In the eighteenth century, thousands of mainly British travellers journeyed across Europe on a Grand Tour. The Grand Tour became a rite of passage for wealthy young men and the few female Grand Tourists among them were typically upper-class women accompanied by their husband or a male chaperone.
One such woman was Lady Mary Wortley Montagu, who despite the constraints of being denied schooling, pursued her love of learning through self-education. Lady Mary has been described as an unconventional woman who had a passion for writing, literature, exploration and travel. She was hugely influential and wrote extensively in her letters of her experiences on her Grand Tour around Italy and Europe, which were eventually published and inspired many future generations of female travellers.
The Grand Tour often included major cities like Paris, Geneva, and Berlin, with a significant emphasis on Italy. Rome, Venice, Florence, and Naples were particularly popular destinations for their art, architecture, and historical sites. One such site would have been Michelangelo’s Campidoglio Plaza, a masterpiece of Renaissance urban design located on Capitoline Hill in Rome.
Maserati have paid homage to Michelangelo’s Campidoglio Plaza with an embroidered graphic motif in the interior of the GranTurismo Modena that sweeps across the cabin in a harmonious interplay between textile and tech. The GranTurismo Modena was designed for those people, the ones who make going from one place to another a journey worth remembering. Much like the women who partook in the Grand Tour at time when their place was meant to be in the home.
Resembling the sculptures of the Renaissance period with their classical forms, the Maserati GranTurismo’s design is flowing and sensuous. The scoops within the bonnet direct the air around the vehicle creating downforce through beautiful, invisible lines. I particularly loved the view from the driver’s seat with the bulges in the front guards and then looking in the side mirror you see the rear guards as well. Those guards enclose 20” / 21” Light Alloy Crio design wheels finished in Diamond Cut Glossy Black contrasted with the optional Red Brake Calipers ($2,500). This grand tourer rides on air suspension for the ultimate comfort and has a nose lift kit to avoid scraping the lower lip of the front spoiler.
The Maserati GranTurismo Modena is powered by a mid-mounted twin turbo 3.0-liter V6 Nettuno engine, capable of outputting up to 360kw of power and 600 Nm of torque. The sweet sounding V6 has a lovely exhaust note as you would expect for a Maserati, as are the top speed of 302km/h and the acceleration time from 0-100 km/h in just 3.9 seconds. The official combined fuel use for the GranTurismo Modena is 10.2 L/100km and for my time in this Bianco beauty I used 15.8L/100km.
Hit the start button on the lovely leather sport steering wheel and select from the drive mode from the knob on its other side and you are good to go. Comfort, GT, and Sport drive modes are the options, all of which offer a nice steering feel. Sport mode deepens the exhaust note and selects the sportier damper mode, which is not harsh. Or you can press the damper button in centre of drive mode selector to soften the suspension up, if desired.
Sport mode with softer suspension was my preferred setup in the GranTurismo because it doesn’t hold the gear long enough in GT or Comfort mode on the 8-speed automatic ZF transmission. So, the engine felt like it is laboring more often than not and I would end up shifting down a gear manually using the column-mounted Aluminium paddle shifters.
I love the feel of these metal paddle shifters, but their mounting position meant that the distance from the steering wheel to the indicator stalks behind the steering wheel was a full hand with reach for me and it appears to have been designed for larger hands than mine. I also think that the push button gear selectors that I have seen in other vehicles in the Stellantis range are not up to the high standard of Maserati. Neither was the sound of the indicator tick/tock, which I think was the same as the one in the Jeep Avenger that I drove earlier this year and I didn’t like it in that vehicle either.
The interior finish of the GranTurismo Modena is very luxurious though, step over the stainless-steel doorsills and you are greeted by full grain perforated leather upholstery with Campidoglio stitching and Radica Anthracite trim. This Modena also had the optional ($1750) stitched Trident on all four headrests, a reminder of the brand’s Italian heritage, linked to Roman mythology. Both front seats have 18-way power adjustment with three memory positions and they are heated and ventilated. The seat cooling worked about average compared to other vehicles that have it and it was relatively quiet while operating.
To keep the classic look going the glovebox release is a button on lower screen and push button to open doors with emergency release in the door cubby, where there is enough space for your sunglasses. There are lovely stainless steel two cup holders in the centre console or you can remove centre piece and this creates a drink bottle holder.
