62mph time. Only by 0.1 seconds though, five seconds still a highly respectable time for such a big machine. It feels less savage than the regular S too, the torque converter giving seamless shifts where the robotised manual punches through viciously at times. The large paddles behind the steering wheel still give manual control when you want it, but the S Automatic feels like a softer car, which is no bad thing perhaps given its remit. Unusually, CO2 drops with the addition of the automatic - from 387g/km to 354g/km - while fuel consumption is better at 18.6mpg compared to 17.0mpg for the manual S. The auto model is also cheaper by around £4,000, costing £84,395 in the UK.

Summary

Maserati has definitely saved the best until last: the combination of the 4.7-litre V8 and a slick-shifting six-speed automatic delivers a GranTurismo that really lives up to its name. It's the pick of the line-up.

Kyle Fortune - 15 May 2009



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2009 Maserati GranTurismo specifications:
Price: £84,395 on-the-road.
0-62mph: 5.0 seconds
Top speed: 183mph
Combined economy: 18.6mpg
Emissions: 354g/km
Kerb weight: 1880kg

2009 Maserati GranTurismo S. Image by Maserati.2009 Maserati GranTurismo S. Image by Maserati.2009 Maserati GranTurismo S. Image by Maserati.2009 Maserati GranTurismo S. Image by Maserati.2009 Maserati GranTurismo S. Image by Maserati.

2009 Maserati GranTurismo S. Image by Maserati.2009 Maserati GranTurismo S. Image by Maserati.2009 Maserati GranTurismo S. Image by Maserati.2009 Maserati GranTurismo S. Image by Maserati.2009 Maserati GranTurismo S. Image by Maserati.



2009 Maserati GranTurismo S. Image by Maserati.
 

2009 Maserati GranTurismo S. Image by Maserati.
 

2009 Maserati GranTurismo S. Image by Maserati.
 

2009 Maserati GranTurismo S. Image by Maserati.
 

2009 Maserati GranTurismo S. Image by Maserati.
 

2009 Maserati GranTurismo S. Image by Maserati.
 






 

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