While flooring the Ferrari can be as orgasmic as it gets, tapping the brakes brings on an experience not too dissimilar to the arrival of room service at the wrongest possible time. You are pinned to your seat as the sports car decelerates almost instantly. Things are much calmer in the Maserati, where the stopping department is not really helped by the semi-auto gearbox which is perpetually thinking of ways to keep you moving fast. The brakes of these exotics actually state the obvious – one is occasionally meant to go around the Nurburgrings and Silverstones of this world while the other is built to chase the Orient Express at leisure as it pants its way from Paris to Istanbul.
I can go on and on. But the story won’t be complete if we don’t tell you that we managed some serious speeds with these machines. The Maserati terrorised fellow motorists at 220 kph, while we had to contend with traffic when we were out with the Modena (we don’t want to mention the top speed here, really). Is it all about speed? About how quick and fast? I don’t think so – I have driven some very fast machines before but they didn’t feel the same. They were not red, they didn’t have the Bologna trident for a grille ornament, they were not as loud and they didn’t have the same effect on people.
As mornings go, this was proving to be a bloody brilliant one. One that made me understand why people pay obscene amounts of money to buy a rather small car made of red plastic with a big engine attached to it. Or why someone needs a classically elegant motorcar with 400 bhp packed under the bonnet. These are not cars. These are serious toys for people who like to and, here comes the operative word, can, live their dreams. And without them, the world isn’t complete.
Which one would I keep? Well, the 360 Modena of course, though I may have to pay entertainment tax for just driving one around. And then someone will ask me why anyone would buy a screaming V8-powered Italian sports car in India and I will be only too happy to quote Da Vinci...
Blinding ignorance does mislead us.O! Wretched mortals, open your eyes!
We’d like to thank Dr Vijay Mallya for allowing us to drive his gorgeous Quattroporte and Adar Poonawalla for letting us drive the awesome 360 Modena.
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