The New Maserati GranTurismo Is a Massive Improvement
By the time the last Maserati Gran Turismo departed from the market in 2019, it was clear it had overstayed its welcome. Despite great looks and a lovely Ferrari V-8, the car was dated. Maserati opted to take a few gap years to get its house in order, rather than selling an uncompetitive product that was looking odd in showrooms. The result is the redesigned 2024 Maserati GranTurismo. It’s a massive improvement, but that might not be enough.
The GT has always been a niche player. It sprung from a company that hadn’t hit its growth spurt yet. There was no mid-market Ghibli, no SUV, no connection to an American brand to aid expansion. The month after the GranTurismo was revealed in Geneva, Maserati announced its best-ever sales month in the United States: 242 units. Up from the previous record, 235. Both numbers are less than three hours’ worth of Ford F-Series sales. The company has grown since then, but by the time it was making the Levante and Ghibli the GranTurismo was already at its expiration date. The company doesn’t publish sales for individual models, but it would be shocking if the GT averaged more than 1000 units a year in its twilight era. Porsche, meanwhile, sells eight to ten thousand 911s in an average year.
That gives the 2024 GranTurismo plenty of ground to make up. Maserati isn't likely to challenge the 911 in sales, but an Italian luxury brand needs an almost attainable GT car in its line;. a flagship that won’t look embarrassing next to any Porsche. So the GT gets the twin-turbo “Nettuno” V-6 with pre-chamber ignition from the MC20 supercar, good for 483 hp in base trim ($175,995) or 542 hp in this “Trofeo” tester (base price $206,995). Want more? Then upgrade to a battery-electric GranTurismo “Folgore,” which has a 92.5 kWh battery and 800-volt architecture. They have our attention, though we haven’t sampled that version.
The Folgore only exists because Maserati has moved the GranTurismo to Stellantis’ Giorgio platform. Technically, it’s the “Giorgio Sport” evolution of the platform best known for underpinning the Alfa Romeo Giulia and Stelvio. But that does make this a distant cousin to the Jeep Grand Cherokee L. This is life in a 2023 mega-corporation.
The good news is that parts sharing isn’t obvious from the cockpit. The new interior looks fantastic, and feels, well, good enough. It won’t blow your mind or be a serious upgrade for the average BMW, Alfa, or Audi driver, but it’s no longer worst-in-class. Plus details like giant, metal paddle shifter, and drive-mode toggles on the steering wheel give it a sense of purpose.
Those drive modes are important, as the GranTurismo must be both comfortable and composed for long highway drives, and exciting when the road turns twisty. Maserati accomplishes this flexibility using standard air springs, standard all-wheel drive, and drive modes that truly transform the car. In comfort mode, the GranTurismo is a cushy, easy highway cruiser, with excellent seats and serious endurance. Drop it into sport, though, and the theater starts.
The Nettuno is happy to rev and eager to fire out loud pops and bangs. It surges to its redline on a wave of turbocharged torque–460 lb-ft, in this case–and is rewarding to wind all the way out. The soaring V-8 of the last GT was its key asset; that’s still true of the GranTurismo’s engine today. Despite being down a couple of cylinders, the Nettuo is as explosive, charming, and sweet-sounding as you’d expect from a $200,000 Maserati. It’s every bit as loveable here as it is in the mid-engine MC20.
But while the GT has that car’s engine, it doesn’t have its simplicity of purpose. The GT has to work as a highway cruiser, and that means it’s less sharp than its supercar stablemate. The air springs are still, well, air springs. Too pillowy to provide the flat cornering you might expect in a 542-hp Italian purebred. At least the eight-speed automatic is fast and smartly programmed, though you’ll want to use the paddles anyway. Get the shifts right and the MC20 will hit 60 in 3.3 seconds, thanks in part to its all-wheel-drive grip.
That is both quick, and not particularly quick these days. The steering is precise, but not feelsome. Its body motions are well controlled, but the roll is unavoidable, and the GranTurismo isn't “sharp.” It is not a car for pushing the absolute limit of any driver's ability or its grip. It is a car for a quick but easy canyon drive, where you focus on the sound from the engine rather than the vibrations from the steering wheel.
It’s a fair tradeoff. The GranTurismo isn’t a car that track rats or canyon regulars buy. Most of these will sit in traffic for most of their lives, or plod around Beverly Hills, and for that, the GT is quite nice. It’s got a plush interior and looks great, with a soft ride and a solid sound system.
Its infotainment and controls are the only downside. They are infuriating. The test car’s touch screen had a large dead spot where it took dozens of attempts or long holds to get my finger to register. That resulted in the un-fun experience of having a beautiful Sonos Faber audio system set to MAXIMUM, CHEST-SHAKING BASS mode, and though I could see the button to turn it down I couldn’t press it. The push button shifter was also inconsistent, sometimes requiring multiple attempts to get it to engage drive. Holding it down helped.
Niggles aside, I loved daily driving the GranTurismo. It was a solid commuter with enough theater and power to thrill me when the road opened up. It’s not the car I’d use to hunt down America’s best canyon roads, but it’s a car I’d happily take for a long trip to visit my Aunt, where I have to drive two hours on boring interstates and one hour on an amazing, California mountain pass.
That would be enough if this car was $130,000, or even $150,000. But $206,995 is a steep entrance fee, and that’s before options. If you want lane keeping, blind spot monitoring, adaptive cruise control w/stop and go, and all the other driver aids, it’s another $8300. What’s the Italian word for yowch. Because while this is a much improved, handsome, lovely car, I’m just not sure it’s worth forty grand more than a 911 GTS. Or the same money as a 911 Turbo. For those that do love the design, and are willing to pay more to be different, the 2024 GranTurismo will be a great option. For everyone else, though, “most improved” doesn’t mean “best option.”
You Might Also Like
