ltc

Went to work on Tuesday and was told "if you can get to Road Atlanta by Wednesday 7AM, you can spend the day driving Road Atlanta with the Maserati Masters Program".
Needless to say, I drove straight to the airport and was prepared to check myself in as baggage if necessary.

The cars were new Maserati Gran Sport 2 door coupes V8 400hp with the F1 style, single dry clutch, paddle shifter, called CambioCorse IIRC. It can run in full auto mode, full auto mode with sport timing/exhaust, full manual/paddle mode and full manual mode with sport timing/exhaust.

Road Atlanta was sunny, humid, 95 degrees and it was interesting driving around wtih full A/C, stereo and windows up.

I had never driven a Ferrari/Maserati with this 'F1 styl'e' shifter/transmission before, it was very interesting. The closest thing was probably a Skippy Car or an Audi DSG. It did make it very easy to drive the car fast straight away, but it took a session or two for my left leg to stop looking for the clutch and keeping my right hand on the wheel. The paddles were fixed to the steering column, so they don't move when you turn the wheel, so it's easy to remember "right hand upshift, left hand downshift" as you're turning.

As PAG currently has the sequential gearbox in the 997 and the DSG/PDK planned, I didn't know if anyone else had driven a Ferrari/Maserati gearbox on the track before......makes me want to work on my heel/toe....a LOT.

Toby Pennycuff

You dog!

Were you tuning the electromagnetic suspenion for your employer again? I don't recall MOST interfaces on those shocks!

Toby

trumperZ06

Sounds like you had a Great Time !!!

ltc

No, just the audio system in the Quattroporte...and a few other ones that haven't been made public yet.

Road Atlanta is one of my favorite tracks, next to Laguna Seca, so ANY chance I get to drive it, I'm there.

MomentumGuy

I stayed at Chateau Elan Inn last month for the Peachstate PCA DE. When I got to the hotel, there were a number of Maseratis with New Jersey plates parked in consecutive spaces in the parking lot.

I immedately thought of the Sopranos and thought "Oh great, must be a Mafia wedding at the hotel this weekend."

As it turns out, they were being delivered for the program. I met the marketing guy in the Irish pub that night, and he opened a couple up so we could take a look. The program sounded like a lot of fun - very similar to the Porsche Driving Experience at Barber.

They were very nice cars, those engines sounded sweet!

tkerrmd

Gee Lewis, thanks for the heads up!!! You lucky SOB!!

ltc

Heads up? I barely had enough time to run home, grab my helmet/shoes/gloves and a pair of underwear/socks and get to the airport.

The job does have its moments.....like the time I called my wife from Germany as I was driving to dinner in the back of a Maybach (before it was officially released) and asked her to guess where I was.......like the tour of Zuffenhausen on my birthday and just wandering around the place with my jaw hanging down......the irony being that what I do to cars is usually one of the first things people would chose to delete.

gbaker

Okay Lewis, I'll bite. What do you do to cars?

(Am I playing the role of the straight man or what? )

ltc

Well, at least I don't design sunroofs.....that is probably the one thing that people delete more than a radio.