Reviewed by 
From the January 2002 issue of Car and Driver.
The American smorgasbord of automotive offerings includes more than 300 nameplates to choose from, and yet the editorial appetite is unfulfilled. Why? There's no pizza. No pasta. Not so much as a scaloppine. Where affordable four-wheeled cucina Italiana is concerned, we've been Lancia-less since 1982, Fiat-free since '83, sans Bertone and Maserati since 1990, and bereft of Alfa Romeos since 1995.
Where'd they go? Their grossly sub-standard quality made a more indelible impression on buyers than did their marvelous high-revving engines and nimble handling, so the market drummed them out. Take Maserati, for example. This great marque has collected nearly 500 outright motorsports wins (including the only two Indy 500 victories by any Italian company) and in the past 75 years has produced some of the world's finest grand-touring coupes and sedans. But throughout the '70s and '80s, ownership passed first to nearly bankrupt Citroën and then to Argentine bullfighter/entrepreneur Alejandro de Tomaso, who decided to mass-produce a sort of "people's" Maserati, with rather disastrous results. Remember Biturbos flambé? Fast-forward through the '90s. European Union trade laws increased competition, and Fiat consolidated Italy's volume carmakers and leveraged engineering talent across the marques. Maserati went directly under the wing of Ferrari in 1997, so now, in the new millennium, the trident is poised for its triumphant return. (Alfa follows in 2005.)
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Since assuming control, Ferrari has transformed Maserati's supplier base, gutted its historic Modena factory and fitted it with world-class equipment, and developed an entirely new Maserati drivetrain and suspension system. Total investment will amount to $450 million by 2005, when sales of the Spyder, the forthcoming 4200GT coupe, and the S-class–sized '04 Quattroporte sedan are forecast to hit 6000 cars per year. And to assuage those with long memories of Maserati quality lapses, the warranty will stretch to four years/50,000 miles.
So if big money's been spent and the warranty's in place, is it still a truly Italian car, or have international regulations and quality standards rendered this a product of the global village? Mama mia! Toe into this new 4.2-liter V-8, bend the so-called Skyhook suspension into a kink, and you'll know it's as Italian as grappa, pasta, and porn-star politicians.
First there's the aural pleasure. The intake system's song is in a lower register than the Ferrari 360's—perhaps due to its deeper lungs—and is accompanied by a delightful mechanical valvetrain music. The exhaust is at its most entertaining off-throttle, when it splutters and pops like a vintage racer's. Even the transaxle can be heard to pipe in its two cents' worth during shifts and on overrun. Pinpointing all the wonderful sounds is as much fun as locating the instruments on an old-fashioned quadraphonic eight-track recording.
And that sound is accompanied by plenty of fury. After numerous warnings against comparing this car with its upscale prancing-horse cousins, we were expecting a stately grand-touring pace. But our Rosso Mondiale test car managed to rip-snort its way to 60 mph in 4.7 seconds and through the quarter in 13.1 seconds at 111 mph. That pace easily trumps the Spyder's chief competitors (the Porsche 911 and Jaguar XKR cabrios), which we compared against a Panoz Esperante last July. Average acceleration for that group was 5.3 seconds to 60 mph and 14 flat in the quarter.
Spyder Cambiocorsas such as ours are fitted with a Magneti Marelli automated six-speed manual transaxle like Ferrari's 360 F1 box (the base Spyder GT gets a conventional shifter). Achieving maximum acceleration requires switching off the automatic mode, engaging the Sport mode (which also firms the Skyhook's electronically controlled dampers), switching off the electronic traction control, and flooring the accelerator long enough to call for an aggressive clutch drop. You must then back off to about two-thirds throttle to prevent excessive wheel slip, then floor it again when the tires hook up, paddle-shifting at redline.
Shifts are quarter-note quick—0.25 second, or twice as quick as Michael Schumacher can shift a standard stick. Slow the pace and engage automatic mode, and the shifts take three times as long and feel much creamier than in the 360 F1 box. Smoother clutch engagement from rest makes the Spyder easier to maneuver at low speeds, too, although a whiff of clutch odor suggests copious slippage that may shorten the lining's life. We don’t lament the lack of a traditional torque-converter automatic, but this box will never be confused with one. Automatic downshifts for passing take too long, but the paddles can be used to speed things up, even in automatic mode. The Cambiocorsa undoubtedly shifts itself better, quicker, and smoother than a human stirring a conventional stick can manage.
