Perfection

[safrane]

If you watch Harry Metcalf's review of the Shamal he makes that very observation.

 

[Ewan]

The Shamal exhaust does ground out. But not particularly worse than the Cup. Both were pretty useless on the bumpy and undulating rural roads around me, and that definitely played a part in me selling them.
The Strad, with its stiff suspension, gets thrown off line on the same roads, but doesn't ground out.
Of my recent Masers, I'd say the GS makes the best fist of attacking my local roads.

 

[Nayf]

Had the choice and went for the Cup. Better driveability, less made and to be honest bump into one which I couldn’t let go. Don’t get me wrong, Shamal is the Uber biturbo in looks and hope to have one at some stage but for sure not the better car out of the Biturbo era. Obviously biased view.

I agree. The Shamal is the better GT car.
The Cup handles better, and is a bit more of an immersive driving experience through the steering wheel. It can do the GT thing, but not quite as well as the Shamal.

Personally I’d go for the Cup for the steering feel and handling. Doesn’t mean I wouldn’t want a Shamal too, mind…

 

[Mr S]

The Shamal exhaust does ground out. But not particularly worse than the Cup. Both were pretty useless on the bumpy and undulating rural roads around me, and that definitely played a part in me selling them.
The Strad, with its stiff suspension, gets thrown off line on the same roads, but doesn't ground out.
Of my recent Masers, I'd say the GS makes the best fist of attacking my local roads.

Where abouts do you live Ewan?

 

[Ewan]

Where abouts do you live Ewan?

North Dorset

 

[general_piffle]

Well, it’s all relative these prices but 60-70K Euros for a LHD Cup with good specs isnt that unreasonable. Real good LHD GT’s sell for 30K these days (real paid price if you are not in a hurry) if it isn’t an ex Japan car. It will be more difficult overtime to find a standard Cup with low mileage and history and sure it will go further up as we have seen with limited editions Integrales etc. Matter of time imo

Why the lack of love for cars formerly from Japan? Aesthetic differences are just a matter of a headlight swap if you really want to, and the Japanese are typically very fastidious about maintaining their cars. So they’ve often been pampered. Plus of course the benefits of no salt on the roads making UK levels of rot almost unheard of in Japan.

I know when the guys at Emblem checked mine over 5 years ago when I first got her they were amazed not to find any rust anywhere, and couldn’t believe how clean the car was underneath.

 

[Nayf]

Why the lack of love for cars formerly from Japan? Aesthetic differences are just a matter of a headlight swap if you really want to, and the Japanese are typically very fastidious about maintaining their cars. So they’ve often been pampered. Plus of course the benefits of no salt on the roads making UK levels of rot almost unheard of in Japan.

I know when the guys at Emblem checked mine over 5 years ago when I first got her they were amazed not to find any rust anywhere, and couldn’t believe how clean the car was underneath.

It can be difficult to track precisely what’s been done in the service history.
Also, while generally rust free and in most cases looked after exceptionally well, a fair few Japanese Maseratis have made their way over that aren’t because they were bought dirt cheap to fill out a container. These sub optimal Japanese cars usually have, erm, questionable aftermarket modifications (usually aesthetic) and have been doing the rounds of Japanese auctions for years, and have spent a lot of that time outside.

There are some really excellent Ex-Japanese cars around, but there are some terrible ones too.

Then there’s the immobiliser, or the alarm system bidding you hello. Cute and amusing the first 20 times, bloody annoying after that.*

* The first Ghibli II I ever drove was like that. Kept cutting out below 2000rpm.
That immobiliser voice got old pretty quick.

 

[MaserMike]

Why the lack of love for cars formerly from Japan? Aesthetic differences are just a matter of a headlight swap if you really want to, and the Japanese are typically very fastidious about maintaining their cars. So they’ve often been pampered. Plus of course the benefits of no salt on the roads making UK levels of rot almost unheard of in Japan.

I know when the guys at Emblem checked mine over 5 years ago when I first got her they were amazed not to find any rust anywhere, and couldn’t believe how clean the car was underneath.

I agree there are some very well maintained and corrosion free cars from Japan, my 1986 Ferrari Testarossa was imported from Japan and thankfully with full maintenance records. In very good condition and thankfully no strange electrical mods or immobilisers which I saw on a few 512TRs also imported from Japan. I searched long and hard for the right car, many of the cars missing maintenance records are pretty much impossible to obtain histories from Japan due to the very strict data privacy laws... also had a Japanese friend make enquiries and calls on various Ferrari’s on my behalf with no success. The Japanese also have much stricter emissions and road testing laws, so hence why you often see low mileage cars being exported - similar to Singapore....

 

[ZAM400209]

I second that- (del mar's comment on ground clearance)

I've got 60mm of ground clearance on mine; and that was AFTER a bracket was fabricated to hold the cats higher...