Maserati GranTurismo MC Stradale

There's a long list of nice things to say about Maserati's GranTurismo coupe. It's prettier than a pile of Keira Knightley's, it sounds like God playing a trumpet, the interior smells like money and winning, and beneath all the Maserati glamour it's got a lot of bits and pieces from big brother Ferrari.  It makes a 911 look like the book-club square of the schoolyard, it makes the Aston Martin DB9 seem overpriced, and... well, you get it.  So how do you improve on that?

Maserati thinks more power and more of a dynamic edge is a good start.  Perhaps we should not dwell on the fact that the GranTurismo was designed as a luxurious grand tourer (hey, it says so on the decklid!) and just appreciate that they give us choices at all.  This piece of rolling sculpture is called the GranTurismo MC Stradale, and no, it's not a DJ.

The body is based on the competition GranTurismo GT4 and GranTurismo Trofeo, and it's designed to increase downforce without increasing drag - which I did not think was possible, personally, but I'm not an aerodynamacist.    I see wider fenders, fancy carbon-fibre front canards/splitters, a new rear valence that incorporates the exhaust outlets, and lower ride height.  The front end looks strikingly like the Maserati MC12 Corsa to me, which is no bad thing.

The MC Stradale's engine (MC, by the way, stands for Maserati Corsa - or "Maserati Racing" for the English speakers amongst us) has it's output boosted from 430 to 450 horsepower, which allows an increased top speed of over 300km/h (187.5mph).  No word on where the extra power comes from (I'd guess a revised intake/exhaust setup, higher compression, and a remapped ECU for better high-rpm breathing) but Maserati claims it's extracted the extra power without a fuel economy penalty, which is nice - not that any prospective owners will care. The brief (we're talking 3 paragraphs) press release also mentions suspension modifications, but besides saying it'll handle better without riding worse, it doesn't say what.  I suppose we'll have to wait till the Paris auto show for more in-depth details on this latest hot-rod Maserati, which is the successor to the funky Maserati GranSport Coupe.  Hey, at least they gave us high-res photos to drool over!  In the mean time, stay tuned as more details roll in.