not if you end up in san diego.
Lol.

 

I sure remember the heat of that year in Austin. I used to instruct with a track day moto org here, so imagine being in 110F weather, not a spec of cloud, then you jump into full leathers, boots, gloves and helmet. And stay there til 6pm every sat and sunday. Yeah, remember that.
Travis was down, remember that too. I dive there summers, and that year was way down but that was an anomaly..
I too almost got a Maserati granturismo. I love their sport exhaust note. Pure True Ferrari.
did you have any issues with it? How is diy stuff on it?
Come to TX. Best country in the World.
I moved out if Austin just outside it, to have more space and be alone when I want to. Best call I ever maever made. 20 minutes to Austin downtown so no biggie, and I do work downtown too. Also own cayenne to, love driving it.. son tries to take it over since I drive panamera now too..

Let me know if you move. Take care.

 

Woa that's gotta be hard. It was tough being out I remember when looking at homes back then, going into places with no AC it was torture, so I can imagine what it would be like inside a car, inside a suit and no AC! ..racing season in Australia is typically during winter so I never had issues, but you'd still sweat and lose about 1L of water from so much sweating, but outside temp would be 65 not 110!

I've had my GT since 2014 and it was a 2010 with only 16,000 on the clock. I actually bought it in Indiana and drove it to SD with my wife in 3 days - one of the best experiences ever.
Actually, when I first took one for a spin it was a 4.2 (not the S) and that left me unconvinced. But that exhaust note is just hard to shake off and especially since my office in Australia is just a block away from the Ferrari / Maserati dealership and their mechanics would go past my place several times a week testing customer cars, just intoxicating that sound.
I like white colored cars and cream interior and when I saw mine and it was an S, I thought I gotta have that.
Now maybe I've been lucky, but I really don't think its the case, but mine hasn't given me ANY trouble. Its been amazing, the engine still sounds like new, the car even looks new. Yes I do look after it, but only in terms of cosmetically and maintenance which I do mostly myself. However, in terms of what the car goes through with me is probably what most Maseratis never experience.

I'm not light footed that's for sure and even though I only drive it on Sundays, when I do drive it I drive it very hard. Corners are my favorite things and the engine at 7000rpm sounds like Italian bliss to my ears.

The car is not the fastest there is, slower than my 996TT when it was in stock and much slower than it was after I modded it, but would I take a 996 over the GT, no way. It's looks are so fantastic, so perfect that few cars out there come even close AND once you get that mass off the start line and say you're in 2nd and you have a new M3 next to you or even an M5, they will struggle to overtake you because the GT has a lot of torque and at 450HP its no slouch either.

I have a friend who last year leased the last of the convertible versions and he replaced his previous one that was coupe black 2014 model - he loves them also.

What do I do that's different to most people? - I always always always let the car warm up before starting my journey, that's why I think my car's engine is still smooth and there's no valve tapping noises after 45000 miles. My friends black GT on the other hand was newer and had less miles but his engine's internals made a bit more noise than mine.

Ideally you should buy a low mileage one that has been looked after well and I think it will last you a long time. Mine is 10 years old and people I meet on the street are STILL asking me if its brand new. Needless to say, this is a car I recommend

OH important point, I think one of the reasons these Maseratis are good is that all the electronics are Bosch and my guess is that this move made a tremendous impact because Italian electronics are not the best, the rest however, is magnificent.

Ha, since this is a Texas thread, hopefully the above wont bother too many people (this is after all a car site right!).

And yes, been talking to my wife a lot about Texas - I have no doubt its the best country in the world and I want to go there..hopefully soon!

 

Yep, if you never heard a maserati gt s with the sport exhaust, going at it high rpm, it's a sound you won't forget soon. Ferrari makes their engines at Ferrari factory. Plus they do the exhaust. Put 2 and 2 together, you got a Pavarotti of car sounds.

While in that heat, most get exhausted at the track after 20 minutes. You get off track, pit in, pour t bottle of water into your body, and a second bottle, I to your suit.
By the time you get back on track half hour later, the suit is dry.
Man, I'm still thinking of the mas gts, that sound just captivates me. And correct me if I'm wrong, these are not turbo, but natural aspirated.

 

Yup, naturally aspirated, 4.7 V8.. has a sport button that opens and closes the exhaust so at night its very quiet, but during the day is very loud.. but its not about the sound only, the interior is extremely premium, soft leathers all over and suede on the roof that's super smooth - everywhere you look inside the cabin is premium and that's one of the reasons for why this car is so expensive brand new. Also the suspension is very comfortable yet firm enough to let you go around corners very quickly. In fact, heading to LA several months ago on the i5, I had a new Dodge Challenger take me on (one of those mean looking ones) and on the straight he was keeping up (I was flat to the floor) but as soon as a long curve came up there was no way he could keep up, I looked in the mirror and that's where I quickly noticed he didn't even dare and I can't tell you what speed we were doing here, but most cars wouldn't be able to handle a long sweeping curve at that speed, yet the GT held on.. ..no regrets!

 

Another vote for the PNW here, actually anything North of SF is stunning.
While I personally live in Central Oregon, I wouldn't recommend any of the homeless infested cities or the I-5 corridor.
Scenery is beautiful, unlike anything else in the US. The major drawback is living in an environment which is run into the ground by liberal policies.

I also lived in the South and on the East Coast. Terrible.
As it pertains to Texas, it's the easy life, but the scenery is really ugly, with the exception of their hilly country around Austin. On the flip side, Austin is the 'Portland' of the south, so you have to be able to deal with liberals and California transplants.
I remember going on long rides on my Ducati, hoping to top out my speedometer but being side swept by some really strong winds (I lived in Northern TX). This was rather the norm than the exception, not my definition of a great place to ride performance vehicles.

Net, no place is perfect, there are so many variables at play....

Texas car parked at my Oregon property, best of both worlds :

 

Woa, that photo deserves to be up on a wall. If you have a high res one and don't mind sharing, I might just print it and put it up! - I have a pro canon, so its going to come out beautiful.

 

So sorry, shot this with an old iphone 7 as I was walking up to my car to go for dinner, that generation of iphone can't really handle dusk.
Here's a picture during the day, shot with a Nikon D810.


Riding is fantastic here, esp. HWY 242, which is our local version of the Tail of the dragon. The only difference is, if you miss a corner you end up in a 10,000 year old lava field, which might cause sudden inertia . Here's my Ducati on said road (only open June through October).

Note : if somebody from California reads this: you can visit, but you can't stay.

 

"Note : if somebody from California reads this: you can visit, but you can't stay." LMAO

Ahh shame about that original photo, was amazing, just loved it. These other two are very nice, but not the same...

 

Just wow at the Corse....

Bought my SP black, but it turned red soon after...

 

Thanks for sharing, these bikes are so awesome

 

Best. Therapy. Ever.

 

Awesome bikes, but on twisty roads, they all had to let me and my 996TT pass! ..boy that car had some power and handling, big bikes would just be leaning hard with sparks coming out of their foot pegs, yet for the 996 it was just a walk in the park..

 

Living in CA is some of the best sport bike riding there is. I was lucky to be relocated for work right outside Malibu Canyon for a year. Spent everyday riding The Snake, Latigo Canyon, etc. I sold my bikes shortly thereafter when I moved. There's no other place like it.

 

Yep,.,I spent a lot of time on Ortega Hwy back in the 80's, in the service...when sport bikes really became sport bikes with the new GSX-R.