The verdict: All the best bits of Maserati’s current product lineup coalesce into the all-new 2024 GranTurismo, a spectacularly elegant two-door package that doesn’t just feel next-gen, but next-next-gen.
Versus the competition: There are no direct competitors to the new GranTurismo. Comparing it with sports cars like the Porsche 911 and Aston Martin Vantage isn’t exactly apt: This big, heavy and tremendously powerful Maser has the legs and heart to keep up with — and out-coddle — the best of ’em.
There is great satisfaction to be found in driving a car or truck in its intended environment. Scrambling a Jeep Wrangler through a treacherous, rocky ravine channels the same energy as nailing a redline shift in a Porsche GT3 or towing a gooseneck with a dually — or even hauling your extended family in a minivan. So when I found myself facing down a 1,000-mile, 15-hour round-trip road blast from Los Angeles to Tucson, Ariz., I said ciao to a 2024 Maserati GranTurismo and set off touring — grandly.
It’s likely been a while since you’ve thought about Maserati’s enduring grand tourer. The first-generation two-door left production after the 2019 model year, marking the end of a Methuselah-like 12-year production run. Until Maserati itself revealed the second-generation GT in late 2022, it seemed even the Trident itself forgot it had built much of its 77-year road-car history on big, front-engined grand tourers.
A Class of Its Own
Much like the long-lived first-gen GT, there isn’t anything else like the new GranTurismo for the money. Plenty of coupes match its 2+2 seating configuration, but few offer the same blend of comfort and performance, and none deliver the Maserati’s passionate, emotive experience. All 2+2 Ferraris, Aston Martins and Bentleys are too expensive, and all Porsche 911s — while impressively comfortable — lack the Maserati’s usable backseat and languid road-trip demeanor.
Even with a fairly substantial $25,000 starting-price hike over the previous generation, the Maser remains in a league of its own. But, when climbing around the new car, it’s immediately clear that the car is so comprehensively improved over its predecessor, it’s remarkable Maserati didn’t change the first digit of its $158,000 starting price (including destination) to a “two.”
Not to say the new GranTurismo is worth $258,000, but anyone who spent $134,000 on one of the later first-gen Maserati GTs five years ago might feel a bit cheated when they peek inside the 2024 version. Viewed from a distance, however, there’s little that’s “next-gen” about the exterior of the new car. It looks remarkably similar to its progenitor, and that is a wonderful thing; the original GranTurismo continues to be a strikingly beautiful car from just about any angle.
Same Stunner
With the new 2024 GranTurismo, Maserati wisely massaged that original, gorgeous clay, integrating more than a little of the brand’s MC20 and modern proportionality onto the original profile. The result is a slinky, silky shape that embodies the style of the grand tourer: long hood, recessed cabin and low “rise” points. I usually leave such subjective analysis on the cutting room carpet, but I can’t help myself — visibly, this car is close to perfect.
That said, no one else seemed to notice. Around the moneyed metropolis of Los Angeles and my later stopover in Scottsdale, Ariz., the new GT presented (nearly) like every other two-door Maserati clogging valet lots. I suspect its nondescript white paint did little to help the situation, but I felt as though I were driving around a clever little secret that only a handful of folks caught onto.
Hellion Heart
It might not have stood out at the valet stand, but the new GranTurismo was the star of every desert interstate I traveled; I like to think it appeared as more of a flash of white light than a car during my many aggressive overtakes — an easy feat with the GT’s hellion six-cylinder heart.
The previous GranTurismo’s cross-plane, 4.7-liter iteration of the Ferrari-Maserati F136 V-8 was singular in sound, with a rich, intoxicating roar. It was delicious, but age relegated the once cutting-edge engine to relative obsolescence. The 2024 GranTurismo’s new twin-turbo 3.0-liter “Nettuno” V-6 is a detuned version of the MC20’s engine, but it retains its twin-spark, pre-chamber ignition setup, which boasts high compression, increased efficiency and shocking power-density. Two flavors of the GT are available at launch — standard Modena and top Trofeo trims — and they growl through traffic and howl down highways with markedly different levels of power.
My Trofeo test car’s 542 horsepower and 479 pounds-feet of torque are a boost of 59 hp and 36 pounds-feet over the base Modena version. The old V-8 GranTurismo was a joy to ring out for its soundtrack, but the new GT’s crashing waves of torque are addictive. Nothing shrinks space like speed, and the GranTurismo dices up miles, gaps and passing lanes like a supercar. Maserati says the Trofeo is good for a 3.3-second 0-60 mph dig, which feels both right on the money and somewhat prosaic in this age of 1,000-hp triple-motor electric sedans.
No matter — with the Nettuno engine, it’s less about the numbers than the sensation. The GT feels turbocharged in the best way, defying its relatively diminutive displacement and 3,957-pound mass. Sport and Corsa drive modes allow you to dial up accelerator response and shift-logic aggression in the traditional eight-speed automatic transmission, allowing the Trofeo to gather speed and compress your chest like something with more cylinders and twice the displacement.
