Snapped a Few Pics of the Maser up in Malibu
 

Didn't have a lot of time but got a few decent shots off.

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Looking great. Congrats!

How's the NAV in this car compares to the P car?

She looks great!

Never had one in any P car I owned and I haven't figured this one out yet. My plan for this exciting evening is to read the manual.

Yowza, lookin good. You've done well sir!!

niiice. photo skills are not bad either

Amazing pics and an amazing car

Awesome Pics UBC...Congrats on the Amazing Car!

looks great. Again a big congrats

One of the most beautiful cars I've ever seen.

Looks great! More pics please :)

Nice poor man's Ferrari . . .

A few more.

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Yes, I am a poor man.

this is just so....Italian

It`s all about emotions with that beauty...enjoy her :)

Beautiful car; love those wheels!

Thanks for the pics UBoat. And last time I checked, Pinanfarina designed both Ferraris and Maseratis. Sweet ride!

Awesome! One of the best looking cars out there! Congratulations!

Love that spot. I like Monday mornings. Less idiots getting in the shots. That car is so sweet.

very nice, the view ain't bad either.

Car looks awesome. Nero Carbonio is hot.

Couple things I'd like to mention I've run into...

It's not as "generalized" i.e. if you can't find a street in a city you need to type in the neighborhood.

Ripping CDs does take forever.

Voice control is pretty decent.

Also the coil overs are adjustable if you want to tweak them.

Thanks for the compliments guys. I'm going to try to find some time this weekend to take some interior pics and post them up.

Looks really good pal. Congratulations. :)

Curious to hear your thoughts on the Miser vs. say, a Miata or something.

Dig it :)

The Miata gets better gas mileage. . .

Now that I have a few hundred miles under my belt on the Maser and have more confidence with the car and the tranny I can give this description: Take a 430, make it a lot bigger (and consequently heavier) and more luxurious with a better stereo and add a comfort driving mode. There you have it.

hey U-boat, I mean in the nicest way, but I hate you.



congratulations on the purchase. May the passenger riding shotgun always be 5'3" 36/24/36 and pantyless.

Cheers.

I noticed today that the car is somewhat larger than a 911 . . . when I already slightly curbed the right front wheel! Wonder what that's going to cost me???

Thanks, but can she be 5'7"?

sure, the shorty can be in the back with me.

deal.

Love that car! Looks great in black too. There's a silver one rumbling around where I live and it's just so sleek and beautiful. Not much else looks like it on the road.

Just beautiful.......

Great excuse to have the wheels painted black!

Congrats. The lines are perfect.

congrats man!

Love the pics UBC. Are you friends with the batty-man who owns it?

I have no idea how I missed this thread. I kept wondering why you haven't posted up pics yet. The car is beautiful and I bet it sounds amazing. Shoot some video if you ever get chance.

So how do the ladies react to the Maser compared to the 911?

Are you getting used to the paddle shift?

I've got about 400 miles in the seat now and can give a few more impressions:

Obviously, at +700 lbs the car is not as agile as a 911. But it does handle amazingly well. There is almost no body roll (which instills a lot of confidence) and the car is perfectly balanced. The 997S (especially the cab) was just too soft without the sport suspension turned on. This car just feels planted. There is no understeer or oversteer. Further, over bumps the handling is far superior to my old 911. It just rolls right over bumps like they weren't even there. With the 911 the car would shake and shutter. While you get the feeling due to the size that if you turn the car in one direction it's going to keep going in that direction, that couldn't be further from reality. I have barely even been able to really break the rear end free without seriously getting on the throttle.

Also, given its weight, the Maser is not as quick right off the line as a 911 (although it's close). But from a roll the car is a total monster. I dare anyone with a 997S or virtually any GT car to challenge me from a roll cause they are going to loose badly. The motor revs right up to the 8K redline and shifts lightening fast. You can't believe how quickly this 4000lb car gets up to 120mph and wants to keep on going. But don't get too heavy on the throttle with cold tires from a stop or you're going to spin them a lot.

I am getting used to the paddles, but still miss my 6MT. When I test drove a Maser GTS the sales gal told me that I'd have to drive it in manual mode to preserve the clutch. But what she didn't tell me is that the auto mode is totally annoying, so you have to drive it in manual mode. In auto mode the car shifts way too early for my flat-6 derived driving style. No matter, I would never leave it in auto mode anyway and the long Ferrari-style paddles are easily accessible with the left arm resting on the door and the right arm resting on the center console. The only annoyance is that the car starts in auto mode unless you manually shift it within the first two minutes. So you just have to remember to start off shifting and you're back in manual mode.

The brakes are great and stop this heavy car on a dime just as well as my old 911, which is amazing for a 4000lb car.

The interior is really luxurious compared to the 911. The seats are very firm but comfortable. The dials, which look kinda cheap, are my only complaint. There is plenty of room in the back for two adults and the seats automatically move forward for easy access when you tilt them forward. The Bose 9 speaker sound system sounds great and the nav is easy to use. Personally, I would have preferred a center tach like on the 911. Instead, the center gauge is dominated by the gear indicator with a very small indicator for speed in the bottom right hand corner.

Of course, the exhaust is sick. It's really loud and turns heads whenever I drive around town. It's impossible not to look at this car driving through city streets with the sport exhaust on. When driving on the freeway I tend to turn it off on longer drives. There's no point to keeping it on in freeway driving and it can be somewhat loud in the cabin when you're trying to talk on the phone.

The reaction from the ladies has been universally extremely positive. Even women who tell me that they are not into cars have all said that they really like the car and think it's a big step up from the 911 as a daily driver.

Of course, the Maser gets really terrible gas mileage. Cruising on the freeway in 6th gear it gets around 21-22mpg, which isn't bad. In the city, it's more like 8-9mpg the way I drive. Overall, I am averaging around 12.5mpg since I got the car. But it has a huge 23 gallon tank. So I am filling it up around once a week. But so what? It'll cost me maybe another $600 a year for gas compared to the 911. That's a rounding error IMO.

This car came with a built-in front and rear K40 with laser diffuser. It goes off at grocery stores, drug stores and the like. It's never actually gone off due to a cop being nearby. Maybe it will save my ass one day, who knows. I've been driving around LA without a radar detector for 17 years and can only think of one or maybe two situations where having one would have saved me a ticket. Personally, I think it's a waste but leave it on anyway.

Thanks for the great review there. Any chance of some interior shots + video *with sound* :D ?

Have fun and remember to push it hard!!!