Our “Driven” series highlights the several cars I was able to sample at IMPA’s Spring Brake 2009 event. These short takes are summaries of my driving impressions of the cars on the roads surrounding Bear Mountain State Park in Rockland County, New York.
Any auto enthusiast has to be pleased to see Maserati back in good form, building desirable cars again. For me, driving the new Quattroporte S cleansed me of my last Maserati driving experience. The last Maserati I had driven was a Biturbo E-the engine idled at 3,000rpm, the dash was lit up like a Christmas tree with all the warning lights, the paint quality was appalling and I was afraid to touch anything inside for fear of it falling apart.
Those dark days of Maserati history are thankfully long behind us now, and the Quattroporte S is living proof. In person, the car is stunning to look at, the Pininfarina styling both sexy and elegant from any angle. Walking around the car, I was asking myself if any four door sedan had the right too look so seductive?
Inside the Quattroporte, the car continues to delight the senses. It’s all there-the smell of the rich leather hides, buttery soft to the touch, superbly comfortable seating, rich looking woods, and-get this-the most elegant, purposeful cockpit of any car in its class. No giant info screen like on the S-Class Mercedes that looks like a horrible growth you’d want to have removed. The Maserati is warm, intimate, and inviting. Classic and timeless like an Armani suit or Gucci watch.
But enough with the aesthetics-a proper Maserati has to drive brilliantly, and here the Quattroporte S shines. Propulsion comes via a 4.7L V-8 with 425hp coupled to a six-speed ZF automatic. Now, the Quattroporte is a luxury sedan first, so in normal cruising, the V-8 is nearly silent. But if you nail the throttle the Italian V-8 takes on a whole new persona, and suddenly that quiet engine is at full song, screaming toward 7,000rpm in a beautiful aria. I was able to experience this rare thrill merging onto the Palisades Parkway, overtaking the brand new Ford Taurus SHO Ecoboost like it was standing still.
The Quattroporte in its current form is not a new car, but one of the biggest gripes has been the transmission of the car-fine when you are pushing really hard, but around town, rather unpleasant. The Quattroporte S has a new tranny, and all I can say is Maserati has addressed all complaints. The shifts are nearly imperceptible. In Sport mode, the ratios, speed of gear changes and knowing when to shift or hang onto a gear should please any enthusiast.
But most outstanding of all is the car’s handling. The Quattroporte is not a small or light car by any stretch of the imagination. The tight twisting roads we were driving on were no big deal to the Maserati-in fact, it was enjoyable. The car has the uncanny ability to “shrink” around you. As I became more comfortable in the car, it really didn’t feel much larger than a BMW E36 M3 4-door. Which is staggering considering the size and weight of this car.
Driving the Quattroporte S back, I contemplated the competition-the Audi S8? Mercedes S63 AMG? Sure, close in performance maybe, but the truth is the Maserati stands alone. In comparison the German sedans seem cold and uninvolving, the Maserati warm, exciting, and engaging. A new wave of competition lies ahead in the form of the Porsche Panamera and Aston Martin Rapide, but I am confident the Quattroporte has enough going for it, and such a distinctive personality it should continue to draw fans and buyers alike.
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I love the quottroporte, its got so much feeling compared to the german equivelents