Maserati Stradale: Race division's one for the road

The $350,000 MC Stradale is the most powerful, lightest and fastest model in the Maserati range. Photo / Supplied

We're in the hills above Modena, on a gorgeous ribbon of road regularly used by Maserati and Ferrari test-drivers. Alex is driving. I'm strapped into the passenger seat, in a four-point harness, explaining to him New Zealand's idiosyncratic laws on "unnecessary acceleration" and "sustained loss of traction".

He's bemused, but this is relevant information. Alex - Alessandro Fiorino - is a former Group N world rally champion (1987, at the age of 22), ex-WRC driver (second overall in 1989) and now travels the world training customers and demonstrating new Ferrari/Maserati models. He's just returned from Hampton Downs in Auckland and reckons he'd quite like to come and live in New Zealand. Maybe he's just being polite, but I don't think so. He's not that kind of bloke.

Oh, and Alex is hurling the Maserati MC Stradale around a hairpin corner, plumes of expensive Pirelli PZero Corsa rubber erupting out of the wheelarches, for the benefit of our photographer. The snapper repositions to the other side of the road and we miss him by centimetres as our 1.7-tonne machine drifts past.

"Photographers, they are crazy," laughs Alex. Rally drivers, of course, are completely balanced.

We have the right car for the job. This is the most powerful, lightest and fastest model in the Maserati range: the ultimate evolution of the GranTurismo coupe. The "MC" stands for Maserati Corsa, the maker's racing division. "Stradale" means road - so this is a competition-inspired car that you can drive on the road.

The MC Stradale's Ferrari-built 331kW/510Nm 4.7-litre V8 has 7kW more than the GranTurismo S, yet the car weighs 110kg less. The rear seats have been removed, the front chairs are now carbon-fibre items, there's less sound insulation/sealing and the bespoke 20-inch wheels and Brembo carbon-ceramic brake system take a big chunk out of the vehicle's unsprung weight. It rides 10mm lower at the front and 12mm lower at the back.

On the outside, the MC Stradale has a unique front bumper with splitter, bonnet air intakes, side skirts and a redesigned rear bumper with repositioned pipes for the new lightweight exhaust system.

Inside, there's an updated instrument cluster and electronics interface and - this is the good bit - a new Race button to go with the existing Automatic and Sport modes. In Race, the robotised six-speed transmission changes gears in just 60 milliseconds, compared with 140ms in Automatic. It sounds outrageous, too: in Automatic the exhaust bypass valves are closed for quiet(er) operation, in Sport they open at 4000rpm and in Race they're open permanently.

Alex loves the MC Stradale. You'd expect him to say that, when Maserati is signing his pay cheque. But it's still terrific to hear him enthuse about the car as it dances from corner to corner.

"This car is stiffer and much more reactive on the road, but also very comfortable," he says. "It's very quick on the track but also not difficult to drive, and that's important ... people cannot go to the track every day."

Alex is gracious/brave and lets me have a go in the MC Stradale when we get to the top of the drive route, at Serramazzoni. I'm not a big fan of the standard GranTurismo S - it's a bit too "Monaco playboy" for me - but this thing I love. It has a totally different feel through corners, the noise is intoxicating and the Race-mode gearchanges thump you in the back under full throttle. The standard car sometimes heaves into tight corners, but the MC Stradale strikes at apexes with true precision.

Maserati claims the MC Stradale can do 301km/h, but you really don't need to. It's exhilarating at one-third that speed, which is good news if you're contemplating buying this $350,000 machine. Mind you, of the 10 allocated to Australasia, nine are now sold.

Best bit? I don't know, just all of it. What does Alex think? "I like very much the Race gearbox, but for me absolutely the best feature is the carbon ceramic brakes."

One last thing: what does Alex think of Hampton Downs? "The track is good, but I think there is not enough run-off." Sounds like a place for a race-inspired supercar with superb brakes.