Maserati Quattroporte
The Hottie At The Club
For some reason that probably has to do with Mediterranean beaches, red wine, sun-bronzed
skin and Federico Fellini, the Italians – more than any other culture, it seems
– are preoccupied with the female form. You see curvaceous representations everywhere
in Italy, and not least in their automotive designs. Look at the Cisitalia. Is that,
or is that not, a woman’s ass? Ferrari’s 250GT California Spider should be wearing
a bikini, at least when the children are around. When Ferruccio Lamborghini introduced
what is still (arguably) the most beautiful car ever designed – the Miura – he even
added long black eyelashes around the headlights, fercryinoutloud. Everyone likes
a pretty girl. But these guys are, like, obsessed.
For which we car enthusiasts are all properly grateful, of course.
And here we have another sexy Italian performance car. Only this one is a Maserati,
and it’s a sedan. The Quattroporte (literally, “four-door”) has been in Maserati’s
lineup on and off for a few decades now. In the past it has ranged from an intimidating,
angular sedan reminiscent of a squashed Aston Martin Lagonda, to a much smaller
late-90s version with contributions from Chrysler that was anything but attractive.
Happily, this latest iteration is far and away the most sophisticated.
And it’s luscious.
Unabashed Sex Appeal
The Quattroporte is meant to compete with other powerful, high-profile sedans including
the Mercedes S-class, BMW’s 7-series, Audi’s S8…the kind of stuff you typically
see disgorging the gentry at your local country club. Fine cars, all of them, but
purposely aimed at a certain age bracket – a fact reflected in their design and
overall driving demeanor. Not so the Maserati. Parked next to these upright and
patrician designs, the Quattroporte looks like Monica Bellucci sunbathing at a Zurich
bank board meeting. Masterfully shaped by Pininfarina, the car certainly has Monica’s
curves. A gently swaying character line starts above the beautifully contoured headlamps,
rises up over the front wheel well, continues on back beyond the doors to rise again
at the rear wheel, and tapers downward at the rear lamps. Shoulder, breast, waist,
hip – it’s all there. The exquisitely formed aluminum hood reaches forward to the
oval grill – centered by Maserati’s trident emblem – above a trio of air intakes
lower on the nose. Just behind the front wheel flares are a set of three engine
portholes, another Maser trademark. The car sits low and menacing over the wheels,
which nicely fill their wells, while out back four exhaust finishers emerge from
the lower valance. In the market where the Quattroporte competes, it’s the
looker.
Still A Maser Under The Skin
It’s also the dancer of this group – preferring a steamy tarantella to
a Bavarian waltz. The sweetly tuned A-arm/strut suspension – augmented by Maserati’s
Skyhook electronic damper control – provides all the feedback expected of a car
in this league. But it also somehow feels less massy than the Germans, taking a
set and tracking just a bit quicker, a touch more nimbly, than its counterparts.
Part of that saucier feel is due in no small measure to the 47/53 front-to-rear
weight distribution. This was achieved by seating the engine centerline behind the
front axle – a neat bit of packaging that keeps the front wheels more lightly loaded
than most of its competitors. Then of course, there’s the engine itself. In this
case, a Ferrari-built aluminum V8 with four valves per cylinder that sings up 394
bhp and 333 lb-ft. of torque. And we do mean sing. With variable valve timing and
a redline beyond 7000 rpm, the small 4.2-liter V8 – topped with appropriately red
cam covers – makes a delightful mechanical symphony that only Italian cars seem
capable of. Rossini would smile with pleasure listening to this Maserati. Then he’d
laugh out loud as the car whisked him past 60 mph in 5 seconds flat, and on to the
car’s 170 mph top speed.
Uniquely Italian
Within, you’ll find the Italian take on luxury interiors. As with the dynamics of
the car, that luxury is defined by a heightened sense of performance. Underneath
the stunning wood trim, fragrant carpets and acres of leather, this could be a Ferrari
interior. A set of main gauges, with speedo and tach prominent, face you under a
simple yet effective hood. The center console is covered in that shimmering wood
with more on the dash and door panels. Carbon fiber trim is optional. Low on the
tunnel is a little aluminum t-bar. What’s this odd looking appendage, you ask? It
the Duo Select transmission controller. Again, Maserati has taken a somewhat unconventional
route with this system. Basically, it’s a 6-speed manumatic, with shift paddles
behind the steering wheel. But it’s been tuned to hang on to gears in manual mode,
right up to redline, before shifting. It’s another example of the performance leanings
of this car, but it takes some getting used to. Maserati is working on the next
generation of this system – in full auto mode, the thing is less polished than most
modern automatics, and every now and then you’ll get a lurch as it grabs a new gear.
But this is an Italian, and such eccentricities are seen as more charming traits
than annoying foibles. The Quattroporte is a dramatically more distinctive and individual
choice for luxury sedan buyers than just about anything else out there. It ain’t
cheap, with prices starting just above $100,000 and reaching $120,000 when fully
optioned. But that’s still in the same market as the big German sedans, and the
Maserati offers a mix of devilish southern European sex appeal and road-going brio
that the BMW, Mercedes and Audi big dogs are utterly lacking. And those cars would
do well to take a polite step backwards when this four-door femme fatale saunters
up to the club.
GET IT:
…for the sheer beauty and crackling energy of Maserati in a four-door sports car.
DON’T GET IT:
…if you want the more advanced technology and cold, lab-grade luxury of the Germans.
|