The GS on the track

[ecarca]

It's short, only one lap was recorded and not the best quality but still enjoyable

[video=youtube_share;zOn2oaF7xGA]http://youtu.be/zOn2oaF7xGA[/video]

I was there taking classes on a polo cup school car to obtain my FIA / FASC racing license. At some point I had half an hour to kill, the track was open, and I have a year pass at that track since it is where most of the races of the cup I am doing take place. I wasn't planning to take the GS to the track but it was there, I know the track very well and I felt it was the good occasion. I drove very conservatively (about 1 or 2 seconds slower lap time than with my 1.3L race car) but had a lot of fun with it!

 

[mjheathcote]

Everyone should drive their Maserati on track, at least once!

 

[chrisbinsb]

What do you think of the GS on the track? I've just started doing a few tracks days with my '03 BMW Z4, which I really enjoy but I thought it might be fun to try taking my very new to me GS out sometime. The two cars feel completely different on the road so i imagine they do on the track as well. Any insights into the GS as track car? Mine is completely stock - the only change I will make is the DBW module as it's primary purpose is daily driving.

 

[ecarca]

Everyone should drive their Maserati on track, at least once!

I agree. I would add that you need to drive it with restraint. Particularly in countries like here where you don't have any sort of insurance for the car while it's on the track. Enjoy it, yes! But don't be stupid. I guess exploring its limits could end up to be very expensive

 

[ecarca]

What do you think of the GS on the track? I've just started doing a few tracks days with my '03 BMW Z4, which I really enjoy but I thought it might be fun to try taking my very new to me GS out sometime. The two cars feel completely different on the road so i imagine they do on the track as well. Any insights into the GS as track car? Mine is completely stock - the only change I will make is the DBW module as it's primary purpose is daily driving.

It is a very nice car. The braking points of course are much earlier than with my race car that only tops 120kph at the end of the straight vs 160 but that is at least 600 kg lighter
There is no noticeable or annoying body roll, it's quite responsive and agile and pulls nice
It feels very safe as well, no strange reactions.

It gave me a lot of pleasure. I guess it has good potential to be fast, but again maybe then you would want to use something lighter.

I also have the Yokohama AD08R at the rear and these are fantastic for the grip.

 

[chrisbinsb]

Thanks for the report. I'm looking forward to trying mine out sometime soon.

 

[Mr.Cambio]

Tracked my 4200 two or three times. Ecara is right, a damage would be quite expensive, and the brakes (before the mods i did) were not good. Apart from that the rides were enjoyable.
Don't forget to calm down every 3-4 laps, to make the tyres and brakes "cold".

 

[philw696]

Everyone should drive their Maserati on track, at least once!

Yeah your so right there Mike so much fun.
Phil.

 

[ecarca]

Tracked my 4200 two or three times. Ecara is right, a damage would be quite expensive, and the brakes (before the mods i did) were not good. Apart from that the rides were enjoyable.
Don't forget to calm down every 3-4 laps, to make the tyres and brakes "cold".

That particular track is 2.0X km, so quite short but quite brake intensive since there are no long straights (no cooling down) and many turns. The sessions are usually 20 to 30 minutes, I did a few laps, went pack to the pits to pick up a passenger, then did some more laps and did one cool down lap before coming back to the pits. It was fine like that and I think your 3/4 laps rule is quite a good universal standard.

 

[Grinzzz]

GS is great fun on track. Tendency to understeer, but if you're brave that can be cured by feeding in some oversteer on the throttle on suitable corners (ones with plenty of exit run off if you get it wrong!). They're pretty easy near the limit. I found the brakes to be pretty good, not porsche level of stopping power but easily as good as most cars out there. Only problem with them is that due to the weight they can eat tyres pretty quickly if you're pushing them to near the limit.