Our cars are so slow it’s like living in a black and white world

Andyk

Andyk

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61,175
Well, fast or not I think the new 911 looks stunning. Yes...its a 911 and there are 911 haters out there that will always hate the shape but every 911 I've driven has made me smile, the speed, the handling....if you have petrol in your veins and don't smile driving one then somethings wrong.....and if you want a sports car for everyday use then no one does it better than Porsche.
 
B

bigbob

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8,972
conaero said:
When you drive it, does it make you smile?

Argument ends.
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Indeed and if it didn't it would have already been sold. Thing is we are small sub set of a small set of older men (even those of you around 40 are no longer young so stop kidding yourselves) that buy fast coupes/convertibles and you only have to look at how the sales of the GT/GC fell off over time to realise that Maserati is no longer offering what most people want. Why on earth they did not put the 3.8 V8 TT with 8 speed box in the GranTurismo five years ago is beyond me.

I only chose the 911 as the stats were handy and it's new but there are plently of other options to look at - R8/ F Type R for example....even 850i.
 
Contigo

Contigo

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conaero said:
I wont drive one just in case I like it....yes, I really am that stubborn!
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They are quick and the Turbo's scarily so but once you get used to the power they are just not involving at all. I appreciate they are a feat of engineering but blimey they ain't half dull.
 
Oneball

Oneball

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11,130
They’re just too old, in the time the GT has been around there’s been 3 generations of 911 (997, 991, 992), 3 generations of M3/M4, even Jaguar, the car of the perpetually old fashioned, have managed XK8, XK and F Type.

Reading a couple of other threads your title is very apt, there seems an excessive amount of black and white GranTurismos.
 
Felonious Crud

Felonious Crud

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21,213
conaero said:
I wont drive one just in case I like it....yes, I really am that stubborn!
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I drove and kind of bought a 997.1 GT3. A manual thing and it was bloody bonkers. It went like a deranged whippet with a rocket in its ar5e. But I'm very pleased Mrs Crud took against it (reasoning that, at the time, two seats was stupid and I'd have looked like a total bellend in it. She was right, but that was hardly the fault of the Porsche). Anyway, it was tremendous fun and, like the Aston, it was skippy and bats enough to really keep you on your toes.
 
T

TimR

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2,731
azapa said:
...that and the dodgy suspension the GTS has that make them feel strange on anything other than glass surfaces :confused:;)
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This is so true...
The 4200 has more poke than the 997 I drove...but the handling is so appaling you dont really feel like you wanna go out and ring it's neck anyway somehow !! :D
 
Oneball

Oneball

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11,130
I don’t get the handling comments, when you say they don’t handle are you actually talking about grip and electronic aids or roll or that they’ll stick you in a ditch?
 
BennyD

BennyD

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15,006
I took the Maser out the other night to clean the discs off and it reminded me what a fantastic car it is, even with all its shortcomings. Both my 335D and RS will blows it’s doors off, but don’t have the nut-sack tingle the Maser has, and always had. Between the 3 of them, they cover every type of driving I need but the Maser is still the only ‘Sunday’ car.
 
Contigo

Contigo

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I'm not sure I'd refer to it as a Sunday car as most of the Sunday drivers you see are not your average Maser drivers. More a Weekend toy!
 
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TimR

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2,731
Oneball said:
I don’t get the handling comments, when you say they don’t handle are you actually talking about grip and electronic aids or roll or that they’ll stick you in a ditch?
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Re-reading my comment, I realise it could be interpreted as the 911 that doesnt handle..Not what I meant..
The 4200 doesnt handle at all well iMO...Bouncing around all over the place...The brakes are difficult to modulate, being on, or somehow just off again...and the roll is appalling..Others I have driven dive significantly under braking too...
Mine has no ARB across the back axle..It literally fights itself at the back, chucking its weight from side to side like a game of dodgems...On a bumpy road, under hard braking..I am sh1tting myself trying to keep it on the road and stopped in time...Not something you want to be trying to do on a public road...so I dont !
The tail really does wag the dog ! :eek:
 