Quintessential Grand Tourer
These holeshot heroics, however, only show up when you need them. Left in the default “GT” drive mode or Comfort mode, the new GranTurismo loafs about with all the nervousness of a living room couch. Both all-wheel drive and an adaptive air suspension are standard, and it’s the latter that supplies the requisite dual nature of a grand tourer: sharp when you want it, soft when you don’t.
Truth be told, other than a few curved on-ramps and scenic park pathways, a tight time constraint meant I had to keep the GranTurismo’s nose pointed straight and true, hundreds of miles away from my favorite driving roads. The best insight I can offer on this car’s handling is that, at its stiffest (in Corsa mode), roll is kept to a minimum, and the chassis feels astoundingly athletic when taken in context with the past generation. I can also attest to the suspension’s notable bump isolation and compliance over broken pavement — GT mode was even too soft at times; more than once, damping resonance over speed bumps caused me to bottom out. When encountering speed bumps on the road, I had to slow down so much I’d get honked at, and I was careful to pre-raise the selectable suspension height for any parking lot humps.
All drives appear to start in GT mode, which balances accelerator, transmission and suspension tuning. Comfort predictably mutes everything, to maximum effect, while Sport stiffens the suspension, drops ride height and prods the drivetrain in the back. Corsa pegs the meter with the stiffest and lowest ride — and disconcertingly reduces traction control. Forcing traction off in the most aggressive drive mode is a trait this Maserati shares with its cousin Alfa Romeo Quadrifoglio cars, and I’m not the biggest fan. Outside of track use, there are few times I enjoy turning off traction control — especially when blasting down a remote mountain pass.
Also shared with both Alfa and Ferrari is the GranTurismo’s suspension button, which operates as a step-down function for the dampers. In other words, if you want the snappy throttle, reactive transmission and wedged-open exhaust of the Sport and Corsa drive modes, but without the punishing ride, the suspension button will drop stiffness one level. It’s a bit unconventional, but I made great use of this function in Sport mode, enjoying the ability to be obnoxious with the Nettuno’s bark while keeping my butt free of any bite. All other inputs are similarly well executed; steering is wonderfully balanced, with quick turn-in and satisfying weight, and the brakes are expectedly strong (though brake-pedal feel is incongruously soft).
Cockpit Quantum Leap
The right mix of comfort and driving fun was never a shortcoming of the old GranTurismo. Its weakest link was by far its interior, which was frustratingly disorganized when new, outdated by the middle of its life cycle and shocking at its sunset. Of all the new generation’s improvements, it’s the ground-up redesign and total modernization of the interior that make it stick the landing.
The 2024 GranTurismo’s interior is essentially an adapted and upfitted version of the Maserati Grecale’s cockpit, complete with a shared steering wheel, driver display and bilevel center dash screens. That’s not a bad thing; the GT’s suite of high-grade materials elevate it a step above its affordable-ish compact SUV source material. The leather is rich and fragrant, extending from seat to door to dash, with swathes of microsuede, brushed aluminum and raw carbon fiber filling the gaps.
As long as you can deal with spiritually sharing space with the plebs in their Grecales, it’s a lovely environment in which to wick away the interstate hours. I was even OK with the dual-screen setup — even the touch controls. A 12.3-inch high-resolution screen on the top portion of the dash handles the infotainment and main display functions, while an 8.8-inch display directly underneath it houses touch-based controls for the air conditioning, seat heating and ventilation, interface configurations and drivetrain functions, including the engine stop-start system.
Both center screens are notably fast and reactive, and they’re reasonably intuitive to navigate. I’ll never stop pining for real buttons, but this setup is attractive and quick enough that, for me, it’s not a deal breaker. The 12.2-inch digital gauge display is equally handsome and well configured, with a mix of high-res animations and distinct layouts when toggling between drive modes that proved fun to explore.
Speaking of tech, Maserati’s latest collection of active driving-assist systems is impressive. Things you might expect to be an afterthought were given both resources and focus; the available active lane keep and steering assist systems demonstrate less ping-ponging and binarity than most. You’ll have to pay for the privilege, though, with the Full ADAS Package clocking in at $8,300.
Lovely, Loud Luxury
There’s been a lot of chatter around the GranTurismo’s price hike and lofty MSRP ceiling, but, to me, it’s right on target. Adjusted for inflation at the time of this writing, the $132,975 starting price of the 2018 GranTurismo inflates to $165,458 in 2024 bucks — a conceptual increase of only around $7,000. Granted, my heavily optioned test vehicle carried a nasty $229,620 sticker, but I’d have been happy to leave its $8,300 ADAS package, $4,000 optional wheels and $4,000 Sonus Faber sound system on the shelf.
If it wasn’t already obvious, I’m smitten. The all-new 2024 Maserati GranTurismo is such a quantum leap in performance, ergonomics and technology that it feels like a third gen, not a second. If you’ve got a healthy enough bank account and a lengthy road-trip wish list, slide into a GranTurismo for an extended test drive — just make sure your route includes plenty of long, straight, empty stretches of desert highway.
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