Thanks for all the compliments!!! Appreciate them all. Here's what I wrote on an "other" site:
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First of all, big kudos and thanks goes out to Ferrari Maserati of Seattle, and Robin Hayde there. These guys are outstanding professionals, complete pistonheads passionate about their marques and wonderful to deal with. The dealership, and their strong commitment to their customers and their products was one overwhelming factor in the decision to add a Maserati.

OK, so driving impressions.

The sound is fantastic. The car starts with a blurble, splutter and growl that only Italian V8s seem to master. I can completely understand people that want to put on a Tubi or Capristo, or anything to turn up the volume a little. It is a muted sound, suitable for a GT, and is never obnoxious or harsh, but it does sound glorious at full roar.

The chassis is amazingly capable, and confidence-inspiring. Taking a sharp right-hander at speed; the car just took a set, dug down, and stuck -- no drama, no squealing, it just did it's thing without any fuss.

Coming over I90 bridge the tires (20") make quite a bit more noise than I'm used to, and it communicated all the imperfections in the road surface the entire time. Some like that conveyance of information from road to driver, some may think that the driver should be a little more insulated in a GT style car.

The starring role for this car goes to the transmission though. Yes, it upstages the Ferrari designed V8 -- some feat. I've been used to the 7-speed auto in the E63, that is frustrating and annoying, and easy to upset just by looking at it the wrong way. The GT's auto, just does absolutely everything perfectly. Full throttle 7,500rpm upshifts are done so smoothly and quickly, that really your only clue that a ratio-change has occurred is in the engine note/rpm gauge. Down shifts under hard braking are equally smooth and non-intrusive, with the rev-matching done perfectly. "Around town" style of driving, the transmission simply "disappears" and does it's job. Kickdown, will drop down a cog if you squeeze the throttle, or maybe a couple of cogs if you really get on it -- and it's done almost in anticipation before you know that you need it (does the "mind-reading" exist in the firmware somewhere ??). Get on the gas hard, wait for an upshift and then back off the gas completely (the type of scenario to cause the E63 to have a fit) -- the GT just takes it in its stride; no driveline nastiness -- just smooth adaptation to the changing conditions. Put it in manual mode and use the paddles, and the speed with which inputs are processed will astonish you. Sure, it's not Ferrari F1 fast, or harsh, but it's not far off in speed -- and it's always done smoothly. Having lived with the E63 auto for over a year, the GT has showed how an automatic transmission "should be". It's truly fantastic.

Power from the engine is "enough". It's much more usable though. Plowing full-throttle on the E63 just starts an argument between engine and traction control as tires scrabble for grip (even at 70mph). With the E63, poking the throttle for a passing maneuver seems to take an eternity for a kickdown, so you poke harder, then the kickdown occurs and its "too much" then the traction control backs off the power -- it's just one frustrating experience. With the GT you might have to put the throttle down a little further (because of the 100hp deficit) but it just goes about the business with aplomb.

OK, the bad. It's all related to ergonomics -- the MB is the "Apple" of design here, everything is quick, intuitive and an ergonomic masterpiece. The Maserati is the "Linux" mish-mash of ideas, some good some appalling. The seat-heater controls for example, are on the door-side of the seat -- hard to reach/find and then impossible to see what setting you're on. The DVD nav system, whilst greatly improved over previous Maseratis, is awkward to use. There's no Sirius radio, no option for radar-assisted cruise control, no keyless operation.
The C-pillars are enormous and obstruct visibility -- changing lanes tests your faith.
The seats are supportive, but overly firm, and I have a tough time finding the "just right" position.
Steering seems overly weighted at low speeds.

Build-quality, fit/finish and QA are of the highest standard.

 

paul,

do you still have the ferrari? or did you sell it???

you have quite a stable! it's been nice having you out to our 6speed meets! hope to see you more this spring/summer! you and todd will have to enjoy a drive together! we'll get ray out one of these times!

 

430 has not been cut from the roster In fact she came out to play this last Sunday, topless I might add, for a wee romp through the countryside whilst the sun was shining...