Publications
Partners
INSPIRED: The MC Stradale traces its roots to the Maserati GranTurismo (left) and the MC Trofeo race car (centre). <a href="http://www.wheels24.co.za/Galleries/Image/Maserati/GranTurismo%20MC%20Stradale" target="_blank">Image gallery</a>
The fastest Maserati to be sold in South Africa, the GranTurismo MC Stradale, has been launched to the music of screeching tyres and barking exhausts at Kyalami.
Importer and dealer Viglietti Motors launched the car to assembled prospective owners and journalists at a glittering evening event before hitting the track to show off the car’s potential.
The MC Stradale, inspired by the success of the Trofeo GranTurismo MC motorsport programme, transfers a substantial amount of race-honed technology directly into its latest street-legal GT. It's the fastest, lightest and most powerful Maserati yet with a top speed of 301km/h, at 1670kg it's 110kg lighter than a GranTurismo S (those cumbersome rear seats have been ripped out) and it packs an imposing 331kW and 510Nm of torque.
It also sprints from 0-100km/h in 4.6 seconds.
A special, performance-tuned suspension arrangement is used. The car rides lower than the GranTurismo S by 10mm at the front and 12mm at the rear and the suspension is eight percent stiffer - front and rear. The front and rear anti-roll bar diameters have also been increased.
TRACK FRIENDLY
As a result this is the first production Maserati to have a dedicated “Race” mode (as well as Auto and Sport), Brembo carbon-ceramic brakes with custom Pirelli tyres and carbon-fibre bucket seats. Race mode is said to produce more downforce without producing drag, while a version of Maserati’s MC Race Shift auto transmission can shift via the steering-wheel paddles in 60 milliseconds.
This was demonstrated with a few hot laps around Gauteng’s Kyalami circuit by Maserati’s general manager for Africa and the Middle East, Umberto Cini. Moving through all three driving modes, Auto is the most traffic-friendly, “comfortable, smooth and with gentle response to the throttle,” as Cini described it.
“This is the kind of driving you want for everyday or in city traffic. She (the car) decides when and how she changes," Cini elaborated.
“When we go through to Sport, we (Cini plus the car) start to work together. I take control of the gearbox and the electronic aids decrease their interference with the driving, the response to the throttle becomes quicker, the suspension becomes tougher and, over 2000rpm, the sound changes.
“When we go to Race, I have the control, she (the MC Stradale) does what I say. The reaction of the throttle is very prompt, the suspension is very precise but tough and the gear-shifting becomes 60 milliseconds."
The thrilling Maserati MC Stradale is available in South Africa for R1.69-million.
Importer and dealer Viglietti Motors launched the car to assembled prospective owners and journalists at a glittering evening event before hitting the track to show off the car’s potential.
The MC Stradale, inspired by the success of the Trofeo GranTurismo MC motorsport programme, transfers a substantial amount of race-honed technology directly into its latest street-legal GT. It's the fastest, lightest and most powerful Maserati yet with a top speed of 301km/h, at 1670kg it's 110kg lighter than a GranTurismo S (those cumbersome rear seats have been ripped out) and it packs an imposing 331kW and 510Nm of torque.
It also sprints from 0-100km/h in 4.6 seconds.
A special, performance-tuned suspension arrangement is used. The car rides lower than the GranTurismo S by 10mm at the front and 12mm at the rear and the suspension is eight percent stiffer - front and rear. The front and rear anti-roll bar diameters have also been increased.
TRACK FRIENDLY
As a result this is the first production Maserati to have a dedicated “Race” mode (as well as Auto and Sport), Brembo carbon-ceramic brakes with custom Pirelli tyres and carbon-fibre bucket seats. Race mode is said to produce more downforce without producing drag, while a version of Maserati’s MC Race Shift auto transmission can shift via the steering-wheel paddles in 60 milliseconds.
This was demonstrated with a few hot laps around Gauteng’s Kyalami circuit by Maserati’s general manager for Africa and the Middle East, Umberto Cini. Moving through all three driving modes, Auto is the most traffic-friendly, “comfortable, smooth and with gentle response to the throttle,” as Cini described it.
“This is the kind of driving you want for everyday or in city traffic. She (the car) decides when and how she changes," Cini elaborated.
“When we go through to Sport, we (Cini plus the car) start to work together. I take control of the gearbox and the electronic aids decrease their interference with the driving, the response to the throttle becomes quicker, the suspension becomes tougher and, over 2000rpm, the sound changes.
“When we go to Race, I have the control, she (the MC Stradale) does what I say. The reaction of the throttle is very prompt, the suspension is very precise but tough and the gear-shifting becomes 60 milliseconds."
The thrilling Maserati MC Stradale is available in South Africa for R1.69-million.
