most undrivable car ever?
Discussion
My brother has an auto 3200 and a friend a manual, and believe me the auto is the way to go.
The power come in with such a wuuuuummmphhh the manual ends up as huge lunges of acceleration folled by a long pause.
The throttle is so not linear and with the lag....I can only suggest you drive them.
Incedentaly my brother is changing his in June so if you're interested.....
The power come in with such a wuuuuummmphhh the manual ends up as huge lunges of acceleration folled by a long pause.
The throttle is so not linear and with the lag....I can only suggest you drive them.
Incedentaly my brother is changing his in June so if you're interested.....
Drove a 3200 on Tangerine Supercar day. Most people (ie five of of the siz of us) were having trouble with the knife sharp throttle response, but I got on fine with it for some reason. Maybe because I used to be a biker and am used to sharp throttle responses? Whatever, I thought it was an absolute hoot, very very deceptively fast. Excellent Q car, massive performance in a saloon car guise. One you'd have to drive to see if you can live with it, but worth it if you can.
How do you think the 3200GT compares with the Jag XKR? Reason I ask is that I'm driving my wifes' old car at the moment and want to replace it with something more interesting. With 2 small children I need the four seats (or "dubious 2+2 practicality" as the motoring hacks describe it), but the choices are then a bit limited. BMW or Porsche don't do it for me, a personal thing, so it's between the Maser, Jaguar XK and an Alfa GTA
Had a manual 3200GT for a weekend last year and though I wanted to buy one, couldn't get past its uncomfortable seats, gritty gearchange, poor headroom, transmission shunt, titchy fuel tank. Had no problem with the throttle though, and I loved the kick when the turbos cut in. Tried an auto a few weeks ago, and it is much more refined, though the trade off is that it feels slower.
Does the XK8/XKR really handle that well? My view is coloured by an XK8 cabrio (was the only XK demo at time) I tried which really didn't like going round corners. In fact it was bloody awful- very choppy & unsettled.
So what would you choose: used 3200GT, XK8/R or wait for a new Alfa GTA?
Had a manual 3200GT for a weekend last year and though I wanted to buy one, couldn't get past its uncomfortable seats, gritty gearchange, poor headroom, transmission shunt, titchy fuel tank. Had no problem with the throttle though, and I loved the kick when the turbos cut in. Tried an auto a few weeks ago, and it is much more refined, though the trade off is that it feels slower.
Does the XK8/XKR really handle that well? My view is coloured by an XK8 cabrio (was the only XK demo at time) I tried which really didn't like going round corners. In fact it was bloody awful- very choppy & unsettled.
So what would you choose: used 3200GT, XK8/R or wait for a new Alfa GTA?
sorry only just seen this thread...
Jag is lovely as a cab, especially as an XK-R with the 20" wheels and Brembo's. That said rear seats are totally useless (was smaller than even a 911) and the plank dash is horrid. The wheels thump badly and it tramlines...but its a beautiful looking car.
Maser is a bit more individual, more punchy, could seat a pair of 6fters in the back and as an auto is a lovely drive. As a manual it is nasty, it has some sort of electronic throttle and basically you dont touch it until car is rolling in first or all hell happens.
When i called around to check out residuals one dealer said (pretending to sell the car i was about to buy to get an idea of what to expect depreciation wise) he said 'i am only interested if its an auto, manuals are not nice...' then he proceeded to offer 15k less than the bargain price it was on offer for.
Put me off, best reccomendation is to buy one for 30k! Then its a major league bargain.
Ben
My neighbour just upgraded his Maserati (he had a T reg 3200 before and now he's got a V reg) and he hasn't had any complaints with his car. BUT he did go for the auto box and he also reckons that he couldn't live with the manual. He said it just felt wrong. So I guess Evo are right then.
just got back from autoshield maserati in manchester. !1st off must say the service was second to none and substantially cheaper than any other quotes I had for the same work.
2nd he owns many cars and has owned about 4 3200's he has just sold his latest and has a new spider coming. What I am getting at is that this man knows just about everything there is too know about Maser's (he used to race them) and he says that although the 3200 he has just sold was a manual the automatic is "a better car". whilst there i noticed a copy of Car magazine november 99 I think which had a road test on both the jag and 3200 back to back and the 3200 won.
More food for thought for you. If you want any info at all on a Maser ring Marios Kriticos at autoshield in manchester he is very helpfull and knows where to locate allmost any maserati you could ever want.
Mike
http://homepage.ntlworld.com/mikebatty/
Thanks for this guys. On the strength of the earlier posts I tapped one of my neighbours for a drive of his XKR. This one definitely handled better than the XK8 cabrio, pretty quick and loved the sound of the supercharger. Having said that, it handled like a BIG car. Ideal for wafting along motorways but not what I'm looking for.
It's now between an Alfa and a 2000 3200GT auto with the balance of the fixed price servicing. Starting at ca. 30K and still softening these cars are indeed beginning to look like this year's performance bargain.
Ta
Kevin
It's now between an Alfa and a 2000 3200GT auto with the balance of the fixed price servicing. Starting at ca. 30K and still softening these cars are indeed beginning to look like this year's performance bargain.
Ta
Kevin
456mgt, if you're thinking of the Alfa GTA which I'm sure will be gorgeous how about trying an HSV in the meantime? The interior won't win any prizes but beyond that it's a quick, great handling, comfortable, reasonably well built car. I tried everything with 2+2/4 seats before I bought one.
>> Edited by sjc on Thursday 23 May 18:48
>> Edited by sjc on Thursday 23 May 18:48
i went down the M6 in a DB7 (its an amazing car) and oh my god, there is literally NO leg room in the back seats, the back seats were touching the front seats, thank god i was in the front!
and by the way if anyone calls the viper 'undrivable' i wont be happy!
>> Edited by viperman on Sunday 9th June 08:17
and by the way if anyone calls the viper 'undrivable' i wont be happy!
>> Edited by viperman on Sunday 9th June 08:17
yep the DB7 is bad, you should see the convertable, its even worse...not to mention the XK convertable, the seats are pathetic.
Viperman, the Viper i drove was orrible, steering wheel on wrong side, pedals have odd weighting and set to high, gearchange was like stirring porridge with a wooden spoon, engine sounded like the truck its based on, oh and the rt10 looks nowhere near as nice as a GTS especially with wet weather kit fitted. Does not stop me wanting a GTS though and may be next car unless sense prevails!
Bennno
>> Edited by bennno on Sunday 9th June 11:35
Agree with Bennno here (my God I can't believe it!!) I drove the same Viper as Ben round the track flat out at Mallory Park....the verdict???
Worse than Ben's verdict I'm afraid.. steering and handling were directly transferred from a London Bus, the gearbox was horrific,the driving position was set up for an ape and the interior has been lifted straight from a 1973 Wartburg...
The GTS does look the bollox but if it's even remotley like the RT10 to drive and sit in then I wouldn't even dream of owning one... I jumped from that car straight into a Noble M12 and it was like night and day. I was at least 10 seconds a lap quicker...
Sorry Viperman, great looking cars but very dissapointing under the skin...
Worse than Ben's verdict I'm afraid.. steering and handling were directly transferred from a London Bus, the gearbox was horrific,the driving position was set up for an ape and the interior has been lifted straight from a 1973 Wartburg...
The GTS does look the bollox but if it's even remotley like the RT10 to drive and sit in then I wouldn't even dream of owning one... I jumped from that car straight into a Noble M12 and it was like night and day. I was at least 10 seconds a lap quicker...
Sorry Viperman, great looking cars but very dissapointing under the skin...
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