Oneball

Oneball

Member
Messages
11,130
TimR said:
Re-reading my comment, I realise it could be interpreted as the 911 that doesnt handle..Not what I meant..
The 4200 doesnt handle at all well iMO...Bouncing around all over the place...The brakes are difficult to modulate, being on, or somehow just off again...and the roll is appalling..Others I have driven dive significantly under braking too...
Mine has no ARB across the back axle..It literally fights itself at the back, chucking its weight from side to side like a game of dodgems...On a bumpy road, under hard braking..I am sh1tting myself trying to keep it on the road and stopped in time...
The tail really does wag the dog ! :eek:
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Surely that’s not right?

Older cars do roll and pitch under braking but that’s a compromise for ride quality. I think my 3200 is the perfect balance of ride vs handling.
 
M

Michael

Member
Messages
340
bigbob said:
Indeed and if it didn't it would have already been sold. Thing is we are small sub set of a small set of older men (even those of you around 40 are no longer young so stop kidding yourselves) that buy fast coupes/convertibles and you only have to look at how the sales of the GT/GC fell off over time to realise that Maserati is no longer offering what most people want. Why on earth they did not put the 3.8 V8 TT with 8 speed box in the GranTurismo five years ago is beyond me.

I only chose the 911 as the stats were handy and it's new but there are plenty of other options to look at - R8/ F Type R for example....even 850i.
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I think that if they put the 3.8TT in today with the 8 speed auto and put a Ghibli/Levante interior inside, nice Zegna options, a glass roof etc, Maserati would have another 5 years out of the GT/Cabrio for precious little investment and create a halo car. But priced around £100k with a great spec, on the road, I think it would take many sales from Ferrari's Portofino and maybe even the 365 Lusso/FF/ V8 car. As it would undercut both of them by the best part of £100k.

Now I get the prancing horse badge, mystique, blah, blah, and have owned a couple, but two cars for the price of one if difficult to beat. Ferrari in many ways made the GT/Cabrio and QP5 special but also didn't want the Maserati's to cannibalise the Ferrari customer base, after all the margin they make per car is many multiples over what was ever seen from the GT/Cabrio QP5 world.

But if they did put the 3.8 in etc, I would really interested in buying one.
 
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TimR

Member
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2,731
Oneball said:
Surely that’s not right?

Older cars do roll and pitch under braking but that’s a compromise for ride quality. I think my 3200 is the perfect balance of ride vs handling.
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I dont think it is..
But I dont think it's what Maserati intended either though...

i plan on fitting FD roll bars to the car front and rear..and see what difference this makes..
Im guessing I will be gob smacked tbh ( nothing like setting yourself up for disappointment huh !!) I might stretch to their spring kit too but I have serious misgivings about digging my hole "Skyhook" shaped for reasons of reliability and longevity. I have other things I wanna sort too, like the backlash in the drive train, which bugs me. And living on a hill, I dont want to lower the car too much for practical reasons, so I can suck the Skyhook/coil-over issue in my own sweet time....!

Maserati "forgot" to fit a roll bar..? Hilarious !
:D
 
Oneball

Oneball

Member
Messages
11,130
TimR said:
I dont think it is..
But I dont think it's what Maserati intended either though...

i plan on fitting FD roll bars to the car front and rear..and see what difference this makes..
Im guessing I will be gob smacked tbh ( nothing like setting yourself up for disappointment huh !!) I might stretch to their spring kit too but I have serious misgivings about digging my hole "Skyhook" shaped for reasons of reliability and longevity. I have other things I wanna sort too, like the backlash in the drive train, which bugs me. And living on a hill, I dont want to lower the car too much for practical reasons, so I can suck the Skyhook/coil-over issue in my own sweet time....!

Maserati "forgot" to fit a roll bar..? Hilarious !
:D
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How many miles have your shocks got on them?
 
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