The Maserati GranTurismo is a muscular and sporty car, that can be enjoyed every day and at the same time is engaging for the driver. Its excellent handling and sportiveness makes it a point of reference in its category. The Maserati GranTurismo is built with particular attention to comfort, choice of materials and details and with enough room for four people, as only Maserati can do.
The new Maserati GranTurismo is a high-performance sports car, exciting to drive with a 4.2 liter V8 engine, delivering 405 HP, and a weight distribution of 49% at the front and 51% at the rear. It is fitted with an automatic gearbox and equipped with an adaptive control system which adjusts the gear-shifting mode to the driving style and the driving conditions.
Maserati’s tradition of the Gran Turismo concept dates back to 1947 when the Trident Company, following its clients’ demand, unveiled at the Geneva Motorshow its first Gran Turismo, the A6, designed by the great Pinin Farina. It was the first Maserati road car and was produced in 58 units. The car was acclaimed by the automotive press for its advanced technical content and for its avant-garde style solutions.
The new model name – Maserati GranTurismo – is not incidental. Once again, the partnership between Maserati and Pininfarina gives birth to a car that is able to generate emotions and sets itself apart from competitors, due to the technique with which it is built and its unique style.
The new Maserati GranTurismo represents a further step towards the completion of the Trident product range, following the worldwide launch of the Quattroporte Automatic at the 2007 North American International Auto Show in Detroit.
2008 Maserati GranTurismo S
The GranTurismo S was recently unveiled at the Geneva Motor Show. The vehicle features a compact and lightweight 4.7 liter V8 engine which has a maximum power output of 440 HP at 7,000 rpm and peak torque of 490 Nm at 4,750 rpm. The electro-actuated 6-speed gearbox has an MC-Shift software which harnesses the new engine’s power output. The car can accelerate from 0 to 100 Km/h in 4.9 seconds and has a maximum speed of 295 Km/h, the fastest ever reached by a production Maserati.
Gran Turismo is Italian for Grand Touring or “Grand Tourisme.” in reference to the Grand Tour. The GT naming tradition comes from Italy, eg. Maserati, Alfa Romeo and Ferrari named often their cars as Gran Turismo. 1951 Lancia Aurelia B20 GT was also one of the first cars to have such name.
The GT term has many variations like GTI, meaning Gran Turismo Iniezione (Grand Touring Injection), first used on 1961 Maserati 3500 GTI. Other variations of GT are GTE or GT/E (Einspritzung, a German word for injection) used in Germany, GTO (Gran Turismo Omologato) meaning homolagated car for racing (used by Ferrari and Pontiac), GTA (Gran Turismo Alleggerita) meaning lightened GT car, GTAm (modified lightened car) and GTV (Gran Turismo Veloce) meaning a fast GT car.
Today the term grand tourer or Gran Turismo is used to describe long distance or endurance races like 24 Hours of Le Mans, Mille Miglia, Targa Florio, Carrera Panamericana and the high-powered sports cars