My wife and I went to Vegas this week for our 10th anniversary. She has always wanted Maserati and when I found we could rent one there I decided to go for it even if it was a bit expensive. I also made dinner reservations at the Eiffel Tower Restaurant for the same evening. It turned out to be a wonderful day that went like this.
We picked up the maser at Rent-A-Vette near the airport at around 0800 Tuesday. After contract formalities, photos, copies of insurance, licenses, and fingerprinting (I guess they want to make sure you aren't going to steal the car
) we got a quick lesson on the fine details of the car. The staff there was very nice and helpful. I mentioned that I had read a review of rude service and the guy laughed and said "ah yes that must have been (forgot the name), we try to not let him talk to customers." Anyway I had no problems with anyone I spoke with on the phone or in person.
I believe they have the 2002 Maserati Spyder Cambiocorsa. I say 02 because the area surrounding the gauges was very high and I think in 03 they lowered it a bit. The last bit of advice as we left was a recommendation to leave the traction control on. I smiled and thought, now where is the fun in that...
Anyway, we left with intentions of getting some brunch. But the car was way too fun to stop for food. So we took 911SC Pilots advice and headed for Mt Charleston. A quick stop at a Walmart off of 95 to install the Escort 8500 and get supplies like sun-block and water and we were off again.
We went up and around Mt Charelston taking turns driving. There were a lot of cops on 95 but only 2-3 cars total on the smaller 157, 158, and 156 highways. This meant open straights with long sight lines, and lots of fun twisties. We stopped several times to admire the car. Here are some pics.
For those not familiar with the specs for the Maser:
Max. Power Output 390 bhp at 7000 RPM
Peak Torque 330 lb-ft (ft-lbs) at 4500 RPM
Max. Engine Speed 7600 RPM
Curb Weight 3792 lbs
Acceleration 0-60 mph 4.9 sec.
Acceleration 1/4 mile 13.4 sec.
Max Speed 177mph
Overall impressions: What an awesome GT! Gives pure sports car look, feel, and sound, but all with a luxury polish. I drove the car with the traction control off and the "power" button selected which allows much more before the computer assumes you forgot to downshift and does it for you. It also completes a throttle blip on downshifting which made me smile every time
I could not drive this car at the limits on public roads. It is way way to fast and stable to push hard.
Driving: Accelerates with ease. Has a tendency to understeer but with just a touch of throttle in either direction will oversteer. I think the car has a near 50/50 balance with the engine in the front and the trans in the back. I hit the gas a bit too hard on an onramp once and the back quickly started sliding but in a much more controlled way than a 911
Steering was sharp, and feedback was good, not as good as a manual steering box, but good for a car with power steering. Brakes were more than adequate for street and seem to be large enough for track. The exhaust sound was INCREDIBLE!. I kept putting the car in neutral and blipping the throttle just to listen. It's sooo Ferrari like and very different from the 911s.
Riding: The ride was incredible. The suspension is stiff but not harsh. It doesn't roll in turns, but it's very smooth. The seats have good lateral support and fine leather.
The bad: After a few hours the F1 style shifters annoyed me. It just doesn't give the same feel as a manual and seems a bit too James Bond and while I could have driven it in Auto I didn’t want to except for in heavy traffic. Some of the switches, mainly the light switch, felt very cheap, they didn't live up to the standards of the rest of the car. Also the stupid radio always turns on when you start the car no matter if it was on or off when you got out.
Other than that it was AWESOME! I'd highly recommend taking a nice Italian car up to Mt Charleston to anyone visiting Vegas. Total cost for the 1-day rental with tax and an extra 40 miles over the 100 mile free limit was about $650. Not cheap, but better than most of the shows in town
Now onto dinner which has nothing to do with the car but was equally enjoyable. We ate at thee Eiffel Tower Restaurant
http://www.eiffeltowerrestaurant.com It received high marks from several reviewers and we wanted to give it a try. This turned out to be probably the best meal of our lives! The menu changes often but we orded the sample tasting menu. It's a five course, half portion meal. Still too much food. I don't remember the names of everything but I'll describe the food.
- The waiter recommended a Pinot Noir to go with the assortment of food and it did blend well.
-They start with spoon full of a creamy buttery hazelnut topped mousse to cleanse and prepare your palette.
-The first course was Les Amuses Bouche, we had three items, a small crisp wonton with a chicken salad on it, a very small cup of pea soup, and something that was like a mushroom egg-roll, all of which where amazing in taste.
-Next up was a lobster & asparagus salad. Asparagus was thinly slices and topped buy cold lobster. This was incredible too. The lobster was so rich and blended with the seasoned asparagus so well it created two distinct layered flavors.
-Next was Roasted Foie Gras, Marinated Grapes, Julienne Crępes. Now I like liver but have never had Foie Gras. But this I can't even describe. It was sooooooo good thinking about it now brings a tear to my eye. The Foie Gras was cooked perfect with just a bit of caramelization on the edges. The sauce and grapes were sweet and blened magnificently with everything. And the Crepes soaked in all the flavors preserving it until the plate was clean... This was my favorite course bar none.
-Next up Panamanian Sea Bass over fennel. My wife does not like fish and this was one of her favorite courses. It was perfect. The fish was cooked to perfection, so tender and juicy. No "fishy" taste, just wonderful. The fennel added excitement but wasn't overpowering.
- The final course before desert was Roasted rack of lamb with a red sauce that has olives and peppers in it. The lamb was tender and full of flavor. The Pinot Noir did amazing things mixed with the lamb. Another outstanding course.
- Now for desert where you can pick from about 5 choices. I chose the Chocolate Plate Eiffel Tower while my wife had the Classic Creme Brulee. I had assumed chocolate plate meant a couple nice chocolate and man I was wrong. It was a full size plate with a large white chocolate Eiffel Tower, a dark chocolate column with a creamy base filled with rasberries, chocolate sorbet, a very very rich and moist chocolate cake covered in chocolate sauce, a hazlenut and chocolate truffle like bar, and a layered chocolate item with several different chocolate textures and flavors. I couldn't finish this but tried them all and they were all fantastic. The Creme Brulee was also the best I've ever tasted. Perfect in every way topped with berries, some white chocolate and a decorative waffle fan. The chef even wrote Happy Anniversary on the plates in chocolate.
We had great seats overlooking the Bellagio fountains and the strip. The service was also the best we have ever seen. Fast, polite, and fun. We obviously are not the most "upscale” people in the world, but they treated us like we were. Our bill came to about $300 with tip and it was absolutely worth it. I'd highly recommend this restaurant to anyone.