2013 Maserati GranTurismo Sport Reviews and news

Maserati Inc. - Maserati is beginning to act its age. Sales, build quality, and reliability have been on a steady ascent since the maker introduced the current Quattroporte in 2003.

The previous decades saw Maserati lead an existence typified by exotic exteriors wrapped around temperamental hardware. To help keep the GT’s momentum, Maserati brought the coupe and convertible in for a quick makeover before the Levante SUV and sub-Quattroporte Ghibli sedan arrive next year and steal all the headlines.

Changes to the 2013 GranTurismo Sport editions run from cosmetic touches to horsepower-increasing engine mods. First, let’s cover the aesthetics. The front fascia has been slightly tweaked for a more aggressive appearance, and a splitter resides below the familiar Maserati grille. Although 

the basic shape of the headlamps remains unchanged, they now include bixenon illumination, LED DRLs, and adaptive lighting control, the latter tracking the movement of the steering wheel up to 15 degrees. Side skirts come standard on the Sport, as do enlarged fender vents—referring to them as portholes makes Maserati reps bristle—to aid in the extraction of hot air from the engine bay. New mirrors, 20-inch wheels (available in four styles), and more darkly tinted taillight lenses round out the exterior revisions.

The big news inside includes entirely new leather seats with integrated headrests front and rear, a pricey proposition—crash-test certifications don’t come cheap—for a car well into its life cycle. The new seat’s bolsters deliver comfort and support in equal measure, cradling but not constricting skeletal frames with the welcome familiarity of a favorite pair of jeans. Rear-seat passengers get a nominal three-quarters of an inch or so extra kneeroom in the switch. There’s no missing the shiny, high-grip aluminum brake and accelerator pedals, though.

Standard technology features sprinkled throughout the leather-lined cockpit include a Bose sound system with satellite radio, iPod connectivity, and a parking warning system specifically tuned for the types of curbs found here in the States. 

Surprisingly, no backup camera is available yet; Maserati says its arrival is held up by an integration problem with the in-dash head unit. Options on the coupe and convertible Masers we sampled in Sonoma, California, included a faux-suede headliner ($1700), red contrasting seat stitching ($450), trident-logo headrest stitching ($625), piano black interior trim ($2500), blue anodized brake calipers ($860), and gray paint for the 20-inch aluminum wheels ($800).

Like many vehicles that debuted as coupes, the GranTurismo convertible’s design can be somewhat polarizing, opinions formed largely on your vantage point. From the outside, the convertible sits naked and vulnerable with its top down, the loss of the coupe’s elegant rear pillar and backlight lessening the drama of the vehicle’s curves, particularly the rear fenders. The GranTurismo was never a class leader in torsional rigidity, and cutting the lid off its steel monocoque doesn’t improve matters. Wrap your hands around the new flat-bottomed steering wheel and twist the key—no pushbutton starter here—and the 4.7-liter V-8 burbles to life with a newfound soundtrack.

Now sporting 453 hp and 384 lb-ft of torque (versus 444 hp and 376 lb-ft in the 2012 Sport), the engine features redesigned pistons, revised engine mapping, and a radical advancement of the ignition timing—all springing from the desk of Paolo Martinelli, powertrain director for Maserati. Formula 1 die-hards might recognize Martinelli’s name from his decades spent as the head of the Scuderia Ferrari engine program, and Maserati assures us his title is more than honorary; the engineer most definitely got his hands dirty overseeing the engine revisions.

Pick a Mode

With handling aided by a claimed weight distribution of 49 percent front and 51 percent rear, we had a ball piloting the cars through some tight and twisting California back roads, running the standard, ZF-built six-speed “MC Auto Shift” transmission through its gears via the column-mounted paddles. Full Sport mode (accessed via a button on the console) not only reroutes the exhaust to produce a richer, more enthusiastic tone and enables automatic throttle blips on downshifts but also allows the driver to hold a gear indefinitely—a trifecta of parameters that extract the finest operatic performance this powertrain is capable of producing.

The Sport mode firms up the adaptive suspension by 10 percent, but we’d be lying if we said we noticed much of a difference in turn-in behavior or body motions; it did, however, seem to amplify road imperfections. The steering is nicely weighted and direct, the control-arm suspension working to maintain tire contact and keep the message from the helm undiluted. Braking is consistent and progressive, the Brembo six-piston calipers hauling either car down from speed confidently.

Push the console button once again to return to Standard mode, though, and its (slightly) softer side returns to the fore, with a more muted exhaust, softer ride quality, and less-aggressive shifts.

Whatever your preferred chassis setting, though, the GranTurismo keeps its true GT mission in mind; Maserati makes no secret of the fact that it wants the car to deliver a well-balanced, comfortable driving experience that keeps a little something in reserve, it says, for “when you put the stick to it.

” If you’re willing to trade creature comforts for a few 10ths or additional lateral g-forces, there are plenty of $125,000-plus cars that fill the bill. But if you’re the type who takes as much pleasure in perusing the label on a wine bottle as you do drinking the liquid inside, Maserati has a GranTurismo with your name on it.

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