2012 Maserati GranCabrio Sport

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After stunning the world with the GranCabrio at the 2009 Frankfurt Motor Show, Maserati will use the 2011 Geneva Motor Show to take its grand-touring convertible to a new level of performance and handling with the GranCabrio Sport.

Visually, the GranCabrio Sport is characterized by a more-pronounced dynamic look. This look begins at the GranCabrio's distinctive nose with a black grille and a Trident with red accents. The headlights now have a black look with white sidemarks, while front corner splitters and the redesigned side skirts are both body colored. The GranCabrio Sport also debuts a new body colour for Maserati: Rosso Trionfale inspired by the red Italian national colors used on 1950s racing Maseratis - in 1957, Juan Manuel Fangio won his fifth F1 World Title at the wheel of a red Maserati 250F.

Conceived to give the GranCabrio a harder-edged model to sit alongside the GranTurismo S and the Quattroporte Sport GT S, the GranCabrio Sport uses a more powerful and fuel-efficient version of Maserati's, all-alloy 4.7-liter V8, coupled with the ZF six-speed automatic transmission.

This naturally aspirated engine produces in this configuration 450 horsepower and has 376 lb-ft (510 Nm) at the peak of its rich, thick torque curve. Maserati's Friction Reduction Program has made the GranCabrio Sport's engine more reactive to the driver's most-nuanced inputs, while reaching a 6% reduction in fuel consumption. The top speed of the GranCabrio Sport is 177 mph (285 km/h).

This six-speed transmission is equipped with the super-fast MC Auto Shift software and has been developed for the GranCabrio Sport directly from the transmission in the Quattroporte Sport GT S. The MC Auto Shift provides optimised gearshift response resulting in an even-greater engagement.

The handling has received attention, too, with an upgrade and revision of the Skyhook active-suspension system - now with a sportier tuning - and the adoption of grooved and drilled dual-cast brake discs.

The GranCabrio Sport will be on sale in all of Maserati's 62 markets starting from summer 2011.