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Yahoo
04-03-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
First Drive: The Maserati GT2 Stradale Is a Muscular Performer That Could Use More Visceral Punch
The Maserati GT2 Stradale has a freak flag to fly. Its rear wing—traced with 'Maserati' script—is large enough to float a Wright brother and announces the car's descent from the marque's championship-winning racer from the GT2 European Series. Flap the butterfly doors, cozy into a cocoon of Sabelt racing seats, and let your eyes settle on an exposed carbon-fiber tub: No carpet here to absorb sound or cushion feet. This Maserati aims to blur the lines between track and street, and the scenery along with it. The marque's MC20, which was the Robb Report editorial team's pick for 2023 Car of the Year (though it finished third overall in the annual contest) provides the blank canvas for this new Modenese machine. Considered by some as a six-cylinder underdog in the supercar category, the MC20 is unreservedly handsome, with a gentleman's touch born of the Trident brand's long association with grand tourers. More from Robb Report This Maserati MC20 Just Became the World's Fastest Autonomous Car Richard Branson Is Growing His Empire of Ultra-Exclusive Properties-Just Don't Call Them 'Luxury' This Long-Ignored Spanish Grape Is Now Producing Stellar, Age-Worthy White Wines The reengineered GT2 Stradale, though, raises its sights, seeking entree to an exclusive club that might be called 'Supercar Plus.' Think Ferrari's 458 Speciale or 812 Competizione models, Lamborghini's lurid Huracán STO, McLaren's 750S, or Porsche's 911 GT3 RS. But while this Maserati can certainly fly, it doesn't quite make the leap to those visceral heights. The GT2 Stradale recently shimmied its broad hips for me in Andalusia, Spain, departing from the shores of Marbella on a jaunt that included a twirl through 3.4 miles and 26 corners of the Circuito Ascari race resort. Even under a battalion's worth of aero-enhancing body armor, the Maserati's sinuous styling shines through, courtesy of designer Klaus Busse, who tells us that the car 'has the right elements to be aggressive, without going over the line.'Those elements, in the form of darkened slats, vents, and protrusions, are all functional business. Mounted on aluminum pylons, the vast rear wing glues the Maserati to the pavement with up to 583 pounds of downforce, and manually adjusts through three angles of attack. Then there's the broadened oval 'shark mouth,' fronted by a Trident badge, that admits more air and directs it through hood vents to generate nearly 300 pounds of front downforce. Vents atop front fenders expel brake heat and relieve wheel pressure. Enlarged carbon-fiber 'cupolas' atop rear fenders inhale air to feed the mid-mounted engine and radiators, boosting the flow of cold air by 16 percent. A chunkier rear diffuser also helps keep the Maser on the straight-and-narrow at extreme speeds. The GT2 Stradale sheds 132 pounds versus the MC20, for a (highly optimistic) claimed dry weight of 3,023 pounds. Those dramatic, double-shell carbon seats save 22 pounds each, with less-extreme Sport seats available. Center-lock, 20-inch forged wheels and carbon-ceramic brakes help ditch more weight. LED shift lights trace the upper rim of a thickened steering wheel. (More of this, Maserati). Beyond the lack of carpeting, the interior is strikingly minimal and features thinner Alcantara wrappings. Ensconced in those wraparound seats, I ease the Maserati toward Ronda, its '1 of 914' console plaque an assurance of exclusivity, and an apparent nod to the company's creation in 1914. The GT2 Stradale generates 631 hp from the twin-turbo Nettuno V-6, up nominally from 621 hp in the MC20 and open-air MC20 Cielo. That's lusty output for a mere 3.0-liter engine, literally sparked by the Nettuno's calling card: pre-ignition chambers atop each cylinder that set off an initial charge of fuel and air, which jet into cylinders like little flamethrowers for more efficient and thorough combustion. That fiery sextet sends power to the rear wheels via the same eight-speed, dual-clutch Tremec automated gearbox you'll find in a C8 Corvette. Maserati cites a zero-to-60 mph time of 2.8 seconds, and a top speed of 201 mph. Time to try it out: On a winding hillside route, I squeeze the throttle along a straight, then crank through a few dozen curves, enough to appreciate the serene chassis and lavish grip from optional Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2 tires. But 20 minutes in, there's already some ambivalence: The Maserati feels fast, but not brain-meltingly fast. Steering is agile and well-weighted, though a touch shy on road feedback. Despite having stiffer springs versus the MC20, the car offers a ride quality that remains pleasingly supple through retuned Bilstein adaptive dampers, even in sportier drive modes. The suspension, to Maserati's credit, can be adjusted— through three firmness settings—independently of other performance parameters. The transmission proves less flexible: Set to the highest Corsa mode, its