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| The GT looks best in darker colours |
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Now, about this soul. For a start, this car looks fantastic. It has the low snout of a 1950s sports-racer, three crazy portholes in each front wing, those giant wheels on rubber-band tyres and a complete lack of bodykit and bling. It's clean, focused, menacing and best in a dark colour for acting out those arms-dealer fantasies. (I met an arms dealer once, for the purpose of trying out one of his classic cars for a magazine feature. I was quite shocked, actually.)
One of the ways the GranSport is so massively better than the regular 4200 GT is in its gearshifts. Its extra shift speed in Sport mode paradoxically makes for a smoother drive, because there's less interruption of engine torque and it's easier to smooth the upshifts with a quick lift of the throttle without waiting in a no-man's land of neutrality. It's true of the QP Sport GT, too. Sport mode is the regime of choice, although regular mode is OK if you're feeling laid back: it's possible to be perfectly smooth with both and, during my stint as a passenger, I was aware of hardly any surges and jerks as my co-driver proved she was a match for Jodie Kidd (who races a Maserati MC12 when not being professionally beautiful).
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| Automatic mode isn't particularly good |
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If you're feeling even more laid back, you could use the automatic mode that Maserati still insists is good enough for a luxury saloon - but it isn't unless you are a) stuck in traffic and b) in no hurry at all. Otherwise it's too discontinuous in its torque delivery and you end up feeling queasy. What this car really needs is a ZF six-speed auto with Jaguar's XK programming.
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