2009 Maserati Quattroporte Sport GT S

By Shanghai D.D’s Club

Spring 2009
Expected Pricing: 2.6 million RMB

Maserati describes the Sport GT S, as “the ultimate expression of Maserati’s sportiness in the Quattroporte range.” In short, it’s a big, sensuous four-door that goes fast and handles sharply. Up close, this Quattroporte has the sheer presence of even more expensive cars. . It’s the most visually striking car available in this price range. Despite weighing about 4,400 pounds, the Maserati Quattroporte manages to feel like a car half its size with well-weighted steering, limited body roll and a captivating eagerness to change direction. Even though the QP is nearly 200 inches long, it drives like a vehicle half its size. Contributing to this is Maserati’s “Skyhook” adjustable suspension, controlled by a button on the dash. Skyhook can be set to the more comfortable “Normal” mode or the noticeably firmer “Sport” setting

The Sport GT S isn’t a lot different from Maserati’s current sedans, the Quattroporte and Quattroporte S. Changes to the GT S are subtle, but they work to create a noticeably different bent. Perhaps this car is more sinister, and certainly more self possessed.

The Sport GT S is equipped with Maserati’s larger 4.7-liter V8, like the Quattroporte S, rather the 4.2-liter engine in the standard Quattroporte. The V8 is tuned to deliver 433 horsepower, or eight more than the Quattroporte S, thanks to a freer-flowing (and deeper-sounding) exhaust system. Its electronic throttle is tuned to respond more aggressively to movement on the gas pedal. Both come only with a six-speed automatic transmission that features manual-override shift paddles. While the QP’s acceleration is bracing, the aural stimulation emanating from the engine bay is positively hallucinogenic. Even when driving the QP like a stoner, the F-1 soundtrack says Warp 3. The headers are heady stuff indeed; the exhaust note alone is worth the price of admission.

The Quattroporte’s six-speed automatic is one of the most effective conventional automatics anywhere, and in the Sport GT S it will be tuned for sportier, more aggressive gear-change strategies. The Sport GT S suspension has firmer springs and a lower ride height than the other Quattroportes, with no-compromise single-rate shock absorbers. Such shocks are better than variable rate shocks for responsive handling, but they invariably mean a stiffer ride.

Styling tweaks are subtle, too, but there’s nothing on the Sport GT S body that can be called bright work. Its grille is black, featuring concave vertical fins and a black-trimmed Maserati Trident, and it’s eye-catching. The headlights have a metallic titanium finish, and the wheels and other adornment have a deep metallic finish that Maserati calls Shadow line. It’s all very shiny, but not really bright. They are very fragile; we scrape 3 out 4 of the rims. We were backing in the parking elevators and scrape the rims on the side.

Inside, the Sport GT-S has the same bespoke, hand-stitched quality as the other Quattroporte sedans, but the trim is a deep gray carbon-fiber weave. The quality of the QP’s cabin materials is beyond reproach. The lustrous wood, fragrant leather, plush carpet and elegant liners are superior to those found in any German car you can name– unless you cite Bentley, and even then the sumptuousness quotient is virtually identical. As long as you tailor your QP using a dark palette– the light colored interiors approximate a modern bordello– you couldn’t ask for a more luxurious carcoon. The seat inserts and door panels are rich, suede-like material in dark hues. It’s all very luxurious, with a subtle hint of danger. Sliding into the back seat means ducking under the low roofline. It requires a bit more work than climbing into the typical large sedan, but once inside rear passengers are treated to acres of legroom and a form-fit seat as comfortable as the best sport buckets anywhere. Once inside, the interior is more expansive than expected; the rear seats are tight in some dimensions, but legroom is not one of them. The middle armrest reveals yet another unexpected delight: a button that glides the passenger seat forward.

The most immediately obvious advantage the 2009 Maserati Quattroporte Sport GT S has over the regular S isn’t the single-rate Bilstein dampers, the blacked-out grill and headlights or even the 20″ wheels, but the volume of the exhaust through the new dual-oval exits. In Sport mode this is a seriously loud car, belying the luxury of its Alcantara-clad interior and the class of its updated exterior. If the color red could be embodied by a sound, this would be it. Angry looks match the angry noise.

