[alfa] Re: Maserati Khamsin vs GTV-6

[George Graves <gmgraves@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

No you haven't underestimated the GTV-6, not the stock one, anyway. I 
was talking about the original poster's 3.0 liter, not the stock 2.5. 
My 220+BHP 3.0 liter will do 0-60 in about 5.9 seconds and has a 
"theoretical" top speed of 159 (22mph/1000rpm in top gear X 7.25 [7,250 
RPM engine ignition cutoff] = 159.5 mph). I've had her up OVER 150, so 
I don't really know to what that equates, but I suspect that the car is 
aerodynamically limited and probably won't actually pull ignition 
cutoff in top gear. The US version of the Khamsin, OTOH, according to 
my "Great Book of Sports Cars" by Dean Batchelor, has 280 BHP would do 
0-60 in 8.1 seconds, and the top speed for the US version was 140, but 
the Euro version will do 160. The car weighs 3620-3750 which is about 
1000 pounds more than a stock GTV-6.

That's what I was going by when I made my comments.

But I agree that ideally, one should have one of each (along with about 
100 other car makes and models that I would recommend having one each 
of).

George Graves
'86 GTV-6 3.0 'S'



On Jul 28, 2004, at 9:17 AM, alfa-digest wrote:

>
> Date: Wed, 28 Jul 2004 07:43:56 -0700 (PDT)
> From: Charles King <chas_a_king@domain.elided>
> Subject: [alfa] Re: alfa-digest V10 #246
>
> Re the Maserati Khamsin, George Graves wrote:
>
>> Yes, it is swoopier than the GTV-6, but It's no
>> faster (certainly no faster than a good 3-liter
>> GTV-6 conversion), doesn't handle as well, and is
>> tres cher to maintain. Count your blessings.
>
> Maserati gave a top speed for the Khamsin of about 170
> mph.  I don't know if anyone actually achieved that in
> the real world, but it would certainly hit 150 without
> much trouble.
>
> Apparently I've been underestimating the GTV-6!
>
> Seriously, comparing the Khamsin to the GTV-6 is a bit
> apples to oranges:  the GTV-6 is a sports car whereas
> the Khamsin (like, indeed, all Maserati exotics) is
> pure grand tourer.  (So, to cover all the bases, get
> one of each. :-) )
>
> Chuck King
> Chicago, IL
> 86 Alfa Romeo Graduate
> 87 Maserati Biturbo Spyder
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