Merc1
Premium
A cheetah is simply not going to do his best work in a petting zoo. It's just a waste of perfectly good, explosive acceleration and gazelle-grappling top speed. By the same token, these two ultra-exclusive grand touring machines, each packing a 4.2-liter V-8 producing in excess of 400 bhp, would feel hobbled if forced to slog along behind generic rental cars and lumbering motorhomes near, say, Solvang or Hearst Castle.
Nope, you need to lay the Rand McNally wide open, scan those expansive white areas of the Southwest's great Mojave Desert and plot a course worthy of these powerful and long-legged subjects. You know, along those thin red lines that skirt California's military test ranges and connect hardscrabble, dusty outposts like Shoshone, Furnace Creek and Beatty, Nevada; and Rhyolite, a silver-mining ghost town whose heyday near the turn of the century saw a population of more than 10,000 fortune-seekers and gun-slinging malcontents. Now, only the camera shutter-clicks on our photo shoot break the silence here. If the crumbling walls of the few remaining structures could talk, the stories they'd tell....
The topography on our route is as varied as the veddy British and emotively Italian 2+2 coupes themselves, with the Panamint and Amargosa mountain ranges forming the craggy, geologic bookends of Death Valley. On a clear day, from the vantage point of Dante's View in the Amargosas, you can take in the highest and lowest points in the contiguous U.S.: Badwater Basin, at 282 ft. below sea level, and Mt. Whitney in the Sierra, scraping the sky at 14,494 ft.
But enough travel guide stuff. We came here to drive, right?
2008 Maserati GranTurismo
Points: 382.9
Just look at this thing...it oozes the sex appeal of Bianca Balti, has the pipes of Pavarotti and projects the athleticism of the entire Italian national soccer team. Based on a shortened version of the Quattroporte chassis (wheelbase is a still-generous 115.8 in.), the GranTurismo sheds two doors and has decidedly more muscular Pininfarina-penned sheet metal, with Corvette Stingray-esque fender forms, a boldly concave oval grille (set in the trademark "pursed lips" snout) and snake-ish headlights pulled tautly back toward the wheel wells. Leaving no doubt as to its identity, our test car had the optional ($2900) 20-in. Birdcage Design wheels, the spokes of each forming three radially-oriented trident logos.
Between the front fenders' widely spaced peaks lies the 4.2-liter 4-cam V-8, located behind the front axle centerline and producing a solid 405 bhp. And it's paired not with the clunky robotic-manual DuoSelect rear-mounted transaxle, but with ZF's 6-speed 6HP26 torque-converter automatic that bolts directly to the engine. Steering column-mounted paddles, well placed and generously sized, can command shifts at any time, and there is a choice of three modes — Manual, Auto Sport and Auto Normal — each affecting the aggressiveness of the electronic throttle.
The driving experience? Visceral. The engine's Ferrari short-block origins are evident in the V-8's pure mechanical sound, deeper at low revs sharpening to a reedier, knife-edged note near its 7250-rpm limiter. Acceleration is strong, with a rewarding swell of on-the-cams power starting at about 4500 rpm, though not quite meeting the promise of the engine's song...with slightly less power than the Jaguar, propelling almost 500 lb. more vehicle, that's to be expected. Still, a 0–60 dash of 4.7 seconds and a 13.3-sec. quarter mile put the Maser in some special company; it's quicker in both contests than a Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution GSR (not exactly a cross-shop pick, but interesting nonetheless).
In the serpentine stuff, the GranTurismo's wider track and thoroughly grippy Pirelli P Zero tires give it remarkable adhesion reflected in our skidpad (0.95g) and slalom (71.0 mph) numbers. "The car feels firm and alive," said Road & Track Specials Editor Andrew Bornhop, "stiffer-riding than the XKR but willing to change direction with just a moment's notice." The steering's weighting is substantial and solid, but it's more darty on center, requiring small steering corrections, especially when making time over a less-than-perfect road. That nervousness also manifests itself under braking with a bit of front-end hunting. Braking distances are superb, accomplished with front rotors an inch smaller than the Jag's — they look a little spindly inside the 20-in. wheels. But during extended stints of hard driving, thermodynamics eventually had its way and resulted in a soft pedal.
We haven't even touched on the GT's most striking aspect, an interior done as only the Italians can do interiors. Just look at the dash...many beautifully finished, interestingly shaped pieces, solidly assembled. An expertly beveled, polished piece of wood trim cleaves the black leather dash upper and tan lower portions, and chrome-rimmed round buttons on both the wheel and dashboard have a great 1970s' look. Seats, in tan leather with red stitching, look as if they'd been designed as art objects first, and as cradles for the human anatomy second (they're surprisingly comfortable in the long haul, despite a rock-hard initial feel; and they don't have the lateral support of the Jag's). There are concessions to modern telematics — in the center display screen and voice activation technology (plus, how many cars offer an altimeter?) — and to a degree of practicality with a rear seating area that's more generous, especially in head room, than the XKR's, although you wouldn't want to punish adults for long in either car.
