Car review
Chasing the sun in the Maserati GranCabrio
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Wind-in-hair cruising in the effortlessly stylish Maserati GranCabrio.
PHOTO: MASERATI
- The Maserati GranCabrio is a stylish grand tourer with a 490hp twin-turbo V6, offering a refined driving experience and a convertible roof that opens and closes at speeds up to 50km/h.
- Updated design features include a new front bumper, wider wheels, and a more elegant interior with improved gear selectors and digital displays, enhancing both aesthetics and functionality.
- Maserati plans to release two new large models soon and aims to expand its customisation options, though Singapore buyers face high taxes increasing the cost of personalised vehicles.
AI generated
TRIESTE, Italy – Much like a fine mechanical watch in an era of smartwatches, grand tourers like the Maserati GranTurismo and GranCabrio are irrational creations.
Yet when the roads are dominated by homogenous electric crossovers, they feel more essential than ever.
Proving that premise involved taking a 24-hour journey to get to Trieste, a port city in north-east Italy, for a day of driving into Slovenia.
The GranCabrio is the soft-top version of the GranTurismo. Developed alongside the coupe rather than being an afterthought, the convertible is supposed to drive identically, other than carrying an extra 100kg from the chassis reinforcements and related mechanisms, to give it the ability to offer infinite headroom.
So, while Maserati provided both models at the drive, it made sense to spend a bit more time with the convertible to understand the brand’s concept of a grand tourer.
It takes 14 seconds to open the roof and 16 seconds to put it back. The GranCabrio can do this at speeds up to 50kmh – useful if the weather changes in the middle of a drive.
It takes 14 seconds to get the GranCabrio into infinite headroom mode.
PHOTO: MASERATI
Grand tourers are cars made for long drives and road trips. Commercial air travel and high-speed rail may be able to cover distances much more efficiently, but such cars are about the romance of motoring, when the pleasure is very much about the journey itself.
It is advisable to travel light when taking a trip in the GranCabrio. The 171-litre boot is spacious enough for a couple of soft bags, but the capacity shrinks by 40 litres when the car is in al fresco mode, to make room for the fabric top. In contrast, the GranTurismo has 310 litres, with easy access that can load in a large luggage with space to spare.
The cars at this international test drive event are the updated versions of the generation launched in 2022. They should arrive in Singapore by 2027.
Design changes are quite easy to spot, most of them to do with the adoption of the brand’s new face, first seen on the MCXtrema, an extreme, track-only hypercar from 2023.
The bumper has a squarer profile, with more horizontal elements and large vents at the corner to feed air to the radiators. The wheels are wider and they sit closer to the edge of the arches, giving the car a sportier stance. The tail lamps have a frosted finish, instead of being coloured.
While the exterior design is supposedly more aggressive than before, there is still a distinct air of elegance about the car in both GranTurismo and GranCabrio forms.
Maserati said the updates were based on feedback from customer focus groups, although it was not clear what it learnt.
New shift keys are more intuitive to use than the old push buttons.
PHOTO: MASERATI
What is obvious is how the push button gear selector on the centre console in the 2022 version is gone.
In its place is a row of metallic tabs, arranged like keys on a church organ, with P on the left and D on the right. This is a classier-looking presentation than before, but it still requires the driver to cast a quick glance to know which tab to push.
More intuitive is how when the car is in reverse, a tug of the metallic shift paddle will move the transmission to D, which is a new feature. Perhaps the engineers could have gone further to enable the shift paddle to move the transmission out of P as well, just like it was in older Maseratis?
The steering wheel is also new, being flat at the top and the bottom, but remains as nice to grip as before.
The digital screens have updated graphics. The two touchscreens stacked on top of each other on the centre console are not big, but boast all the infotainment and connectivity features expected of a modern luxury car.
Perched on top of the dashboard is an octagon-shaped digital screen encased in a classy metallic bezel. This can be made to show the time or other information like the driving speed.
A squarer steering wheel, but the same stylish cabin.
PHOTO: MASERATI
What remains unchanged are the plush yet supportive seats, ideally suited for a grand tourer. As before, there is enough space to fit two adults at the back, with just enough legroom. The two-door format does mean that passengers have to be quite dexterous to climb into the back.
Under the long sculpted bonnet is a 3-litre, twin-turbo V6 engine tuned to make 490hp.
With traction from the all-wheel-drive system, the car in 1,985kg GranCabrio form gets to 100kmh from rest in four seconds – 0.1 seconds behind the GranTurismo, which weighs 100kg less.
There is no opportunity to verify the performance figures in Koper, Slovenia, as driving along the scenic route does not bring the GranCabrio anywhere near its claimed top speed of 300kmh.
The V6 twin-turbo engine does not have the same operatic voice of the naturally aspirated V8s found in pre-2022 Maseratis. It does have plenty of mid-range torque which makes daily motoring more effortless. In Sport mode, the throttle becomes sharper and the cabin is filled with a synthesised engine growl under hard acceleration. The default GT drive model feels more authentic and better suited to the car’s relaxed cruiser persona.
The air suspension has a new “Country” driving mode. Available for up to 120kmh, this raises ride height by 20mm. In Singapore’s context, that can also come in handy when tackling narrow carpark ramps with sharp road humps to avoid scratching the car’s belly.
Just as useful is how the driving mode dial on the steering wheel has a button to adjust the suspension setting. So, it is possible to be driving hard and fast in Sport mode, but keep the ride in a softer setting.
Dynamically, the GranCabrio is actually a shade less sharp than the fixed-roofed GranTurismo.
Keen drivers will be able to detect a hint of scuttle shake through the steering wheel. While its cabin is impressively quiet at urban speeds, wind noise begins to creep in when the car is going faster. In this regard, the GranTurismo coupe has an edge, as it stays cool and calm at any speed.
But minor structural flex and synthesised noises aside, the GranCabrio captures the romance of grand touring like few others, making the journey more compelling than the destination.
Overheard at Trieste
Based on the presentation given at the event, Maserati will unveil two new large models by the end of 2026 – one of them is likely a Porsche Cayenne rival.
Maserati is aiming to offer more customised cars through its Fuoriserie programme to encourage clients to opt for special colours and materials. So far, one out of four cars sold has some level of personalising.
But the cost of the customisations will be massively amplified for Singapore-bound cars because of the high taxes on vehicles here.
Maserati GranCabrio 490
Price: Over $898,000 before certificate of entitlement (COE) (estimated)
Engine: 2,992cc, twin-turbo, V6
Transmission: Eight-speed automatic with paddle shift
Power: 490hp at 6,500rpm
Torque: 600Nm at 2,500-5,500rpm
0-100kmh: Four seconds
Top speed: 300kmh
Fuel consumption: 10.6 litres/100km
Agent: Tridente Automobili
