Whoever it was that first came up with the idea that too much of a good thing is bad for you obviously never got to drive an Italian supercar in the span of just a few months, on two different continents and in two of the world's most exciting mountain routes (evo 010).

Plenty of head-scratching and indecision did precede the event with us wondering whether its worth driving the car for the second time but of course we soon realised that it would be rather silly to let up a chance to drive the car on our home turf, to see just how well it does in our warmer weather conditions, and slightly more lax speeding limits.

Our first evening with the folks from Maserati gave us the opportunity to learn more about what made the car tick and exactly what Maserati's expectations of it were. I did seem to hit a nerve however when I asked why the car was not available with a manual transmission and got back a snappy 'well when we only had manuals everyone complained, and now that its automatic you're still not happy!' OK. Things were clearly not off to the best start possible.

My next morning was as bright and cheery as one's morning could be when confronted with a choice of five brand spanking new Maseratis in different colour combinations to choose from for a drive of several hundred kilometres. I quickly settled on the white example with a red interior and set to my usual niggling and picking away at the smallest of flaws in the car's fit and finish. Take my word for it, the finishing is excellent, the panels all fit together perfectly with no excess space or misalignments and the interior, though a bit understated and nowhere near as flamboyant as the exterior was just superbly done. In addition, the rear seats are actually useable and unlike the XK8 or the 911's rear seats, are actually designed with human beings in mind, not golf bags or small dogs named Kiki. Going back to the subject of the exterior however, I was conflicted as to whether or not Maserati may have gotten their inspiration for the front and rear ends from elsewhere, as did some others present as well. The GT, although a very pretty car, certainly seemed to have something slightly Japanese about the way its headlamps and rear lights were shaped.

The moment I turned the ignition, I heard exactly the type of thing that elicited the same feelings that I got as a young teen whenever I would watch Baywatch in the wee hours of the morning. It's only when I started moving that I started to have mixed feelings.

As I slowly started driving out of the hotel's grounds and made my way towards the highway, I was pleasantly surprised as to how composed and reactive the car was to my inputs. All but one. It was just a tad slow. Actually, more than just a tad. The GT, with all of its pretty 399 horses galloping at full pace felt surprisingly underwhelming. On to the mountain roads where I pushed the car harder and felt more confident with every passing curve; despite its large dimensions the car inspired plenty of confidence under hard driving and handled brilliantly through thick and thin, and unfortunately for myself and my passenger, there were a few hairy moments courtesy of some rather foolhardy Omani goats who almost decided to trot across the road as I approached at a very illegal speed. Manoeuvring the car through the twisties revealed very little body roll and a transmission which shifted exactly as it was supposed to in automatic mode, and responded to your every input in manual, never second guessing your choice. Everything seemed to be working together perfectly. Superb transmission, great chassis, wonderful suspensions and despite the slight lack of initiative, excellent engine too. Oh yes, this was one heck of a GT, although not quite as alive or visceral a driving experience as I would have liked due to the extra layers of padding and slight numbing which were dialled in to the chassis to make it a comfortable every day driver as well. Then again, this, by Maserati's own admission, was never meant from the outset to compete with a 911 Turbo, Vantage or R8. It would have likely failed quite badly at the task of trying to outperform any of these cars around a track.

This is a GT, pure and simple, with plenty of space inside, nearly as good a chassis as you can desire for a car of this size, and looks to melt your date's heart. The GT does a good job of being just that, a GranTurismo. Don't get into this car expecting it to break any lap records though because that's just not what it was built to do.