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[LSNN] City Driver Magazine - What I Drive: Grotti Carbonizzare


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WHAT I DRIVE: GROTTI CARBONIZZARE

By: Berta K. Torres

 

A quick review to my past vehicles, my current ride, and my causes for loving to drive it.

 

I’ve been thinking for many time to dedicate a vehicle review to my own car. But certainly, and since I have arrived in the city not much time ago, I never had the chance to own a really nice vehicle which can deserve an interesting review.

 

Let me tell you a bit of my story. As possibly most of us, I arrived to Los Santos in a plane, and with just few dollars on my pocket. Nothing enough to purchase a car. Not even for a mopped. I started working to gain my first salaries and after a few I could start owning vehicles.

 

My first car in the town was an Weeny Issy, which I still keep to be honest since it’s a cheap car to maintain. Honestly is possibly one of the biggest craps that I have ever driven. But it did its job pretty well: driving from A to B, without a huge consumption, comfortable and small, so you can park it anywhere. Soon I could afford a better car, luckily. This time, the election was to purchase a brand new blue Alpha. An elegant car which I had customized to make it a bit more mine, but at the same time capable of giving you great experiences when driving it in a sporty way. The stability is not the best, honestly it was so easy to drift the car, and to lose the tail in braking, cornering and speeding-up, and I blame the soft suspension: too much focused on achieving a comfortable driving rather than ensuring a good dynamic performance. The engine wasn’t either, since having more than 300 break-horsepower wasn’t enough to move a car which weight is around the two tones at its maximum speed; but the designers of that car achieved a great equilibrium between practicality (let’s not forget this is mainly a car to be driven in a daily basis), beauty and sportiveness.

 

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Trust me, I was in love of my Alpha. But soon I realize that I should get another car. I was missing that sensation of pushing the pedal to the metal and get sucked by the seat. That sensation of taking a corner at an insane speed and see the car not even sliding a bit. All those were the reasons for me to get a new car. My first sports car. And the choice was this: Grotti Carbonizzare.

 

Honestly speaking, I was looking for a car that could give me great sensations at the steering wheel but at the same time being as much practical as possible to be able to drive it in a regular basis. A car that wouldn’t make everyone move his head towards it but which would give you enough portions of speed. That was the main reason I’ve chosen this car.

 

It can be driven in a daily basis without many problems. With the car covered (this is a convertible car) you have plenty of space in the trunk. The driving post, despite being sporty is comfortable enough, and the fuel consumption, despite being high, is not dramatic for a car that has a V8 bi-turbo engine that gives 450 break-horsepower and can reach up to 130 miles per hour. The suspension, which can be regulated, is not extremely hard when is set to comfort, so will not destroy your back when driving on a bumpy street. However, let’s not forget that this is a sports car. If you look for comfort, buy a SUV or a Sedan. The car is not the easiest to access. Is not the one which has the greatest visibility, the driving post is low, and the car is wide. It has a high fuel consumption, so is not made for a long journey across a highway. Indeed, is a sport car. You can use it in a daily basis? Also yes. But is a sport car, after all. The good point of driving a sports car is that, as soon as you reach a curvy road, all that facts that concern comfort and practicality blow away. Is there when only the dynamic performance and the engine counts. And in this environment, when comfort doesn’t counts is when the car proofs that is worth all the money it costs.

 

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Let’s first start speaking about the engine. It has an European V8. The current european engineering trends make the car engines be smaller in capacity, especially compared with the American ones: this vehicle comes with a 3.6 liter engine, bi-turbo, capable of developing 450 break-horsepower at just 5.000 rpm, which is great since most of those cars develop it’s maximum power at much higher revs. The power curve is smooth and progressive. Surprisingly for a bi-turbo engine, the power comes in a good amount at low revs. Obviously do not get the car below the 2.000 rpm, or it will basically not respond, even if you go through the floor with the throttle pedal. But it comes strong over 2.500. From that point the power delivery keeps increasing until you reach the maximum power, and it keeps high until you reach the 8.000 rpm, point when it starts decreasing. Not bad at all: almost a flat response in a 3.000 rev threshold. The injection cuts at around 8.500 rpm. All this power is delivered to the rear wheels only by using a double-clutch gearbox that can be operated automatically or with paddles placed behind the wheel which do not spin with it. They are fixed. Great detail, Grotti. I have to say that the car is not the most powerful I have driven. To be honest, I was expecting a bit more of power in a car of this price range. Specially if you compare it with similar cars from other manufacturers, this is clearly a weak point. This does not mean the car will not be fast, or accelerate quick. Depress the throttle pedal, and you will soon realize what I am talking about.

 

But this lack in the power unit, being smaller and somehow less powerful than some of this car’s maximum competitors, is really good compensated with the dynamic performance. The fact of having a smaller engine means it will be also lighter. So the inertias are reduced and that is translated to a great cornering without any understeering. As a good sports car, where you aim with the steering wheel, is where the car nose will aim fractions of seconds later. And is agile at changing direction. Does not mind if you are being aggressive with the steering-wheel. The car will change direction in a very precise way. I can’t say the same of the rear-end unfortunately. The car has a flat floor and a diffusor, as well as a rear spoiler. However, and while those gadgets are great when you are driving in a race track, but when you are in the street… well. Do not get me wrong: the grip on the rear-end is great, always that you do not interrupt the air flow underneath the car and arriving to the diffusor. If nothing happens, you will have tons of grip that will allow you to traction great after a corner without understeering. But what if there is a variation on the steepness of the road, for example? Of a heavy bump. Well, in this case, the air flow will be interrupted. That means the diffusor will not be able to produce downforce, and that great grip I was speaking about will be lost. Suddenly. Meaning that if you are full-throttle when this happens, you will spin. The fact of being a cabrio does not help. The chassis only unites the front and rear ends with the bottom and not using, both the floor and the bottom. So it transmits forces a bit worse than a coupe. But hey, I’ll tell you a secret: this is a sports cars, and all sports cars require experienced drivers. There is none easy to drive, specially at their maximum capacities. That is what makes them exciting. And again, if you are looking for a car that is easy to drive: buy a SUV.

 

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This was my election and on my point of view: I made a good choice. Not because it is the most powerful car, because is not. Not because it has the best stability. Neither it is. But the overall compromise is great and as I said before, is a sports car that can be driven in a daily basis. Because of that, I am self-convinced that I've made a great choice. I would also like to know your opinion. Do you think this was a good choice? Let me know your thoughts by leaving a comment.

 

Berta K. Torres

 

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