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Maserati Quattroporte
Our Thoughts
Italian stalion in a business suit?
Does the Quattroporte live up to its looks?
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| | Background
For background information on the Maserati Quattroporte please refer to the official press release.
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| | Exterior Styling |
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Long graceful - beautiful looks
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The Maserati Quattroporte is the best looking exec saloon ever. It combines Italian flair, sweeping curves with saloon style body. The overall look is long
and graceful. The three silver side vents invoke thoughts of classic cars, a romantic bygone age of motoring. The long bonnet ends in large silver grille
with Maserati emblem again paying homage to cars of the past. The Quattroporte looks uncluttered; nothing spoils the curves, including the simple light
cluster front and rear. From the rear four exhaust signal the cars performance aspirations. From the side the large alloys are dwarfed by the graceful
body and flaired arches.
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Interior Styling
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Lots of Wood and Leather - a special place.
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Initial impressions are of the interior gives a unique and luxury feel. Lots of leather and wood mixed with high quality plastics. Driver feels pandered thanks
to great looking dash and multifunction steering wheel. Center console uses large amount of wood, with instruments inset, this differentiates it from other cars.
The car feels spacious, especially in the back. All seats get a headrest embossed with the Maserati emblem.
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Ride, Handling & Steering
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Big - but shrinks as you drive
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The Quattroporte is a large car, there is no denying that. However thanks to clever packaging, like the location of the engine, which sits as far back into the car
as physically possible, mean that the car feels smaller when you drive it. It isn’t a miracle cure but certainly shrinks the car around you. The steering is well
weighted and give some feedback to the driver – again the size and weight of the car oppose this. Whilst the car rides well, it is firm through the bends meaning
you can attack corners with confidence. On the Millbrook hill track the quattroporte felt more than capable.
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Engine, Gearbox and Performance |
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4.2-litre Ferari derived V8 - 394bhp/333lb ft
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The engine is a peach, a Ferrari derived V8 that delivers just under 400bhp (394bhp) and 333lb ft of torque. This power results in a 0-60mph sprint of 5.2
seconds and hits 100mph in 12.4 seconds. Keep the pedal down and the Quattroporte will push to a 161mph top speed. As you’d expect the engine sounds fabulous too.
Which brings us to the car’s gearbox. To be honest gearboxes especially new fangled ones, take a bit of getting used to and my thirty-odd minutes at Millbrook
wasn't really long enough for me to get up to speed with the Quattroporte’s box. There are three modes provided: auto, sport, manual. For most people, including
the professional driver I spoke to, the sport mode is capable of delivering the goods in virtually all circumstances. I tend to agree as most auto/semi-auto boxes
I have sampled are pretty accomplished, but whenever I start using them in manual mode things go a bit pear-shaped. This is something that would decrease with practice,
but given the pro driver’s opinion, you don’t really need to persevere.
Power:
Performance:
| Cars |
0-30 |
0-40 |
0-50 |
0-60 |
0-70 |
0-80 |
0-90 |
0-100 |
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| | Maserati Quattroporte - (V (04 - )/) |  | |  | |
| | | | | | 1.9 secs | 2.7 secs | 4.2 secs | 5.2 secs | 6.9 secs | 8.5 secs | 10.6 secs | 12.4 secs |
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Practicality
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| Big tank + Big thirst = Big pockets |
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Boot space: 450 litres
Fuel economy:
10.1 mpg (urban), 20.6 mpg (extra-urban), 14.9 mpg (combined)
Emissions: 440g/km
Given the recent press about fuel prices, you’ll need to be pretty flush to keep your Quattroporte on the road. With its 90 litre tank your looking at nearly a £100 / tank ! Still at least it has a decent size tank, to match its thirst.
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Conclusion
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The Quattroporte is a great car, beautiful to look at both outside and in. It is fast and fun to drive, yet large enough to be practical transport.
For me the biggest issue is the cost which at £70,000 is pretty steep especially when you compare it to its obvious rival the BMW M5, ALPINA B5,
Jaguar S-Type R etc.
However, if you did buy one, you wouldn’t feel short changed as the car feels special in virtually ever aspect. You also don’t
need to worry about somebody having a basic version of your car with a sports pack that looks almost identical to your car. Nor do you have to worry
about parking next to another one. Maybe that justifies the premium – you’ll have to decide.
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(62850.00)
(47400.00)