Harking back to Maserati’s of old is the dash mounted clock, but this is now a digital display with three clock designs to choose from, classic, sport, design, or it can be a compass, brake/power display or a G-meter. I did also like that when you engage the voice control and the Maserati assistant talks to you there are wavy lines on the screen like a robot is replying to you. The voice control worked well for me when I asked it to make a phone call, change the radio station, or set a destination on the sat nav.
Returning to the 21st century, the GranTurismo Modena has a 12.3″ premium infotainment screen and a lower 8.8″ comfort touch display with haptic feedback and here you find the climate controls and seat adjustment controls, additional to those on the side of the fronts seats. A Sonus Faber premium audio System with 12 speakers comes as standard and the media sources include AM/FM radio, DAB+, Bluetooth, USB, and smartphone.
Your phone is connected to the GranTurismo via wireless Apple CarPlay/Android Auto and I experienced no dropouts with the Android Auto, which is an improvement over previous Stellantis vehicles that I have driven. There’s a wireless phone charger at front of centre console and wireless key charger for the lovely chunky key fob, under the arm rest. Also under the arm rest is one USB-C, one USB-A and one 12V socket, but annoying these USB ports do not charge your phone, they are for connecting to the infotainment system only. If you want to use a cord to charge your phone you have to plug into the rear USB-A or USB-C port in the rear centre console.
The driver has powered adjustment of the steering column and the 12.3″ digital driver’s dash can configured to your personal preference. My GranTurismo was also fitted with the optional Tech Assistance Pack ($7,950) that adds a frameless digital rear view mirror and head-up display, but for me the standard rear-view mirror provided a clear enough view, so I don’t think the digital mirror is necessary.
The two rears seats of the GranTurismo are nice enough, but like the Ford Mustang your head is sitting below the rear windscreen, and I just fitted with my head touching the glass, so it would be impossible for taller individuals to sit back there. I call 2+2 vehicles such as this as a three-seater, because in order for one person to sit in the back you have to move the passenger seat forward, so they can fit their legs in as it would not be possible with the driver in a normal seating position, to sit behind them.
There are two ISOFix/two rear tether child seat restraint points but you would have to be dedicated to use these and care would need to be taken to select a car seat that would fit in. Between the rear seats there are two cup holders and passengers get one rear air vent with an on/off control.
The powered boot lid has a kick sensor or can be open/closed using the external button, key fob or the button in the cabin located near the centre reading lights on the roof. The boot is quite low and deep boot, so it’s quite a reach to get to the back. The centre of the rear seats can be folded down to stow longer items and there is one 12V socket in boot space and a tyre repair kit under the boot floor.
Front driver and passenger airbags along with side curtain airbags for the front row are fitted to protect passengers in the GranTurismo. Active driver safety aids include forward collision prevention, adaptive cruise control, lane keep assist, blind spot monitoring, rear park active braking, traffic sign warning and new speed warning, both of the latter can be turned off if desired. To assist with parking the GranTurismo has a standard rear view camera and surround view camera with front and rear parking sensors. For convenience you also get auto lights and auto high beam along with rain-sensing auto wipers.
All new Maserati vehicles come with a three year/unlimited kilometre warranty, which can be extended through to the 10th year on driveline components of your vehicle with no limits on mileage by purchasing extended warranty cover. A Pre-Paid Maintenance plan can be purchased up front and offers fixed prices assured for spare parts, consumables and labour, for the entire term of your service plan. Maserati also off a pick-up and delivery service applicable to all vehicles for any service within a certain distance from the dealership with a courtesy car can be provided.
The women who experienced the Grand Tour, sometimes against societal norms, contributed to the growing body of travel writing and literature, and also influenced social and political circles at the time. A car like Maserati GranTurismo Modena would befit them if they were to complete a similar journey today because every Maserati is like a work of art constructed with the care and attention that only the human hand can provide.
Pricing for Maserati GranTurismo Modena starts at $357,500 excluding on road costs and as tested this GranTurismo Modena was $369,700 excluding on road costs. You can Build Your Own GranTurismo online or visit your nearest Maserati dealer for more information.
| Pros | Cons |
| The lovely V6 engine note | The annoying indicator noise |
| The exterior and interior styling | The distance between the indicator stalk and the steering wheel |
| The links to Italy’s history within the vehicle | Front USB ports do not charge your phone |
Photographs by Driven Women Magazine.