Can we hand one off to Mr. Regular?
If a 6’3” person can fit in the rear seat of a “sports car” it isn’t a sports car, it’s a compromise.
Sounds like the 550i has a LOT more things to break.
Kind of funny to hear about panel gap on the INSIDE of a car.
I think he did hit on the two prime reason why these cars seem to be popular (from my observations they seem to be selling pretty well):
I mean..... he's not wrong.
aircooled wrote: Sounds like the 550i has a LOT more things to break.
People spending $80k on a luxury car WANT those things. If you're worried about more things to break, you aren't in the market for this car.
Okay headlight switches are bullE36 M3 stalk or gtfo.
Personally, I really hate blind spot monitoring. My parents CX-5 has that system and every time the light goes off in the corner of my peripheral at night I think someone is coming into my lane.
Shift paddles are dumb. They're one of those things which are awesome for track use but I wouldn't be able to take it on a luxobarge.
Touch screen controls for items used while driving are dumb. Any 2nd-year human factors student could tell you that.
Panel gap is valid.
Is that one of the redshirt ZF transmissions? Contacts are not my cup of tea so I can see the frustration.
I'm not sure I understand the bitch about the switches. Making a set of bespoke switches for a low volume car is going to be really expensive even at that price range. Even then the internals would still likely be the same and the manufacturer would simply change the covers. That's how manufacturing works and how you mass produce complex items with extensive BOMs. Besides who's buying a Maserati and saying "You know I saw these switches in the Dart I rented the other day."
Yea it isn't like the Quattroportes of old but still. I'd probably never buy one anyway so I guess it doesn't matter what I think.
On a side note: Gear Patrol is being vicious to BMW today.
What's the 2-door version of this car? Because there's a very-new-looking one sitting on the used lot of my local Toyota dealer. I'm wondering who traded it in on a Toyota, and if they would do such a thing, why they would have bought a Maserati in the first place.
I tuned out and turned off when he started talking. No one expects anyone other than a sweater wearing modern man to drive and talk about these cars. Look. The bint in the passenger seat doesn't care so why should he? 
Not sure why he thinks this car will harm Maserati's reputation. The Bi-Turbo didn't, so this won't.
For some reason I want one of these. I see a lot of them around here. Love the sounds they make. Like how they look.
I don't get what Doug is on about, a pre-owned Ghibli would be great. It makes awesome noises, the gearbox is still a ZF 8-speed, the AWD system is surprisingly good, the seats are surprisingly comfortable, the metal column-mounted paddles are incredibly satisfying to operate, the steering has pretty decent feedback without being unbearably heavy, and the ride isn't as harsh as that of a 5-series. It rides more or less mid-way between an E-class and a 5-series, which means it's perfect for daily driving.
Oh, it's the new one.
Brian wrote: Can we hand one off to Mr. Regular?
Isn't that the guy that didn't understand what a 944 is and ripped on it? That's the last video of his I'll watch. He's out of touch.
Too bad, because there are 200 other videos that are spot on.
alfadriver wrote: Not sure why he thinks this car will harm Maserati's reputation. The Bi-Turbo didn't, so this won't.
Respectfully I disagree. The BiTurbo killed Maserati's reputation so badly that they pulled out of the US Market and by the mid 90's they were only selling 500 cars a year world wide. It took the 3200GT to stabilize things in Europe, then it's Ferrari engined Coupe version to relaunch the brand in America. The BiTurbo very nearly killed the company.
Here's another view. As he said at the end of the video, for mid $30's for a late model used one, it's a great buy. One upside of the parts bin raiding is that those parts are proven out on millions of other FCA products so they should be more reliable than a custom made Italian exotic only part to replace, and if they do need replacing you can hit up your local pick and pull. these things could be the opposite of the Bi-Turbo down the line, they could prove to be relatively reliable as drivers and easy to maintain for the DIYer once 10 years old. I'll be watching them.
DrBoost wrote:Brian wrote: Can we hand one off to Mr. Regular?Isn't that the guy that didn't understand what a 944 is and ripped on it? That's the last video of his I'll watch. He's out of touch.
So you're making your opinion on the 30 seconds that you watched?
I can understand finding him annoying, but he's generally right on the mark. And I didn't think he was that far off with the 944.
Adrian_Thompson wrote:alfadriver wrote: Not sure why he thinks this car will harm Maserati's reputation. The Bi-Turbo didn't, so this won't.Respectfully I disagree. The BiTurbo killed Maserati's reputation so badly that they pulled out of the US Market and by the mid 90's they were only selling 500 cars a year world wide. It took the 3200GT to stabilize things in Europe, then it's Ferrari engined Coupe version to relaunch the brand in America. The BiTurbo very nearly killed the company.
That assumes that the pre- BiTurbo reputation was something other than the name. I don't recall that it was. The last significant Maserati was in the 60's.
mtn wrote:DrBoost wrote:So you're making your opinion on the 30 seconds that you watched? I can understand finding him annoying, but he's generally right on the mark. And I didn't think he was *that* far off with the 944.Brian wrote: Can we hand one off to Mr. Regular?Isn't that the guy that didn't understand what a 944 is and ripped on it? That's the last video of his I'll watch. He's out of touch.
Well, with that particular 944, especially. He did seem a bit saltier than usual on that review, but I still like his stuff overall.
Duke wrote: What's the 2-door version of this car? Because there's a very-new-looking one sitting on the used lot of my local Toyota dealer. I'm wondering who traded it in on a Toyota, and if they would do such a thing, why they would have bought a Maserati in the first place.
There is only one Toyota that a guy who traded a maser lease would have: Tundra TRD Pro. If female ... then it could have been a Land Cruiser. That fits my local country club demographic to a T, YMMV.
The0retical wrote: I'm not sure I understand the bitch about the switches. Making a set of bespoke switches for a low volume car is going to be really expensive even at that price range. Even then the internals would still likely be the same and the manufacturer would simply change the covers. That's how manufacturing works and how you mass produce complex items with extensive BOMs. Besides who's buying a Maserati and saying "You know I saw these switches in the Dart I rented the other day."
Sure. But what on this car warrants the $80k price tag then?
The problem is this car seems to show where it decided to cut costs out AND is on the high end for price. The only value this seems to provide over its competition is that "Maserati" is a sexier name than BMW.
The window switch and the headlight switch are both right out of our R Class so its not as out of place as he makes it seem.
Beer Baron wrote: Sure. But what on this car warrants the $80k price tag then?
Exactly. Hell, GM used to get crap for sharing switchgear between Chevies and Cadillacs. And this is a berkeleying Maserati! If you're paying a premium price, you should expect a premium experience.
Tom_Spangler wrote:Beer Baron wrote: Sure. But what on this car warrants the $80k price tag then?Exactly. Hell, GM used to get crap for sharing switchgear between Chevies and Cadillacs. And this is a berkeleying Maserati! If you're paying a premium price, you should expect a premium experience.
Anymore, it's not that hard to change the look of switches. Fiat has more then enough money to have some new molds made for those parts, and then charge the Maserati owner an extra $10 that each part will end up costing.
It's that big of a deal, too. I really had a tough time seeing a basic crappy Taurus steering wheel in an Aston Martin V8 back when I visited them. Looked terrible, but it did have an air bag, I suppose.
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