When we talk about Italian cars, what cars come to your mind?? More precisely which brands come to your mind first?? Ferrari, Lamborghini maybe Alfa Romeo sometimes but there is a brand in Italy that makes some of the best cars on the planet and still doesn’t gets enough recognition with its cars. People are so busy with Ferrari and Lamborghini that sometimes it feels like the world has forgotten about this company, sure they may not be the best in class but they make cars good enough to receive applause from the world. The company I am talking about is none other than Maserati, yes some of you may have heard of the brand, some of you may have not but today I am going to talk about one of their cars that’s probably better than a Ferrari, yes a Maserati that’s better than a Ferrari, it has happened in the past with the Enzo and now with the 488. Maserati is a brand that very well knows about how to blend in an Italian roaring engine like Ferrari with the beauty of an Aston Martin. The car in the spotlight today is the Maserati GranTurismo MC Stradale, this is a car that not a lot of people are familiar with so let’s take a look at this Italian Masterpiece.
Design:-
Now the GranTurismo might be an old car, Maserati Launched it in 2007 but even after all these years the car manages to look fresh, the lines on the car are still relevant. It’s a thing of beauty, it’s not a car that you might see today and forget it by tomorrow, the GranTurismo is here to stay with its timeless design Language. Starting from the front, with the aggressive supercar stance, going smoothly over the doors, forming the shape of a coupe and then moving on to the rear, the wide wheel arches, housing those massive tires, to the very end of the car, where you are greeted by some good looking taillights and Quad rear exhausts that scream Performance. The Spoiler in the rear has been beautifully blended in the rear of the car to provide both beauty and functionality. The Car has been beautifully shaped like a Shark In the ocean, that’s how I would like to compliment the design of this car. The Maserati Trident as you may notice is all over the car, even in the wheels of the car. Another compliment that I look to give is that If James bond drove a car from Italy, it won’t be a Ferrari or Lamborghini, and it would be a Maserati. Let’s have a look at what this Italian Beauty carries under the hood.
Engine and Performance:-
The MC Stradale as it might look like isn’t a GT car to just comfortably cruise along, though it can do that, the purpose for its development is different. This is a mad car, the one to be driven madly. It has a 4.7 Litre V8 Engine with 454 Brake Horsepower and 384 Pound ft. of torque, certainly not less, certainly not huge, but enough to scare you inside out. Acceleration is pretty good at just 4.5 seconds to reach 60 Mph, and its top speed is just shy of 190 Mph, yes read it right, 190 Mph, the same as a 573 Horsepower Acura NSX. Told you, there is some great engineering going on with this car. But all this performance isn’t just because of the engine alone, there is a lot of aero trickery going on with this car. The side skirts, the spoiler at the back, the front splitter, and the hood vents as you might have noticed. The Bonnet is made of Carbon fiber, the larger vent in the center feeds in cold air to the engine to cool it down and the other two get rid of the pressure and the excess heat that builds up inside the engine. The MC Stradale is also 110 Kgs lighter than the standard GranTurismo, the MC Stradale is also very much racing-inspired, especially in the exhausts at the back, they remind me of Maserati’s Trofeo racing cars. The Original MC Stradale hadn’t had any back seats, this one does and since it’s inspired from Ultimately a GT car, it can be used as one in auto mode, but for full enjoyment and to hear the exhaust at its best, you have to put it in race mode. It sounds like a Proper V8 Monster.
Interior:-
Now, there isn’t much to talk about in the interior, it’s not a car that’s supposed to have the best interior of all. Moreover, the interior has aged very well, but you shouldn’t care as a driver as you are enclosed in a Bubble of timeless beauty. The Steering wheel is quite gimmicky with all those buttons over it. You have the option of driving the car in three modes, namely Auto, sports and race. The best is the Race mode. Practicality isn’t a thing to talk about in this car, but you can use the boot on the rear for putting in some groceries. The back isn’t the worst but they aren’t the very best either, so probably leave them for children to sit. Even though the MC Stradale is shaped like a Coupe, the headroom and the space for the driver and the co-passenger is pretty good. The Ac Vents, work fine. The infotainment is good for the time it has gone through. The Instrument cluster has been laid down perfectly, numbers are clearly visible and the Driver is always focused upon the road.
Conclusion:-
The MC Stradale is a luxurious, powerful, and elegant car. It’s not made for normal people, it’s made for people who want to stand out and not be obnoxious about it. Maserati has been producing great road cars and race cars since it was founded in 1914 and with the future concepts the company is proposing they only seem to have some great cars in the future.
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Photo by strasse wheels on flicker