If you’ve been perusing your latest issue of The Journal of Layngology and Orology – I’ve been a subscriber for years – you’ll have read the disturbing news that riding in a convertible at high speed, with the top down, can have an adverse effect on your hearing.
Excuse me, what was that?
The study, by a British ear, nose and throat surgeon, showed that in five soft-tops tested, driving at speeds over 55 mph produced a noise reading greater than 85 decibels. According to the good doctor, prolonged exposure to that level of noise could make you go deaf.
Let’s put that into a little perspective, normal conversation is usually around 60dB – unless it’s lunchtime at Panera Bread – while your average rock concert usually gets up to 120dB. Unless it’s Sarasota Café Racers’ own Brian Johnson of AC/DC, then it’s way off the scale.
Sadly, many of the best things in life are bad for you. Yes, I’m talking to you Mr. Krispy-Kreme! And part of the absolute, unfettered joy of driving Maserati’s breathtaking new GranTurismo Convertible is to drop the top and listen to the aural crescendo of its Ferrari-developed V8 as it screams to its 7,200-rpm redline.
If Pavarotti, Carreras and Domingo are best known as The Three Tenors, this Maserati could so easily qualify as the Fourth!
Press hard on the throttle and some invisible Gustav Mahler brings together the V8’s sixteen intake valves and two exhaust manifolds, and commands the active exhaust system to fully open its pipes. The result is a tsunami of timbre; a Hoover Dam of octaves that gets louder and louder, richer and richer till it hits that 7,200-rpm shriek.
After performing two zero-to-60mph off-the-line acceleration runs – it gets there in just 5.1 seconds – I had to go home and take a cold shower. And give my ears a rest.
The GranTurismo Convertible is the drop-top version of Maserati’s elegant two-door GT Coupe. Its tremendous appeal is that it’s a full four-seat convertible with unrivaled, stretch-out rear legroom.
The original plan was for the car to have a folding hardtop. But the idea was quickly jettisoned as its designers realized the car’s gorgeous proportions would be compromised in having to store a hefty lump of folding metal in the rear.
Now when you press a button, the triple-layer cloth top powers open in a mere 28 seconds. And you can lower the roof either at speeds up to 19 mph, or while parked with a turn of the key in the door.
But those same designers who opted for a cloth top to protect the car’s beauty, also opted not to fit a trunk to the car. Open the trunk lid and the space is tiny – a mere 6.1 cubic feet. Some cars have a bigger glove box. For a car that labels itself as a GranTurismo, or Grand Tourer, it’s ridiculous.
But to drive this new $140,000 Maserati is to forgive it all sins. Its 4.7-liter 32-valve V8 delivers a muscular 433 horsepower that drives the rear wheels through a smooth-changing six-speed auto controlled by swift-acting paddle-shifters.
It’s not blisteringly fast like a 510-horse Jaguar XKR. But a quick pullback on one of the paddles and you can spear past slower traffic as if released from some invisible catapult. Rushing from 50 mph to 75 mph takes just 4.2 seconds.
Normally, when you slice the top off a car with an enormous 116-inch wheelbase – that’s almost eight inches longer than a Bentley Continental GTC’s – body rigidity turns to Jell-O. But by adding massive strengthening to the GranTurismo’s chassis, Maserati’s engineers have created a convertible with the stiffest body in its class.
So even over the most achnied road surfaces, there’s no shimmy or shake, just the feeling of tremendous rigidity. And rigidity helps deliver sharp and communicative steering and truly agile and balanced handling. Top down, sun on your face, and that exhaust heavy-breathing in the background, this Maserati is an absolute joy to drive
And arguably, there’s no more exquisite place to sit and enjoy the drive. The GranTurismo’s cabin is Italian craftsmanship at its finest. The wood, the leather, the gorgeous stitching, the deep-pile carpeting. Just magnificent.
So go on and throw caution to the wind. If you’re going to risk inner ear meltdown, risk it in this Italian masterpiece. Whatever you do, don’t wear earplugs!
For more information about Maserati’s 2011 model lineup and competition activities, please visit, http://www.maserati.com/