2010 Maserati GranTurismo Convertible First Drive

Europe's miserable winter has produced a particularly tough and unexpected test for the 2010 Maserati GranTurismo Convertible. Not because it is raining in Rome but instead because cold and snow have cratered Italy's road network into a lunarlike surface more suitable for an SUV than a luxurious convertible with a classic identity.

We encountered potholes, cracks, fissures and heaves that would test the integrity of any roofless automobile, which is compromised in structural integrity from the start. Nevertheless, this version of the 2010 Maserati GranTurismo with a power-operated soft top negotiated them all with little more than faint tremors through the steering column and A-pillars.

This is impressive, and so is plenty else about this particularly handsome Pininfarina-designed four-place convertible.

Nice Neighborhood
Elegant, high-priced dropheads — there's plenty of choice out there, including the Aston Martin DB9 Volante, Ferrari California, Jaguar XKR convertible and Mercedes-Benz SL550.

But few of these provide rear seats, and among those that do, fewer still offer much hope of swallowing four full-size adults without provoking loud grunts of discomfort. To date, count only the Bentley Continental GTC and the BMW 6 Series Convertible, neither of which provides the luxury of lounging room (or anything like it) for those banished to the back.

The Sport mode opens a baffle in the exhaust that adds strength and depth to a delicious mechanical orchestra.

And this gives Maserati something to boast about in this company, because the 2010 Maserati GranTurismo Convertible offers genuinely comfortable accommodation for backseat sitters, provided they aren't excessively wide and much more than 5-foot-8. The quartet of passengers will enjoy sumptuous, leather-upholstered surroundings, a surprisingly pliant ride and the mellifluous warble of a 440-horsepower 4.7-liter V8.

Plus there's the pleasure of traveling in something truly beautiful.

How Much for Box Seats at the Opera?
This exceptionally well-proportioned convertible is the successor to the much-unloved Maserati Spyder, last seen in 2006 and still recalled as a class leader in structural awfulness. The price of a Maserati convertible has since escalated to $140,200, but you do get the four seats, a bigger car, a bigger engine and a useful escalation in overall quality.

Unlike most convertible versions of modern coupes, the 2010 Maserati GranTurismo drophead was not engineered in parallel with the closed edition. Instead, Maserati says it wanted to concentrate on getting the coupe right before thinking about the convertible. Although this is undeniably a convertible version of the GranTurismo coupe rather than an entirely new model, it has been extensively reengineered and restyled to suit its al fresco role. Maserati has certainly taken the task seriously, producing what it claims to be the stiffest body shell in the class despite a long, 115.9-inch wheelbase.

As you'd expect in a convertible, the structural reinforcement has been fairly comprehensive, including beefier rockers, a rear bulkhead incorporating a so-called torsion wall box section behind the rear seats, strengthened B-pillars and even a pair of rods linking the front shock towers to the crossmember beneath the A-pillars.

There are some unique details as well. The windshield's surround has been strengthened with a cast-aluminum insert and then injected with structural foam. The rollover bars actually break through the rear window to ensure taller occupants a headache-free flip-over. And the electrically powered hydraulic pump that operates the convertible soft top has been located to a place where it will transmit the least amount of noise as possible.

All of this has been engineered with an eye on weight, and the convertible weighs only 220 pounds more than the coupe, some 150 pounds of which can be accounted for by the roof and its mechanisms. It's a fine achievement, though it has to be said that the Maser's all-up heft of 4,365 pounds is rather less impressive.

Soft, Like an Umbrella
Maserati spent little time worrying over what kind of roof with which to crown the GranTurismo, settling for a Pininfarina-engineered fabric top that weighs less, packages more easily and allows greater design flexibility than a hardtop. Maserati says the top folds away in 28 seconds (we checked, and it does), or 20 seconds if you don't count the rise and fall of the windows. You can effect the transformation at speeds of up to 19 mph, and order the triple-lined roof in six colors.

There's nothing soft about the hardware under the hood, as this is another variant of the Ferrari-engineered V8 now seen in assorted Alfa Romeo and Maserati models as well as the Ferrari California and Ferrari 458 Italia. The mechanical confection for the 2010 Maserati GranTurismo Convertible includes the 4.7-liter V8 and a six-speed ZF-built automatic transmission right behind the engine. Though this car doesn't have the rear-mounted automated manual transaxle of the sporty versions of the Maserati GranTurismo coupe and Maserati Quattroporte, the weight distribution remains surprisingly balanced. Some 51 percent of the convertible's weight rests on the rear wheels when the top is up and 52 percent when the top is down.

The Road to Rome
A good sense of balance is pleasingly evident on the rain-slicked roads south of Rome. Enthusiastic stabbings of the accelerator in lower gears will get the Maserati's tail twitching, although the stability control contains it without spoiling the flow of your experience. The electronically controlled damping resists roll and pitch, and the Maser's handling balance gives you satisfyingly clean sweeps of bends, all with a ride that's comfortably pliant. This Maserati dives into curves with more enthusiasm than you'd expect of a four-seat convertible, and in fact it's pleasingly easy to forget that this is quite a large car.

The steering could use more feel and a shade more effort while cruising at high speed, yet this is a car to be savored through switchback swoops, even if it lacks some of the raw potency you'd expect 440 hp to deliver. Blame its 4,365 pounds for that, though you can dial some of the trouble away by engaging the Sport button, which alters the shift strategy, sharpens the throttle response and increases damping control.

Most important, the Sport mode opens a baffle in the exhaust that adds strength and depth to a delicious mechanical orchestra. Imagine air blowing through a straw into a milkshake, add a hard-edged mechanical beat and you have one of this Maserati's most powerful sensory intoxicants.

Traveling Far?
The 2010 Maserati GranTurismo Convertible does have its faults. It should go harder and use less fuel. The fabric roof ought to be slightly quieter at speed, as the air plays a distant, irregular drumbeat on it at 90 mph and also rustles past the seals. The elaborate Bose stereo sounds disappointingly artificial.

It's a shame that a warm air stream isn't ducted to your neck, as in some Mercedes-Benzes. And the trunk, for which a memorably expensive set of tailored leather suitcases can be ordered, is ridiculously compact because of the intruding mechanism for the power top.

But once you glance at this car's seriously sexy bodywork and consider the promise of performance triggered by the sensuously gaping grille in front of the Maserati V8, you can't help but feel that you're driving one of the most desirable performance cabriolets on the planet.

Edmunds attended a manufacturer-sponsored event, to which selected members of the press were invited, to facilitate this report.