Test Driving in California

[Melkor]

It was a big week for me. After VidCon and a ton of work, I took time off with my family and one of the things we did was go to Newport Beach to look at exotic cars and then go test some muscle. Here are my thoughts

Lamborghini: Was obviously unable to TEST the Aventador (no one was allowed to touch it without a deposit), but I got to sit in a Gallardo and it was super uncomfortable and cramped. No shocker there.

Ferrari: There would be no sitting in any of the Ferrari's in this showroom but I did get to finally get up close on the Berlinetta (my favorite Ferrari) and that was cool.

Maserati: Wonderful experience at Maserati. Sales guys were super friendly (unlike Lambo and Ferrari) and invited me to sit in all of the models. Surprisingly, I kind of fell in love with the Grantourismo. A simply wonderful cabin with lots of room. Comfortable and, when they fired it up, BLISTERINGLY great noise. Seriously, this might be the best exhaust note I've ever heard. I have a new car dream? Also, interestingly, saw two different people pick up their brand new Maseratis while we were there. They move more (obviously, Maseratis aren't as expensive as Ferraris and Lambos). But it was just a super awesome experience.

Mustang: Got in a 2014 GT and tested it for about 20 minutes. Squirrely and loose. GREAT acceleration. Good cabin but suffers from the same thing that Camaros and Challengers do, it feels cheap. Granted, the price on this was $26k... that's literally 1/4 the price of the lowest end Maserati. Quality is obviously going to suffer. But, it was super fun to drive. Also, I hate touch screens so it was nice to be in a car that just had a radio, MP3/iPod connection, and no touch screen.

Challenger: Took the 2014 SRT8 for a spin and thought is was TERRIBLE! Weird clutch and bad shifting. The clutch had almost zero throw and didn't hook up well. There were also some electrical problems going on like the "Door is Ajar" light just constantly switching back and forth between left and right... weird. The car also really felt heavy and sluggish. One thing that's not the car's fault was the sales lady trying to point things out on the car while I was driving it on the freeway. I don't need to be messing around with a touch screen at 80mph in a car I'm unfamiliar with and with one window (DRIVER'S SIDE) completely covered with the car info. That was frustrating.

At the end of the day, I was super happy to get home and get back in my 1le. It's got some problems; that weird trans/drive train grind is there in the first few gears and MyLink just doesn't work well (or at all) with iPhones. One funny thing is that I had a much easier time seeing out of my Camaro than either the Mustang or the Challenger (granted, the Challenger had some handicaps).

So, until I can afford a Maserati, I can stay pretty happy with my Camaro

[Need4speed_motorsports]

I live right by a Mclaren dealership, I have walked in a few times and a salesman did not even say hello. I did get to eye molest a Pagani Huayra in the clear carbon fiber finish. Pictures and videos do not do that car justice.

[Melkor]

Originally Posted by Need4speed_motorsports

I live right by a Mclaren dealership, I have walked in a few times and a salesman did not even say hello. I did get to eye molest a Pagani Huayra in the clear carbon fiber finish. Pictures and videos do not do that car justice.

That was the same experience I had with the Lambo and Ferrari salesmen. We just drove right by the McLaren dealer as we were pretty tired.

It's interesting because Lamborghini (and probably to a lesser extent Ferrari) depend upon fantasy to make them work. I was kind of shocked at how bad my experience was there. Shattered the fantasy. While with Maserati, I was treated so well that I was making justifications for everything because they were treating me so well. I probably could have taken one for a test drive but didn't have the guts to ask. Even if I couldn't, they made me feel like this was a doable dream for me and that THEY - THE SALESMEN were just as into the fantasy as I was.

[NJBourne23]

Did you know that Maserati now has an "Average Man's" vehicle around $65K. Well below their usual price tag but less bells and whistles. I can't say i'm a fan of the idea because you cheapen the car a bit and the name loses it's luster the more that people own them. IMO of course, I could be wrong. Cool that you got to see all the new cars though. I love the part of the movie Exit Wounds when they walk into the dealership and they laugh that a black guy is trying to buy a car over $150K. White salesman throws him the keys and he opens up the big bag of cash. That's the problem with a few high end businesses, they can't read who has the money all the time. I went to buy my wife a purse she liked (Prada) in a high end store once. They gave me the stink eye like I didn't belong even though I was dressed normally. When no one helped us after 15 minutes I walked out to the Burberry store and bought another purse she liked cash. They were very helpful from the get go. Offered us water, tea etc with a small snack. Answered all questions and my wife got a purse she loves. I hope all places aren't like the dealerships you went to.