A day spent plying the high-speed bends and double-downshift kinks along Italy's Apennine Mountain passes revealed an eager chassis that responds to the helm with an intuitiveness that builds confidence instantly. There are no nonlinearities in the steering, roll stiffness, or damping characteristics. Abundant grip on dry tarmac is managed sensibly by the traction control's Sport calibration, allowing enough slip and drift to make the driver feel talented without ever following through and proving the contrary. After all, traction control is only a safety system if people leave it switched on, and they'll be happy to do so with this setup. Similarly, ABS rarely intervened with the gigantic cross-drilled rotors and four-piston brakes, even in very hard running—another confidence-building trait. Fade was utterly undetectable, and stops from 70 mph required just 154 feet—nine less than in our comparo-winning 911 cabrio.
Ride quality over the few village cobbles we managed to traverse is quite supple with the Skyhook set to Normal, and our test car exhibited only a hint of steering-wheel shake on the rough stuff. Folks driving different Spyders reported more chassis flex, though, so we'll reserve final judgment on the structural rigidity.
Ergonomically, the trip-computer, radio, and optional nav-system controls exhibit lots of personality, which is a euphemism for "they suck." We missed a turn and got lost, forcing a stop to program the nav system. This turned out to be a blood-pressure-increasing exercise in frustration. Still, all the primary controls are well placed and functional, and the overall build quality of the car is superb. The one-button, 18-microswitch top works quickly and seals up nice and snug. Our biggest complaint with the cockpit is that the dead pedal is positioned too far aft of the accelerator, forcing the left leg into a kinked position. The choice of materials and the overall interior panache suggest a company that is trying hard to win over a huge new market and may have eschewed conventional profit economics. (Spyder GTs will start at about $90,500; Cambiocorsas at $94,500.) Color and trim customization, at extra cost (even the brake-caliper color can be specified), are encouraged through the Officine Alfieri Maserati program.
To our eye, the new Spyder seems sufficiently attractive to lure the style-conscious away from Jaguar, and it certainly has the chassis and drivetrain verve to woo dyed-in-the-wool enthusiasts out of Porsches and Corvettes. It even has the exclusivity to draw individualists away from fringe cars such as the Panoz Esperante. But most importantly, the Spyder is a true Italian thoroughbred that picks up where Maserati's Ghibli, Khamsin, and Bora GTs left off. Viva Maserati!
Specifications
Specifications
2002 Maserati Spyder Cambiocorsa
Vehicle Type: front-engine, rear-wheel-drive, 2-passenger, 2-door convertible
PRICE (ESTIMATED)
Base/As Tested: $94,500/$97,000
ENGINE
DOHC 32-valve V-8, aluminum block and heads, port fuel injection
Displacement: 259 in3, 4245 cm3
Power: 385 hp @ 7000 rpm
Torque: 333 lb-ft @ 4500 rpm
TRANSMISSION
6-speed manual
CHASSIS
Suspension, F/R: control arms/control arms
Brakes, F/R: 13.0-in vented, cross-drilled disc/12.7-in vented, cross-drilled disc
Tires: Michelin Pilot Sport
F: 235/40ZR-18,
R: 265/35ZR-18
DIMENSIONS
Wheelbase: 96.1 in
Length: 169.4 in
Width: 71.7 in
Height: 51.4 in
Passenger Volume: 50 ft3
Trunk Volume: 11 ft3
Curb Weight: 3800 lb
C/D TEST RESULTS
60 mph: 4.7 sec
100 mph: 11.1 sec
1/4-Mile: 13.1 sec @ 111 mph
Rolling Start, 5–60 mph: 4.9 sec
Top Gear, 30–50 mph: 2.9 sec
Top Gear, 50–70 mph: 4.3 sec
Top Speed (C/D est): 174 mph
Braking, 70–0 mph: 154 ft
EPA FUEL ECONOMY (ESTIMATED)
City/Highway: 11/17 mpg