That sound isn’t the only reason I’m in Sport mode - pushing the button opens two valves in the exhaust, essentially creating straight through pipes - it also delivers improved throttle response, much quicker shifts from the auto box, increased propensity for kick down, rev-matched downshifts and permanent control of the gear position through the bigger wheel-mounted paddles. The Quattroporte drives and sounds so good in Sport that it’s nearly unconscionable to try it otherwise. It is very low to the ground. When driving out of the garage we bottomed out at the half way point. Also when were driving thru Fuxing Park the front air dam scraped and floor on a small down speed bump.

Driving again and again through the narrow alleys and back streets of Shanghai, the bright grey Maserati and I are starting to draw the wrong sort of attention. The unmuted growl of the 4.7-liter Ferrari-sourced V8 reverberates down the street. Children are grabbed by stern-faced mother’s blocks away as I accelerate harder and harder. From light to light you can get from 0-90km with no problem. Cyclists pull over and dismount at the sound of my approach. Traffic stops. Everyone’s pissed off, including me. The reason I’m driving like a pro is because the GPS system is not working in China. The only people that appear to benefit from all this are the gathering crowds of guys and girls, as indicated by their excited repetition of the brand in question and the puzzled looks on their faces as they realize the unholy racket is coming from a four-door luxury car. It’s those kids of looks that make that 2.6 million RMB worth every bit of money.

The first thing you have to do with this Maserati is throw away any number comparisons. With 433 HP, 391 lb-ft, a 0-to-60 time of 5.1 seconds and a 178 MPH top speed, which I tested on Huai Hai road and the car did do it in 5.1 seconds as stated in the manual. It’s a very powerful 4 door sedan. Listen to the engine not the girl that was in the car!!

But this Maserati isn’t about numbers, it’s about experience… It’s peaky in ways that don’t look promising on a 4,387 lb car purporting to offer luxury accommodation for five. But, equipped with the new faster throttle response, louder exhaust and improved gearbox you end up reveling in each one of those revs, not wanting for low-end torque or more power, but more roads on which to use what’s available.

With my right foot buried in the carpet at over 200 km, over some of Shanghai’s new highways and tunnel with no speed cameras yet. The Sport GT S is utterly composed, delivering Porsche-like confidence and Ferrari-like sound. Braking hard into the 90 degree left at the end of the straight, the newly feel-full steering tells me exactly how fast I can push the front through the corner, the rear snapping wide as soon as I get back on the power. Turns and cornering at 90 -100 km an hour is no problem. As we were passing 220kms the car was a monster. It is the fastest 4 door sedan I have driven. It handles better than the AMG Benz. The Maserati was tight and fast! As seen in the vid we moved in and out and around car quick and easy! It was very responsive, to the slightest move of the steering wheel.

As you’re probably guessing, it was driving like this that drew the attention of the police. It’s wasn’t much for speed but deep sounding exhaust. They pulled me over and checked out the car and gave me a breathalyzer test. Which lucky to say were 17, under 20 you get a warning? 20 to 26 take away your license for a month. 26 and over gets you 15 days in jail! I got off with a warning.

The trunk is huge and is said to be able store 4 golf bags. I would say 3 for sure 4 if you have small golf bags

video can be seen at

http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/home.php?filter=app_2392950137

]]> http://www.chou.cn/2009/05/19/maserati-test-drive-thru-the-strrts-of-shanghai/feed/ http://www.chou.cn/2009/05/11/shanghai-m1nt-nightclub-review-may-2009/ http://www.chou.cn/2009/05/11/shanghai-m1nt-nightclub-review-may-2009/#comments Mon, 11 May 2009 09:30:10 +0000 luke http://www.chou.cn/?p=1271 O.k., its Saturday night and I get a call to go clubbing at M1nt. I just got back from New York and have not seen the club in almost 3 months in Shanghai. I take a cab towards the bund and then find the club is actually off of the bund by 4 blocks. I walk to front door and see lots of people outside. That usually is a good sign for a club in New York. In Shanghai, it usually means the there is a door charge or some reason they want money to get in.

