When you enter our Supercar competition, you could choose between the soft-top V8 offerings from Aston Martin or Maserati. Here we help you make the decision…
Italy versus UK. Not a potential World Cup match (not with our form anyway!), but a battle of the £90,000 convertible V8 supercars.
What you have here is possibly the hardest decision you would ever have to make. It would keep you awake at night, tossing and turning. And in the end the only thing that may sway you is whether you need 2 or 4 seats.
So onto the contenders. The baby Aston has been available for 6 years, but in 2009 they made some revisions to the coupe and convertible models, taking the fight to the new rivals out there. The GranCabrio has only been on sale a few months, so it’s the new kid on the block.
They both come to the fight with soft-top convertible roofs, front mounted V8 engines of 4.7 litres, rear wheel drive, and over 400bhp. Oh, and they come with two of the most achingly beautiful shapes ever to grace four wheels.
Spec:
| V8 Vantage | GranCabrio | |
| Engine | 4.7 V8 | 4.7 V8 |
| Seats | 2 | 4 |
| Power (bhp) | 420 | 433 |
| Torque (lb/ft) | 346 | 361 |
| 0-60 (secs) | 4.7 | 5.3 |
| Top Speed (mph) | 180 | 175 |
| Weight (kg) | 1710 | 1980 |
| Power/Weight | 245.5 | 218.5 |
| Price | £91,500 | £96,175 |
So looking at the two models, the Maserati has more power and torque, but is hit by weighing over 270kg more than the Aston which gives an inferior power/weight ratio. And this is what really matters in the real world as this affects performance, dynamics and outright speed.
The Italian also costs a little more, but at this level £5000 isn’t going to bother most buyers.
So even though these two cars look very similar on paper, they are actually quite different driving propositions. The Aston (especially in Sport Pack guise, pictured) is quite a hard riding, bend-attacking sportscar, ready and eager to be thrown down your favourite road. The Maserati on the other hand, is much softer and more relaxed an affair. The Maser begs to be cruised down through France to Monaco, along the coastal roads at 8/10′s.
The Maserati has the added benefit of having an extra two seats as well, and they are certainly more than capable of fitting adults in them, if not for extended journeys.
So it all comes down to – which one would you have? For this writer the Aston has the egde over the Maserati in the looks department, and prefers a harder driving style, so the UK wins for me.
What about you? Would you go Italian or British? Leave your comments below and let us know!
Aston wins, indeed. After having the pleasure of owning a 2006 Vantage for three years, I compared the updated Vantage (as per the specs posted) with the Maserati. And I must say that I was eager for a change from the Vantage, in spite of the improved engine, as the Vantage was so damn familiar to me after 3 years and the new model looked exactly the same (not a bad thing, I realize). However, the Maserati simply didn’t inspire me as I had hoped. In addition to the objective performance lag versus the aston as noted in the above post, the Aston won — without ambiguity — on the subjective sense of occasion when sitting in the cockpit. The Maserati’s materials, layout, and all-around vibe simply didnt make it feel like a special place. When getting in the Aston, you KNOW you are in a hand-built piece of art and it’s smile inducing. I definitely made the right choice…aston is on its game these days, indeed.
The Aston wins for me. I do however like the Mas’er which is very nice too.
On my second Aston Martin Vantage roadster. The car is very quick (you want the manual) and it garners more looks and cell phone pics when parked next to Lambos and Ferraris. I bought it because it sounds great, is well built and is just plain beautiful. The design will become iconic.
I am still on my Aston Martin dream. Since a boy to be a fact. perhaps its the James Bond in me. OK he will never drive a Vantage but who cares. Its got the same blood. And to be fair how many people do you see sat in the back of a DBS or DB9?
Who knows Santa Hindmarch might just bring me one for Christmas !!!!! I think I can find a stocking big enough !
Already have a Ferrari California, now also have a GranCabrio for the extra seats. Whilst I love the Aston the two cars I have fit the bill – sport and practicality
Maserati every day.
Four seats is essencial for me (wife and kid), and when i´m in a cabrio i really like to cruise, enjoy tehe ride with friends, family or alone, not race.
Aston is a very nice car, but i would never want a two seater.