We are talking, of course, about the Alfieri.
The Alfieri is Maserati’s answer to the Porsche 911, the Mercedes-AMG GT, and the Jaguar F-Type.
In fact, Maserati’s CEO filets his competitors with a single word: “boring.”
The German brands are getting so cocky with their technology that they’ve forgotten how to make a car fun to drive.
This leaves an opportunity for Maserati, an Italian brand with a sense of flair, with the knowledge that there is a weakness in German cars like the 911.
They perform so well that the driver inside might as well be in a Toyota Prius for all he or she can tell.
How the Alfieri Will Be a Different Experience
The Alfieri will change all of that. And the key to making a sports car that feels alive begins with a simple concept: weightlessness.
So many sports cars pack on the pounds with massive engines and bulky exteriors that make the car so unwieldy that you can’t tell where the ends are.
The Alfieri is significantly smaller than its big brother, the GranTurismo.
There’s almost a foot’s difference in the distance between the front tires and the rears. After the rear tires, it’s rear end is also about a foot shorter than the GranTurismo.
With nearly two feet eliminated in length, Maserati’s engineers can get to work using aluminum, carbon fiber, and high-strength steel to eliminate weight even further.
Smaller Is Only the Beginning
The result is a small, lean sports car that can use its turbocharged V6 or V8 (they haven’t decided yet) to propel the car around corners and down straightaways.
That is why the Alfieri will offer a much different driving experience than the German brands listed above, and Jaguar, a British brand.
One final note is the interior. If you’ve ever been in a Porsche, you’ve known what it is to be awash in an ocean of clicky plastic buttons. The Alfieri will wipe the slate clean with a spare interior.
Notice the absence of clutter. According to Design Head Lorenzo Ramaciotti:
“I am not that much interested in the technological show-off that a lot of interiors are today. [W]e wanted to make something clean and simple, and the interior is planned in that way. The interior, all of it, is just one line really. There is almost nothing inside it.”
All the better to focus on what the Alfieri is about: driving.
Come by to Maserati of Raleigh to check out what’s going on as we await this model’s release in 2016.
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