First a little back ground on the Club M1nt. It’s a member’s only club. Yes, members only. That usually works in H.K. and Singapore but does not work in Shanghai. Hey maybe I’m wrong. It did work for me ah ha-ha! For those interested in the web site it’s http://www.m1nt.com.cn/ for those who are to lazy to go to the site!

M1NT Shanghai - Opening Hours

Lounge:
Monday to Friday - 11.30 am till late
Saturday - 6:00pm till late

Club:
Thursday to Saturday - 10 pm till late

Restaurant:
Monday to Thursday - Lunch: 11.30 am to 2:30pm - Dinner :6:00 pm to 12:00am
Friday - Lunch: 11.30 am to 2:30pm- Dinner: 6:00 pm to 2:00am
Saturday - Lunch: Closed - Dinner: 6:00 pm to 2:00am
Sunday - Private Bookings Only

For table reservation, contact 6391 2811or call bookings@m1nt.com.cn

I heard a little about the club before I went. Everyone gave the shark tank big thumbs up! It suppose to larger than life and a place you can throw your girlfriend to be eaten by the sharks.

So I enter to the lobby to see 2 groups of people in line. As usual the first person you see is the clubs door bitch. So I walk up and ask which line I’m suppose to be in if I have a table. The door bitch points to the inner line. The priority line she said. I look at the line and being a person that follows the club rules get in line. Then I see Uncle Benny and he’s in line. I ask him how long he’s waited and he said 10 minutes already. I usually won’t even bother to go to a club where I have to get in a line. Especially if you have a table.

I wait ten minutes and I ask the guy/bouncer/manger/ dude in a suit. I tell him not ask but tell him I have a table and how much longer it will be. He turns to me and says everyone in this line has a table. Now as I look around at the people in the priority line, my mind wander. Let’s see 2 guys’ jeans t-shirt and one guy with a wife beaters tank top on. 3 guys and a girl, 1 guy ¾ cut of jeans and the other in Bahamas mama shorts. The large girl was wearing a tank top with really really tight jeans. I won’t even go into the guys behind me. Are they going to spend 6,000-10,000 RMB tonight? Are they members???? Hmmm!!. I’m not a member but had a friend that was an invited member. I wanted to leave but hell I got all the way to the bund area and its 1, not like I’m going to make another jump to another club. I finally get in and U.B and I take the elevator up.

In my mind I figure the place is packed to the hill like Bar Rouge is on the weekends. I waited 15 minutes, U.B waited 25 minutes total. I walk out the elevator and it’s not packed to the hill, maybe the club is and the hall ways are not. I walked to the left and it’s like a bar/lounge area. The bar had about 15 people and they had 5 tables by the window of which only 2 were taken. We saw grandfather Shanghai D.J. Chris Lee at the decks. Then they had another area that was nice had 4-6 big booths but only 1 table was taken. The music was good, lounge tunes not to loud. It’s a good place to chat and see the view.

The other section was the restaurant that was huge and closed. The open kitchen looked good, but the kitchen was closed, only finger foods. So, I headed towards the club. The music was loud and the bar was long and sort packed. The booths on the other hand were taken but not packed. So I see a few friends and they invite me to the table. I tell them I have a table and they say that we should stay. U.B ordered a round of drinks and when I saw the bill I could only laugh. The club makes money off the drinks and not the bottles. The drinks are between 100-120 rmb a drink. That works out to $15 a drink to $18 a drink. That’s more expensive than New York. So we ordered a bottle of Grey Goose and started drinking. The booths are pretty big and comfortable. The club is a little to dark and they have no real lighting in the booths. Well, that can help if the girl is not that great looking.

The music is very unique for a club, actually its 80’s and 90’s music that you would hear in dive bars and commercial clubs. The sing along kind of songs seem very popular in the club. They even threw some rock and roll in. The table next to had 10 people and they drank 1 bottle of champagne in 3 hours. The other table across from us had 15-20 people and they had standard drinks. The so called beer warmer! around 2:30 the drink takers start on the table. Those are people not willing to buy any more drinks and they come to the table and take drinks.

