2002-2007 Maserati Coupé and GranSport

Yea or nay? Let’s hear your thoughts, opinions, and (to the extent available) from your personal experiences.

The earlier Coupé was available with a row-your-own gearbox but the latter (and by all accounts improved) GranSport only with paddle shifters it seems.

~ by velofinds on May 31, 2013.

Posted in Moving images, Still images, What would you buy
Tags: , , ,

16 Responses to “2002-2007 Maserati Coupé and GranSport”

  1. Yay. For sure yay. That sound!

    Mike said this on May 31, 2013 at 1:15 am

  2. Big Yey!! Crappy car but just so many things going for it aaand they’re cheep to buy (but not to run) compared to it’s competitors. Wonder if this will start going up in value anytime soon ….

    Oti said this on May 31, 2013 at 1:22 am

  3. Hell yes!! I think this is a really cool car, but I like the early models with the “boomerang” taillights best. It is probably a blast to drive, both comfy and sporty. And plenty of power. But I’m not sure about the build quality, probably expencive to own, like an old Ferrari.

    totalporsche said this on May 31, 2013 at 5:08 am

  4. Perhaps the situation on your side of the Atlantic is slightly different, but over here, depreciation of these cars has been shocking in the last few years. And given the number available second hand, they’re likely to remain cheap for a good while.

    So, does that make them a bargain, I wouldn’t be so sure?

    The fact Ferrari was already fairly involved should, by all accounts, have made them considerably better cars than the ones Maserati had been producing in the 80’s and 90’s. There had already been much improvment made to the late-model Biturbo (Ghibli II) as a result of the change in management. That’s for the upside.

    The downside, and this is true to many cars of that generation, is the extensive use of electronics to drive pretty much everything. And unfortunately, CAN-BUS in those days proved to be rubbish however expensive the car was (remember how the E-Class suddenly dropped in everyone’s esteem in the early 00’s).

    Oh, and you most certainly want to stay away from any flappy paddle gearbox of those days that isn’t a DSG. I used a Selespeed for a few years on an Alfa, it was in no way in improvment over a manual. It was no better most of the time, and a lot worse when driving in town, parking, or trying to drop that cog at just the right moment. The Maserati uses just the same sort of device : a bunch of actuators hooked up to your everyday single clutch gearbox, driven by a pretty slow and stupid management system. In fact, I’m pretty sure they were almost all made by Magnetti Marelli, so I would definitely expect a similar experience. Of course, if it goes wrong, the car will remain stuck in gear (that’s always fun) and none of the actuation modules can really be reconditionned.

    To be honest, if I were to spend that sort of money on a Maserati, I would consider a ’94 Ghibli II. The can look clumsy on photos, but in the flesh they look just as brutal as they are behind the wheel.

    Alasdair said this on May 31, 2013 at 6:44 am

  5. The Grand Sport is not exactly cheap to buy and it’s a magnificent machine. I love the beautiful interior, I think the automated manual suits the car and the details like the mesh grille, the wheels and the little front spoiler make the car.
    The profile is better on the 3200, but this Grand Sport is wonderful!

    Hugo Reis said this on May 31, 2013 at 10:10 am

  6. I briefly considered one of these before settling on my Z4 coupe. I was scared off by the gearbox and maintenance costs, but looking back at it, maybe I shouldn’t have been. The maintenance on a Z4 M isn’t exactly a bargain (thousand bucks for brake rotors anyone?) but I like having a third pedal to keep me company. I don’t have any great dislike for single clutch flappy paddle gearboxes. My ideal setup is actually a sequential gearbox, albeit with an actual clutch pedal and all mechanical linkage in place of feeble electro-hydraulic actuators. Anyway, the salesman said something about a 10 grand clutch replacement every 15k miles, and my interest quickly shifted back to Lotus Elises, and the yoga classes I’d have to take before buying one.

    I figured I’d look too bad in yoga pants, thus the Z4.

    Cactus said this on May 31, 2013 at 10:48 am

    • You win with this comment.

      Interesting that you cross-shopped one of these and an Elise. Can’t say I saw that coming.

      motoringconbrio said this on May 31, 2013 at 1:38 pm

      • I’m not your average car buyer (I’m waiting on delivery of an MGB with a 12a rotary in it). At the time I wanted a “track car.” Looking back, I’m an idiot, because I should have just bought a SCCA logbooked GTA car and produced quicker laptimes for less money.

        But hey, no regrets.

        Except that the trunk in a Z4 coupe is a lot smaller than in a Z3 coupe, but other than that no regrets.

        Cactus said this on May 31, 2013 at 6:37 pm

  7. The Gransport is one of my favorites gts. For my taste, fixed rear lights of the 3200. Beatiful body and great sound..

    Alex ITF said this on June 2, 2013 at 6:23 am

  8. The paddleshift gearbox in the 4200 is slow, hard to repair, and overall is a bad experience, build quality is quite ok, and the car is not that expensive to run if you go for a manual gearbox. 3200GT boomerang assembly quality and materials are quite ugly, the auto gearbox is slow as hell, overall the electrics are a pain in both 3200 and 4200 (M128) if you don‘t have someone who knows how to get around the cars. The Gransport is a 4200 superlative, with very high running costs, closer to a Ferrari, I would avoid even though it is the prettiest one.

    Michal W said this on June 8, 2013 at 4:44 pm

  9. mmm…i used to work with Maserati cars for the last 9 years,so i went through all of those,and,in a way,the Gransport,was my favourite,a real great machine!
    Masterpiece Ferrari Engine(with absolutely no faults if manteined properly),good and relatively fast gearbox,exellent handling,fantastic craftmans interiors,really fantastic specific sportseats,and a way to drive,like a perfect suite in your hands,almost everywhere.
    The changes,between old coupè cambiocorsa,and those,were minimal at a first sight,but putted in a row,on the same car,they actually did a miracle!
    Cons were,for sure,clutch(never seen one lasting more than 50k kms…), running costs( about 4/5 km x liter as usual…at every speed!! clutch was good normally for 30000kms,tyres were destroyed in 10/12000 kms of normal use etc..),very sensible about kind of tyres you choose(only with specific Pzero Rosso the car was perfect),and some other little things here and there,but overall,that car was excellent!
    The problem to sell it,was that it suffered from bad reputation of the Coupè Cambiocorsa(the rarest Manuale version was really better,because of good standard transaxle gearbox,instead of a primitive paddleshifter disaster…),that,in first examples,was a real nightmare for customers worldwide…slightly worse than earlier”boomeranged” 3200GT,that was all brute force,and no good manners.

    So,Yay for the Gransport, especially if Gransport Spyder,or 90th Maserati Special Edition.

    Tanodamorire said this on September 9, 2013 at 10:57 am

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