First Drive Review
With its 2007 models, Maserati incensed a lot of old-school sports-car fans by doing away with traditional manual transmissions, with their clutch pedals and stick shifts. Maserati went over, along with a herd of other automakers, to what lovers of great Italian sports cars today refer to as “freakin’ automatics,“ or words close to that.
These new “automatics” come with complicated labels—“sequential manuals” and “automated manuals” and “dual-clutch manuals”—and require lengthy explanations. Some of them are herky-jerky, maddening devices—the goofy SMG seven-speed in the BMW M5 comes to mind. For the most part, though, today’s automated manuals have advanced to become slick and rapid gearchangers, so their ascension seems certain. Even Ferrari has been bailing on clutch pedals and stick shifters.
Automatic, but Still Italian at Heart
Which brings us to the third model in Maserati’s GranTurismo lineup—the S automatic model. Its gearbox is not of the tech-chic modern variety but instead is a rather unspectacular ZF hydraulic six-speed automatic with a traditional torque converter—very similar to what you’d find in a BMW 650i. What it accomplishes are impressively smooth gearchanges to go with the company’s impressively smooth grand-tourer image. The ZF shifts the 4.7-liter V-8’s 433 hp with an impressive fluidity that causes not so much as a whiff at the hairline through the gears. Long paddle shifters in the shadow of the steering wheel send the signals and are amusingly embossed with “DOWN” on the left paddle and “UP” on the right. Zero to 62 mph should come in 4.9 seconds, Maserati says, and top speed is governed at 183 mph.
The system does tip its hat to the notion of “manual” operation by refusing to leave a selected gear and go to another without the driver’s permission. (At the same time, an idiot’s accidental shift from second gear to first instead of third will be forgiven. Just ask me.) The ZF is also the transmission in the standard GranTurismo, with its smaller 405-hp, 4.2-liter V-8. The step-up GranTurismo S has the modernist Graziano sequential manual gearbox, best known as an F1-style transmission, and no relation to Rocky.
The S automatic can, of course, be driven in fully automatic mode. It comes with unique 20-inch wheels, a few exterior mods, and a sport mode button that sets off bypass valves to increase the exhaust system’s sound level—another very cool Italian feature. On a rainy day over winding roads in Italian farmland, the car was hugely fun to drive. Even at 4000-plus pounds, it cuts up corners like an athlete and refuses body roll even when pushed too hard. The transmission never lurches, even during high-rev downshifts.
Continuing the Momentum
The S automatic is available now for $125,900. It’s priced between the 4.2-liter base GranTurismo and the 4.7-liter S with the sequential manual, which start at $121,400 and $139,400, respectively. The most striking feature of this big coupe, however, is not its transmission or its crackling exhaust but the sensationally expensive feel it gives off to anyone stepping into it. These are the best seats this driver can remember—very firm, but yielding as the day goes by—and the materials everywhere are exquisite, from the thick, glossy steering wheel to the classy chrome accents and the rich Alcantara headliner.
These are good times at Maserati. Not too long ago sales were counted in the hundreds, and now they’re in the thousands—8650 sales in 2008 set a company record. Hard to believe, but the previous year was the first time in its history that Maserati made a profit. A 30-percent sales gain from ’06 to ’07 slipped last year to 17 percent, but the company seems to be going great guns in an incredibly depressed time for automakers. Maybe it was right about dumping the manuals.
