Maserati with a transaxle!

[Greg_Graham@domain.elided]

Lookie what we get in the States!  Alfa Content?  Well, they finally saw
the advantage of the transaxle design!

Maserati will debut the two-seat roadster at the Frankfurt auto show in
September. With the same front-end design,the Spyder looks like a
short-wheelbase derivative of the 2+2 seat 3200 GT coupe.

But Maserati reworked the entire platform. Those modifications - plus a new
engine and mechanical layout - will be transferred back to the coupe by
mid-2002.

The main innovation is a new, normally aspirated V-8 engine rather than the
twin turbocharged motor that has been Maserati's signature for 20 years.
The new V-8 is a 48-valve, 4.2-liter delivering 390hp at 7,000 rpm and
451Nm of
torque at 4,500 rpm. Maserati said the new V-8 is 20kg lighter than the
3.2-liter V-8 turbo currently offered on the 3200 GT. The new V-8 has fewer
parts and racecar features such as dry-sump lubrication.

The Spyder's second innovation is its mechanical layout. Unlike the coupe's
six-speed gearbox mounted immediately behind the engine, the Spyder uses a
transaxle design with the gearbox mounted in front of the rear
differential. The change shifts weight backward, giving the new Spyder a
more balanced 53-47 percent weight
distribution.

The layout change means Maserati modified both the front and rear portions
of the platform for Spyder, in addition to shortening the wheelbase by
220mm to 2440mm.

The new Spyder also has Magneti Marelli's Selespeed electro-hydraulic
transmission control, which Maserati calls Cambiocorsa (racing gearbox in
Italian). And Spyder comes with Skyhook, a new generation of automatic
damping control system. Developed with Mannesmann Sachs, Skyhook is said to
be 10 times faster than other existing
systems.

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