About 20 journalists were present at the event, and thus there were no long waiting
times for the test drives. www.Barchetta.cc editor Andreas Birner took the chance after
the excellent lunch that had been served in the castle’s restaurant — when many
journalists had already headed home after they had absolved their rides and test drives.
The organizers had compiled a road book that was handed to the participants and
guided them via tiny, curvy (= fun!) roads to the nearby Autobahn from Munich to
Garmisch-Partenkirchen that has no speed limit and six lanes and thus allows high
speed experiences. At the Seeshaupt exit the drivers left the Autobahn to head back to
Oberambach via curvy roads.
Yours truly chose a red Maserati Spyder CambioCorsa for the first ride. Being a member
of the ”joystick-trained” generation, I felt very comfortable with the unusual paddle-shifter
after a very short time. The process of changing gears is usually very smooth — the
current gear being displayed on the gauges. The CambioCorsa system allows to
change gears without lifting the foot from the throttle, but if driving at high speed, this
naturally causes a short nodding of the Maserati Spyder. So, I would rather recommend
to interrupt the acceleration for a glimpse to change gears to any CambioCorsa pilot.
Talking about acceleration: The one of the Maserati is brutal! Giving it full throttle, the
Spyder storms away as if Poseidon was after it with his trident. Accessing a motorway,
you will find yourself cruising at 200 km/h immediately while you’re still thinking that you
were doing 120 km/h or so — with the top down! Further acceleration reveals that it is
possible to drive the — still open — Maserati Spyder up to 270 km/h without affecting
one’s hairstyle too much. The car’s agility is simply tremendous, its snarling sound is
excellent and adequate. Handling is easy, the short wheelbase of the Spyder gives a
feeling of go-cart driving in the corners, especially in combination with the very direct and
precise steering.
After the red one, the yellow one that I had been waiting for (because of the photo
background of Bavaria’s surrounding lush green pasture) was finally available and so I
took this one out for a photo shooting. Now being more familiar with the CambioCorsa
gearbox, the ride was absolved at even slightly higher speeds…
My last experience of the day was the silver Maserati Spyder, fitted with the new
six-speed gearbox (up to that time, only the CambioCorsa version had been available).
The manual gear lever can be precisely operated and allows quick shifting. Only the slot
for the sixth gear seems to be slightly ”hidden” — when driving at high speed on the
Autobahn, the driver might erroneously catch fourth gear instead of sixth when one
actually wants to shift up from fifth. One just needs to get used to it — and if one cannot
befriend with the CambioCorsa system, Maserati’s manual six speed gearbox allows
motoring at its best. After my last ride, I closed the fully automatic top for the very first
time — a very luxurious feature, by the way, that doesn’t require any manual assistance
from the driver.
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