[Dwarfey]

Originally Posted by NJBourne23

Did you know that Maserati now has an "Average Man's" vehicle around $65K. Well below their usual price tag but less bells and whistles. I can't say i'm a fan of the idea because you cheapen the car a bit and the name loses it's luster the more that people own them. IMO of course, I could be wrong. Cool that you got to see all the new cars though. I love the part of the movie Exit Wounds when they walk into the dealership and they laugh that a black guy is trying to buy a car over $150K. White salesman throws him the keys and he opens up the big bag of cash. That's the problem with a few high end businesses, they can't read who has the money all the time. I went to buy my wife a purse she liked (Prada) in a high end store once. They gave me the stink eye like I didn't belong even though I was dressed normally. When no one helped us after 15 minutes I walked out to the Burberry store and bought another purse she liked cash. They were very helpful from the get go. Offered us water, tea etc with a small snack. Answered all questions and my wife got a purse she loves. I hope all places aren't like the dealerships you went to.

Called the Ghibli.

It is suppose to compete with the larger luxury sedans such as the Merc S-Class, BMW 7 series, Audi A8s, and Tesla Model S.

It's got a twin turbo V6, so it's not a slacker in the performance department. You still get Maserati quality goodies, but they are "dumbed-down" in a sense, kinda, to keep the price low.

They made a lot of the standard features on a Quattroporte options on the Ghibli

That being said, you can still get one to tip 90k

More here:
http://www.maserati.us/maserati/us/e...li/ghibli.html

[Melkor]

As I do more with performance cars, I'm finding I tend to want fewer "options". I hate touchscreens and sat nav. I want simplicity, performance, and handling in a high quality shell.

[Dwarfey]

Then look toward Porsche... Maserati is not your cup of tea

The new Cayman S is pretty slick

[Mean Green Z28]

that's why I would get a exotic car experience whenever I can. No snotty salesmen to deal with and I can actually drive it .. lol

[LostPony]

A number of years ago I cruised by the Ferrari of Washington DC dealer with my then 14yo son. We were in the 97 Miata I owned at the time that had a rollbar and a few little things done to it, but nothing special. At the time FoW was in a kind of business park with no outside display area, and a very cramped showroom. I had never ventured inside but had noticed on previous drives out there that you could go around back and sometimes spot some cool stuff in the alley behind their building.

This time was no different. My son and I thought we hit the mega load when there was an F40 out front until we spotted a couple Challenge cars when we drove around back. One of them had "Mario Andretti" over the driver's door.

I told my son, "Touch that car!"
Him, "Why"
Me, "Because then you can say you touched Mario's Ferrari!"

About the time my son laid both hands on the car a man came out the back. He complimented my little Miata and struck up a conversation with me. Eventually he led my son and I into the showroom and let us look over all the cars. Then he topped that by giving us a personal tour of the back area, the Race Shop!.

We had a great time and it turned out that the man who showed us around, was the then owner of Ferrari of Washington. A very nice guy!

Fast forward a number of years and I'm in the new Ferrari of Washington showroom in Dulles with my then 3yo daughter killing time. She walks straight over to a new Gallardo, reaches up and pulls herself up by the sideview mirror. I shrieked like a horror movie teenybopper and ran over and detached her from the car! We promptly left!

[Scalded Dog]

Many years ago, I was in Paris, France. I was on foot, and stopped to admire an F40 parked on the curb outside of an English pub. As I admired the thing, an Englishman and his wife approached.

Apparently, my U.S. Serviceman haircut hinted that I would respond to English.

He said, "Pretty nice car, eh? Would you like to take it for a spin?"

My instananeous first thought was that I'd be asked to "pay" to take it for a spin... but, hell, this guy was with a WOMAN, so I figured that he probably wasn't going to ask for THAT from me. It took me another second or so to respond with, "Hell, yes... I would love to!" I could not believe my good fortune.

The Englishman said, "Well, too bad I can't help you out there, chap. No idea who's car that is!" He tipped his hat, gave a friendly wink, and he and his wife sauntered off, laughing.

I had to laugh, too... ol' boy had me going, just for a few seconds...

[Silverlsinva]

I almost don't see the need for salesman at a Ferrari or lambo dealer cause I mean the cars really do sell themselves and if you can afford either one I doubt your going to be cross shopping them.

[kmutch]

Love the sound of Maserati's, rumble doesn't even do it justice.

[Melkor]

Originally Posted by kmutch

Love the sound of Maserati's, rumble doesn't even do it justice.

I agree. It's just a beautiful sound. Different than an Aston but equally as magnificent... though I prefer the sound of the Maserati