The great shark tank, it’s really beautiful. It’s about 60 feet long and looks great. They have about 20 sharks in the tank swimming around. They also had the Dom Champagne V.I.P area behind the shark tanks. That’s about 5 big booths that were empty.

Next stop was the roof a.k.a the share holder roof. We walked to the door and yet again a bouncer; I must say this is one of the best and nicest big bouncers in town. We waited in line again, this time 5 minutes. We walk up the stairs to see a beautiful view of Shanghai. The roof is huge and had about 50 people having drinks and sitting. They had tables but they were empty.

Oh all in our table bought 7 bottles champagne 3 bottles of vodka. I think just that is about 10,00 RMB night. Oh and I had to wait in line for that.

I definelty will not be getting in line anytime soon for this members only place. Oh yea pictures to follow hahahah. Wait till you see them.!

Jake was dying. His wife sat at the bedside.

He looked up and said weakly, “I have something I must confess.”

“There’s no need to,” his wife replied.

“No,” he insisted, “I want to die in peace. I slept with your sister, your best friend, her best friend, and your mother!”

“I know, I know,” she replied. “Now just rest and let the poison work.”

as seen by:  Shanghai D.D’s Club

“Certainly, Sir, that’ll be one cent.”

“One Cent?” the man thought.

He glanced at the menu and asked, “How much for a nice juicy steak and a bottle of wine?”

“A nickel,” the barman replied.

“A nickel?” exclaimed the man. “Where’s the guy who owns this place?”

The bartender replied, “Upstairs, with my wife.”

The man asked, “What’s he doing upstairs with your wife?”

The bartender replied,

“The same thing I’m doing to his business down here.”

as seen by: D.D’s Club Shanghai

They decided to try one last time for the son they always wanted.

The wife got pregnant and delivered a healthy baby boy.

The joyful father rushed to the nursery to see his new son.

He was horrified at the ugliest child he had ever seen.

He told his wife, “There’s no way I can be the father of this baby. Look at the two beautiful daughters I fathered! Have you been fooling around behind my back?”

The wife smiled sweetly and replied, “Not this time!”

One day they went her place and made love all afternoon. Exhausted, they fell asleep and woke up at 8 PM.

The man hurriedly dressed and told his lover to take his shoes outside and rub them in the grass and dirt.

He put on his shoes and drove home.

“Where have you been?” his wife demanded.

“I can’t lie to you,” he replied, “I’m having an affair with my secretary. We had sex all afternoon.”

“You lying bastard!

You’ve been playing golf!”

as seen by: Shanghai D.D’s Club

Tourists pose for photographs on May 3 on the 259-meter-high transparent walkway in the Oriental Pearl TV Tower, one of the most popular destinations for tourists during the May Day holiday, when Shanghai attracted more than 2.5 million tourists, about 20,000 more than last year, according to the Shanghai Tourism Administration.

Ten more tourist attractions will offer a 50 percent discount on admission prices on Tuesdays from May 5, 2009, the Shanghai tourism authority said.

The Shanghai Ocean Aquarium, Zhujiajiao Ancient Town, Oriental Land in Qingpu District and Fengjing Ancient Town in Jinshan District are among the “half price Tuesday” scenic spots, Labor Daily reported.

The tourism authority has listed 18 tourist attractions, including the Oriental Pearl Tower, the World Financial Center and Jinmao Tower, in the discount scheme.

On February 24, the first day of the scheme, the Oriental Pearl Tower saw three times the usual number of tourists.

The scheme will be extended until July 28. It was due to end on April 28 but the discounts have proved extremely popular, the Shanghai Tourism Authority said.

They are doing so well in China and they are having so many problems in the states.  If they cut costs on all the x-pats they employ in China they might actually make money instead of losing 17 million dollars a day!

Shanghai, May 5 (Gasgoo.com) Last month, Shanghai GM, General Motors’ passenger vehicle joint venture in China, saw its sales rise 34.7% from the same month last year to 55,245 units, the company said in a statement today. Sales were driven by demand for its Buick brand, which rose 63.6% to 38,071 vehicles.

The Buick brand maintained its sales growth to 38,071 units in April. Sales of the Buick Excelle sedan, which is available with a 1.6-liter engine, rose more than 120% to 22,078 units. And the Buick LaCrosse, Buick mid- to high-end sedan sold more than 10,000 units.