kidney-punching gear changes are so obtrusive that I immediately dial things back to 'Sport.' Those sweet, sticky Michelin Cup 2's are part of an optional, $13,750 Performance Pack. That package upsizes carbon-ceramic brakes at all four wheels, adds an electronic limited-slip differential, and offers four sub-settings within Corsa mode to steadily ease back on stability and traction oversight. Oversight became an issue at Ascari, an unusually lush and scenic circuit where I sought a deeper glimpse into the GT2 Stradale's racier soul. For its part, Maserati says the GT2 trimmed five seconds from the MC20's lap time at Stellantis' Balocco test track in Italy. Our shotgun-riding instructors kept us on somewhat short leashes in Spain, but I managed to squeeze in enough laps to get a sense of the Maserati's power and personality. Even at speeds where the Maserati's prodigious downforce isn't on display, a sense of balance is among the clearest takeaways. Drivers can lean hard on front tires during corner exits, and the rear end plays right along, with nary a hint of unwanted surprises. That confidence helps the GT2 Stradale bend into Ascari's faster corners with graceful, approachable ease. I've never much cared for the MC20's brake feel, and despite the GT2's added stopping power, that hasn't changed: There's too much pedal travel before serious deceleration kicks in, and the pedal itself could be more sensitive to small pressure changes. With its petite displacement and no hybrid-electric assist, the twin-turbo Nettuno saves its best punch for mid-to-upper rev ranges, including a generous 531 ft lbs of torque between 3,000 and 5,500 rpm. Peak output arrives at 7,500 rpm. But a bit like McLaren's first V-8 in its early 12C road car— whose uninspired blat recalled that of a marine engine—the Nettuno has never been an especially tuneful motor. Where the convertible MC20 Cielo adds aural diversion via whooshing turbo accompaniment, the closed-roof, largely uninsulated GT2 amplifies the Nettuno's most-monochrome, boomy frequencies. It's just not the soundtrack I prefer in my supercar, especially having come straight from the Beethoven-like majesty of the GT3 engine in the Porsche 718 Spyder RS. Gliding back to Marbella, I have time to consider the supercar universe, and where this $313,995 Maserati—a roughly $80,000 upcharge over a standard MC20—fits in the firmament. In, say, a Ferrari 296 GTB, I'm forever marveling at how its F1-derived systems deliver such all-encompassing performance, but in a holistic, transparent way. In the McLaren 750S, I feel as if I'm transported, Star Trek–style, into an adjacent galaxy. And that's the thing. Supercars in this elevated category are supposed to feel transformative and scarcely believable, from the moment you hop aboard to the moment you reemerge. The GT2 Stradale has the racy looks down pat, and some of the moves, but it never left my hands quivering or my head reeling. It's still too much the gentleman for of Robb Report The 2024 Chevy C8 Corvette: Everything We Know About the Powerful Mid-Engine Beast The World's Best Superyacht Shipyards The ABCs of Chartering a Yacht Click here to read the full article.
Yahoo
26-02-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
Maserati GT2 Stradale: Race-Car-Inspired Special Could Be Racier
Maserati might be thought of more as a luxury brand than a racing brand today, but for many, many years it built dedicated race cars, even competing in Formula 1 in the 1950s—its rivalry with Enzo Ferrari set up the first act in Michael Mann's Ferrari. And the 111-year-old company isn't completely done racing. It builds and sells GT2 race cars based on the MC20 for the GT2 European Series, and to celebrate this—including a series-best 12 wins in 2024—Maserati constructed the roadgoing GT2 Stradale. Limited to 914 examples worldwide, the Stradale takes some elements of the race car and applies it to the road car, but most is MC20 carryover, including the carbon-fiber tub and aluminum subframes (front and rear), suspension arms, and eight-speed dual-clutch transaxle. Even the twin-turbo 3.0-liter V-6, with its novel prechamber ignition, is the same as the regular MC20, save a token 10-hp bump to 631 horses Chassis changes are as you'd expect with a racy model. The springs are 8 percent stiffer in front and 10 percent stiffer in the rear, and engineers recalibrated the bushings. A large part of the spring-rate increase is due to the Stradale making a lot more downforce than the MC20. What is 320 pounds at 174 mph in the MC20 is 1102 pounds of downforce at the same speed in the Stradale thanks to a carbon-fiber rear wing, extended spoiler, reworked underbody and diffuser, fender vents, and an S-duct-style front end that eliminates the regular MC20's frunk. Of course, the adjustable dampers are retuned too. Forged aluminum wheels 42 pounds lighter than the MC20's have a center-lock nut. Fun fact: The last Maserati to have center-lock wheels was the Ferrari Enzo–based 2004 MC12. Aside from the wing, the biggest visual difference is the rear fenders. The intercooler and air intakes