The very limited production GranTurismo S
Maserati Monthly uncorks a 4.7l super-performance vintage

More:

- Maserati win again at Spa! - Introducing our limited production GranTurismo S - Quattroporte Bites "Snake"

What can one say after driving the 2009 GranTurismo S? Not an awful lot: there's really too much giggling and catching of breath.  It is tempting to say "The GranTurismo S is the best grand touring sports car in the world", and leave it at that.  It is probably true, but readers and editors tend to want more.  So do those who hear the car's unbelievable exhaust note.  In Sport mode, the new 4.7 liter V8 produces both 433bhp and the exhaust note for which car enthusiasts have longed since Carrol Shelby stopped building Cobra Daytona Coupes.  You simply need to hear this car to believe this racy, rorty, burbly, crackling soundtrack, and by itself this is good enough reason to reacquaint yourself with your authorized Maserati dealer.  It is the reason for 50% of all happy giggling emanating from the driver's seat of the new S. 

That means there's another half to the story, and it's a corker: 361 lb-ft of torque means every  maneuver the driver initiates with their right foot is effortless, because that rush of torque is available throughout almost all of the range, and the engine sings happily to its redline with no hint of strain or breathlessness.  The new MC-Shift gearbox allows smooth gear changes in as little as 100 milliseconds from the moment the driver pulls back on the long sculpted paddles.  While it does not employ a dual clutch, this electronically assisted manual system is able to mimic the best aspects of that technology without succumbing to its relative lack of feedback.  Like the 4.7 liter V8, the new gearbox is derived from the latest Ferrari technology.  They are superbly complemented and controlled by the new single-action damping suspension, superbly tuned for performance and ultimate grip in spirited driving - and in the GranTurismo S you will probably forget there is any other way to drive. Some impromptu testing quickly revealed that the S grips a road comprised of off-camber switchbacks with tenacity, under full throttle.  Exclusive dual-cast braking technology, developed with Brembo and first seen on the Quattroporte Sport GT S, is deployed in the GranTurismo S, because controlled stopping power is as important as explosive acceleration (under 5 seconds to 60 mph - how far under is to some extent up to the driver.)

Of course, it would hardly be a Maserati if a degree of subtlety and a surfeit of luxury were not seamlessly integrated.  The sinfully sinuous lines of the GranTurismo are only slightly modified and extended in the S, and the cabin can still be specified in anything from functional luxury to genuine opulence, but there are now more trim choices, and the class-leading entertainment and navigation system sports improvements for 2009.  The greatest subtlety tool is the Sport button's 'off' setting, which can be employed to muffle the exuberance of the exhaust and allow the S to masquerade as its ultra-refined automatic 4.2l brother. 

Maserati Monthly has already been fortunate enough to have the GranTurismo S for some long term testing, and a few laps at the track in professional hands, and drawn the admiring eye of a few Ferrari owners near our HQ, so you will be able to read more here about this extraordinary coupe in upcoming issues.  Suffice to say for the moment that it is not a car for everyone.  Its emphasis is on performance and supreme driver engagement, a perfect complement to the 4.2 liter GranTurismo automatic, but by no means a replacement for it.  In recognition of this, Maserati will be producing the GranTurismo S in very limited numbers for only  the 2009 model year.