The launch of the Buick Regal mid-size sedan in March and the Chevrolet Cruze compact sedan in April also boosted Shanghai GM’s sales last month. The Chevrolet brand sold 16,542 cars in April, and the newly launched Chevy Cruze has become a new growth model, with 3,739 units sold and over 5,000 units ordered in less than two weeks.

Sales at GM’s mini-commercial vehicle joint venture SAIC-GM-Wuling Automobile Co. rose 60.6% from a year earlier to 95,544 units. GM’s strong performance in China contrasts with sales in its home U.S. market, which slumped 33% from a year earlier in April to 172,150 units.

The popularity of GM’s smaller vehicles in China testifies to the effectiveness of Chinese government’s measures to boost auto demand, said an industry analyst. In January, China halved the purchase tax on vehicles with engines 1.6 liters and less to 5%.

I just got back to Shanghai May 1st and the city seems to be as it was.  What slow down, does not seem to be one in Shanghai.  More news to come when I get back into gear and check out the city.

Chinese traditional Medicine (TCM)

Scientific view

Efficacy

: Acupuncture: Scientific research into efficacy

Much of the scientific research on TCM has focused on acupuncture. The effectiveness of acupuncture remains controversial in the scientific community, and a review by Edzard Ernst and colleagues in 2007 found that the body of evidence was growing, research is active, and that the “emerging clinical evidence seems to imply that acupuncture is effective for some but not all conditions”. Researchers using the protocols of evidence-based medicine have found good evidence that acupuncture is moderately effective in preventing nausea. A 2008 study suggest that combining acupuncture with conventional infertility treatments such as IVF greatly improves the success rates of such medical interventions. There is conflicting evidence that it can treat chronic low back pain, and moderate evidence of efficacy for neck pain and headache. For most other conditions reviewers have found either a lack of efficacy (e.g., help in quitting smoking) or have concluded that there is insufficient evidence to determine if acupuncture is effective (e.g., treating shoulder pain). While little is known about the mechanisms by which acupuncture may act, a review of neuroimaging research suggests that specific acupuncture points have distinct effects on cerebral activity in specific areas that are not otherwise predictable anatomically.

The World Health Organization (WHO), the National Institutes of Health (NIH), and the American Medical Association (AMA) have also commented on acupuncture^. Though these groups disagree on the standards and interpretation of the evidence for acupuncture, there is general agreement that it is relatively safe, and that further investigation is warranted. The 1997 NIH Consensus Development Conference Statement on acupuncture concluded:

…promising results have emerged, for example, showing efficacy of acupuncture in adult postoperative and chemotherapy nausea and vomiting and in postoperative dental pain. There are other situations such as addiction, stroke rehabilitation, headache, menstrual cramps, tennis elbow, fibromyalgia, myofascial pain, osteoarthritis, low back pain, carpal tunnel syndrome, and asthma, in which acupuncture may be useful as an adjunct treatment or an acceptable alternative or be included in a comprehensive management program. Further research is likely to uncover additional areas where acupuncture interventions will be useful.

Much less scientific research has been done on Chinese herbal medicines, which comprise much of TCM. Some doubts about the efficacy of many TCM treatments are based on their apparent basis in (causation due to analogy or similarity) — for example, that plants with heart-shaped leaves will help the heart. While the doctrine of signatures does underlie the selection of many of the ingredients of herbal medicines, this does not necessarily mean that some substances may not (perhaps by coincidence) possess attributed medicinal properties. For example, it is possible that while herbs may have been originally selected on erroneous grounds, only those that were deemed effective have remained in use. Potential barriers to scientific research include the substantial cost and expertise required to conduct double-blind clinical trials, and the lack of financial incentive from the ability to obtain patents. Traditional practitioners usually have no philosophical objections to scientific studies on the effectiveness of treatments.

