2018 Maserati Granturismo GT Evolution Italian Style REVIEW
Channel: Premium Cars
Date: 03/01/2018

In car years, as in dog years, the Maserati GranTurismo is old. A normal model cycle for a normal car is four or five years long; our subject here is over 10 -- which, in years measured in either dog or car is just about ancient. But the GranTurismo is a faithful dog that can still catch a Frisbee -- it’s a beautiful car that can still raise a pulse among both drivers and onlookers, so we are glad that it’s still around.

The 2018 Maserati GranTurismo Coupe and GranCabrio get what would, on a Ford Taurus or a Toyota Camry, be called a mid-cycle facelift. Normally, that might not mean a lot in terms of newsworthiness. But it’s a Maserati we’re talking about here, a rare and elegant machine, so it’s a bigger deal. Plus it means the mighty GT will live at least three more years, which is a good thing for cool cars. And selfishly, for me, it’s a chance to drive a Maserati -- in Italy, no less --which is always a cause for celebration.

The car that started it all, the 1947 Maserati A6 1500 Photo by Mark Vaughn

Maserati claims to have invented the Gran Turismo in 1947 with its A6 1500. Ten years later, it debuted the 3500 GT, a car that is still turning heads at Concorso Italiano in Monterey, California, every year. In 1967, it gave us the Ghibli, again, a beautiful and striking car. This latest model, 70 years on, is the evolution of all those beautiful rides.

“It is about evolution, not revolution,” said designer Fabio Novembre said of the newest model, coming to America in the fourth quarter of 2017. “Charles Darwin in 1859 wrote ‘On the Origin of Species.’ It was an interesting book. He came up with theories of evolution. Some species evolved, some did not.”

1967 Maserati Ghibli

While there isn’t much new on this minor facelift, the parts of the GranTurismo that are carried over are still pretty good. The front-mid-mounted 4.7-liter Ferrari V8 traces its flat-plane crank roots back to the smaller-displacement Ferrari 360 Modena. It still makes 454 hp and 384 lb-ft of torque, all while cracking out an exhaust note worthy of a Verdi opera. The six-speed ZF automatic transmission sends that torque to the limited-slip differential and on to new Pirelli P Zero tires.

The improved aerodynamics that come with the new front and rear bodywork lower the car’s Cd from 0.33 to 0.32 in the coupe and from 0.35 to 0.33 in the cabriolet. Overall aerodynamic efficiency is improved by 10 percent, including a reduction in lift.

Altogether, the powertrain launches the 4,129-pound Gran Turismo to 60 in 4.7 seconds and on to a top speed of 187 mph in the GranTurismo MC Coupe, according to Maserati. 

Maserati GranTurismo coupe

The Execution

Our story begins in Italy, specifically Northern Italy, under the gaze of the towering Alps, or Alpes, as they call them there, with all their twisting, sguiggling mountain passes. I set off in a GranTurismo MC coupe because coupes always handle better than convertibles, and because the MC is sportier than the Sport model. Both the MC coupe and cabrio get their own front splitter, air extractors on the hood and fenders, side skirts, rear deck lid and rear end.

So off I went through Lombardy to celebrate the GranTurismo’s (the coupe) and GranCabrio’s (the convertible) new grille, headlight surround and, inside, the, uh, new clock.

“A GT is a car able to travel long distances fast but also in comfort,” said vehicle integration specialist Gian Luca Antinori.

“It’s not the fastest around the track, nor the most powerful but it represents perfectly the gran tourer,” said product planner Enrico Billi.

I kept all that in mind as I set out on the Northern Italian roads. While the front and rear clips of the car may have evolved, the four-wheel double-wishbone suspension did not. You can still get the patented Maserati Skyhook suspension, an automatic continuous damping control “to ensure comfort without penalizing performance,” standard on GT and GC sport version. The MC model I drove was, in theory, stiffer.

In addition to the new clock, the interior boasts a revised dash pad on the right, new rotary dial controller and a Harman Kardon sound system.

Along the gorgeous shores of Lago Iseo the Gran Turismo was perfectly comfortable, just as Billi had promised. You could own one of these and use it as your daily driver all year. You might not want to sit in that back seat, but it’s not really for humans anyway. Maybe if you had a pet monkey.