on each hock are much larger and look like they actively grab the air passing by, rather than merely letting gravity and Bernoulli pull the air in. This was required because Maserati situated the heat exchangers more vertically to increase their efficacy by 20 percent, something it deemed necessary for track driving. Maserati also did lots of small aero tricks—such as a mesh on the front-fender vents that directs hot evacuated air away from the rear intakes—to make sure that the coefficient of drag (0.38) increases by as little as possible: a bump of 0.005, according to engineers. The carbon-fiber cocoon that is the cabin lacks carpet; instead the exposed structural tub is on display. And while there are more surfaces covered with Alcantara, Maserati used a thinner (thus lighter) version of the faux suede to keep weight down while letting the material help with interior noise abatement. Standard carbon-fiber buckets do an excellent job of keeping you in place at the expense of comfort in traffic. By comparison, Porsche's carbon seats are more comfortable day to day, but no worse at holding you in place. The standard MC20 seats can be substituted at no cost. Collectors will pursue the $13,750 Performance Pack option. It swaps Bridgestone Potenza Sport tires for Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2Rs and slightly upsizes the carbon-ceramic rotors—fronts increase 0.3 inch in diameter and 0.1 inch in thickness, but the rears grow 0.8 and 0.2, respectively. The upsized brake hardware uses the same calipers and is largely employed to take more advantage of the 2R tires, but the option's biggest feature is an electronically controlled limited-slip differential. We didn't get a chance to drive a car without the optional diff, but we can say that with it the car never struggles with grip, even in corners. The Performance Pack also includes a few more drive modes, which are set up very much like GM's Performance Traction Management. There's Wet, GT, Sport, and Corsa for all Stradales, but the Performance Pack unlocks a graduated series of Corsa Evo modes (4, 3, 2, and 1) that eventually disable all the stability nannies, leaving a track-focused ABS program on. Wonderfully, in all modes, Maserati lets the driver choose the suspension firmness independently (Soft, Mid, or Hard). You can get the GT2 Stradale in any color you want, but any outside the base color palette fall under the Fuoriserie program, which is akin to Mercedes Manufaktur or Porsche Exclusive Manufaktur, meaning it'll cost you unadvertised amounts for personal flourishes. But you shouldn't look past the Matte Digital Aurora paint. It's a bright blue base coat with a translucent red applied on top before the matte finish. In low light it looks like a deep purple, but in direct sun it's bright blue, and the sharp edges where you'd normally find glare produce red spots surrounding a gradient fade back to bright blue. It's not the same color-changing tech found on a mid-'90s Ford Mustang Cobra painted Mystichrome, but the dramatic effect is similar and will certainly make people look twice. Despite the carbon-fiber construction and weight-savings measures, the GT2 Stradale is but a claimed 132 pounds lighter than the MC20, which, based on our previous test, means the GT2 Stradale weighs at least 3600 pounds (though Maserati says it weighs a few hundred pounds less). Acceleration to 60 mph should be just a hair over three seconds and should you want to, it'll go 201 mph given the room. So, a bit lighter and about the same horsepower for a roughly $80,000 premium? This is the question many a Maserati salesperson will face when trying to sell the $313,995 GT2 Stradale. When you add GT2 to the name of a car, people expect big power or greatly reduced weight. Better yet, big power and greatly reduced weight. The Stradale doesn't really check either of those boxes. It feels nimbler with the Michelins providing some mega grip in corners, but its steering is a bit numb although accurate and responsive. The brakes are powerful but touchy, and the transmission shifts with an unnecessary jolt. It's fun and lovely to look at, but it just doesn't feel as fast as something this pricey should. Full disclosure: Our exposure to the car was very limited and with a tight leash choking us from the passenger seat. Given a place to drive it without a passenger, the GT2 Stradale could come alive in the way a track-focused car should. We can think of one such place in Virginia. The last time Porsche made a GT2, it added 160 horses to a 911 Turbo. Mercedes-AMG went full ballistic missile with the 720-hp GT Black Series. Sure, the Merc didn't have a two in its name, but it might as well have. Unless you already have a garage filled with some of those trident-wearing race cars from the 1950s and 1960s, you'll be back at the dealership asking for the power that was left behind. This engine, after all, makes 724 horses in the track-only MCXtrema. You Might Also Like Car and Driver's 10 Best Cars through the Decades How to Buy or Lease a New Car Lightning Lap Legends: Chevrolet Camaro vs. Ford Mustang!