Maserati's latest is expensive, yes; at $118,525 as-tested it's exactly $20,000 dearer than the Jaguar. But, as Andy noted, "It has style in spades and looks unlike any other car on the road." That may be enough justification for some; for others, the upcoming GranTurismo S, with 4.7 liters and 440 bhp, may just be the perfect slice of open-road nirvana.
2008 Jaguar XKR
Points: 385.6
Jaguar's E-Type was and always will be one of the most iconic and recognizable automotive shapes on the planet, and so it continues with the latest XKR. The torpedo body shape, the long powerful bonnet, a roofline slicker than a James Bond double-entendre — they're all features that have influenced this modern Jaguar. Yet much has changed since the time of founder William Lyons (not the least of which is Jaguar's purchase by Indian automotive giant Tata)...just consider the XKR's aluminum unit structure, its optional distance-sensing cruise control, and its output of 420 bhp via a 4.2-liter V-8 augmented by a Roots-type supercharger supplying a peak 13 psi of charge-cooled boost.
And what a powerplant. Paired to the same ZF 6-speed as used in the GranTurismo (with identical ratios), it propels the Jag forward in lusty, powerful strides, but with taller final-drive gearing than the Maserati's (3.31:1, versus the Italian's 3.73:1). That's torque talking; with a total of 413 lb.-ft. amassed at 4000 rpm, it simply out-twists the Italian to a 4.2-sec. 0–60 clocking and a seriously fleet 12.6-sec. run through the quarter mile, aided by the XKR's 470-lb.-lighter curb weight. The soundtrack adds to the rush; though not as theatrical or nerve-tingling as the GranTurismo's, there's a satisfyingly chunky V-8 roar, modulated by servo-controlled exhaust baffling, that's accompanied by a muted supercharger whine as revs climb.
It's true that the cars share the same basic transmission, but each uses different tuning. The Jag's downshifts arrive with more aggressive auto-blipping of the throttle, especially when you move the L-gate shift selector down and to the left into the Sport mode position. As with the Maserati, paddles — though mounted to the steering wheel, not the column — can summon manual sequential shifts at any time.
Throw this big cat around on a back road, and it seems to relish the experience. It's surefooted, though slightly softer in roll and with less overall grip than the Maserati. Its Computer Active Technology Suspension adjusts shock valving individually based on the car's pitch/yaw rates and steering input, and the spring rates themselves are 38 percent stiffer in front and 24 percent stiffer in rear than the normally aspirated XK. Compared with the Italian, straight-line stability is better, the primary ride is less jiggly and tire noise less pronounced, so while its at-the-limit cornering abilities aren't quite the Maserati's equal, the Jag notches points in the way it effortlessly and comfortably reels in the mile markers.
And, to reiterate, it is no slouch when the Dunlops (on great-looking optional 20-in. wheels, incidentally) are pressed to their limits. Said Bornhop: "The damping firms up nicely in the twisty bits to give the car a sportier, more agile feel; I really like how bumpy corners result in just enough steering kickback to remind the driver that he really is in charge of the front wheels."
The miles also melt away in the XKR's interior, more close-coupled and cocoonlike than the Maserati's. The leatherwork of the dash and seats is superb, the gloss black and woven-look aluminum trim provide a nice counterpoint of contrast, and the suedelike covering for the headliner and pillars is a real crowd-pleaser (wrote Bornhop, "It looks like it should be in the Italian car, not the English one."). The XKR, however, struggles more with melding modern technology with Old World charm. Its touch screen's graphics, though intelligently thought out, look a little dull, and there's no excuse for an analog clock presented on a flat LCD display screen between the main gauges. Please, Jag, give us a timepiece worthy of the marque. Seats strike a great middle ground between comfort and support, and the pneumatically adjusted side bolsters, dialed in with a little twist knob on the door panel-mounted seat controls, are just the ticket to get the right amount of hold. As mentioned before, rear seating space is heavily compromised by the fast roofline and a 108.3-in. wheelbase, more than 7 in. shorter than the GranTurismo's; better to think of the area as an upholstered package shelf.
So perfection wasn't attained. But all said and done, the XKR emerged as the superior — albeit less flamboyant — machine to whisk two people and their luggage off to some faraway weekend destination. Although a strong argument could be made for either one, the XKR's price advantage would buy about 5000 gallons of high-test at today's prices. And that, my friends, represents a lot of quality grand touring.
ROADandTRACK.com -- Comparison Tests - Comparison Test: Jaguar XKR vs Maserati GranTurismo (8/2008)
Video:
Road&Track
M