Pharmacological compounds have been isolated from some Chinese herbal medicines; Chinese wormwood (qinghao) was the source for the discovery of artemisinin, which is now used worldwide to treat multi-drug resistant strains of falciparum malaria, and is also under investigation as an anti-cancer agent. It was one of many candidates then tested by Chinese scientists from a list of nearly 200 traditional Chinese medicines for treating malaria. It was the only one that was effective. Many Chinese herbal medicines are marketed as dietary supplement in the West, and there is considerable controversy over their effectiveness.

Safety

In Practice

Acupressure and acupuncture are largely accepted to be safe from results gained through medical studies. Several cases of pneumothorax, nerve damage and infection have been reported as resulting from acupuncture treatments. These adverse events are extremely rare especially when compared to other medical interventions, and were found to be due to practitioner negligence. Dizziness and bruising will sometimes result from acupuncture treatment.

Some governments have decided that Chinese acupuncture and herbal treatments should be administered by persons who have been educated to apply them safely. One Australian report said in 2006, “A key finding is that the risk of adverse events is linked to the length of education of the practitioner, with practitioners graduating from extended traditional Chinese medicine education programs experiencing about half the adverse event rate of those practitioners who have graduated from short training programs.”

Allergy

Certain Chinese herbal medicines involve a risk of allergic reaction and in rare cases involve a risk of poisoning. Cases of acute and chronic poisoning due to treatment through ingested Chinese medicines are found in China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan, with a few deaths occurring each year. Many of these deaths do occur however, when patients self prescribe herbs or take unprocessed versions of toxic herbs. The raw and unprocessed form of aconite, or fuzi is the most common cause of poisoning. The use of aconite in Chinese herbal medicine is usually limited to processed aconite, in which the toxicity is denatured by heat treatment.

Toxins and contaminants

Potentially toxic and carcinogenic compounds such as arsenic trioxide (三氧化二砷) and cinnabar (called zhūshā, 朱砂) are sometimes prescribed as part of a medicinal mixture, in a sense “using poison to cure poison“. Unprocessed herbals are sometimes adulterated with chemicals that may alter the intended effect of an herbal preparation or prescription. As with the 2008 Chinese milk scandal, tampering with food and medicine to boost profit is rampant despite knowledge of the dangers and strict regulations in place that are circumvented often due to corruption and profit motive. However, knowledge of processing is being improved with more empirical studies of Chinese herbals and tighter regulations are being put in place, whether heeded to or not, regarding the growing, processing, and prescription of various herbals.

A medicine called Fufang Luhui Jiaonang (复方芦荟胶囊) was taken off shelves in UK in July 2004 when it found to contain 11-13% mercury.

In the United States, the Chinese herb má huáng (麻黄; lit. “Hemp yellow”) — known commonly in the West by its Latin name Ephedra — was banned in 2004 by the FDA, although the FDA’s final ruling exempted traditional Asian preparations of Ephedra from the ban. The Ephedra ban was meant to combat the use of this herb in Western weight loss products, a highly modern phenomenon and well removed from traditional Asian uses of the herb. There were no cases of Ephedra based fatalities with patients using traditional Asian preparations of the herb for its traditionally intended uses. This ban was ordered lifted in April 2005 by a Utah federal court judge. However, the ruling was appealed and on August 17, 2006, the Appeals Court upheld the FDA’s ban of ephedra, finding that the 133,000-page administrative record compiled by the FDA supported the agency’s finding that ephedra posed an unreasonable risk to consumers.

Lack of standardization

Chinese herbals are often not standardized from one pill to the next or from one brand to the next, and can be reformulated, remixed, or otherwise altered by any company. To avoid such issues, standardized Japanese Kampo medicine for sale worldwide is a safer alternative based on classical Chinese traditional medicine and strict enforced regulations and is regulated as pharmaceuticals coupled with extensive after-market testing and monitoring.

[Vague naming

Many Chinese medicines have different names for the same ingredient depending on location and time; ingredients with different medical properties have shared similar names. For example, there was a report that mirabilite/sodium sulphate decahydrate (芒硝) was misrecognized as sodium nitrite (牙硝)^], resulting in a poisoned victim. In some Chinese medical texts, both names are interchangeable. The Chinese Medicine Registration Board of the Australian state of Victoria issued a report in 2004 which noted this was a problem that needed to be addressed.

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