It's called the Quattroporte and Quattroporte is Italian for four-doors when you're not surrendering. Now, you may remember that the Quattroporte was tested in Top Gear three years ago and even though it's not as fast as the Aston Martin Rapide or the Porsche Panamera, it's still one of the most interesting 4-door supercar ever made and that noise in sports mode really hits the spot. It's also more fun to drive and you can ever do some powersliding in here.
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| 2013 Maserati Quattroporte |
But now, let's move to the brand new and even more interesting Maserati Quattroporte. It's the newest incarnation of Maserati's 4-door supercar that we all like and at first glance, it's still more like The Godfather Part II but with some added...um...added...hey, what was the name of that HBO drama series that was ended a few years ago? Sopranos? Okay, it's still more like The Godfather Part II but with some added Sopranos on it.
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| 2013 Maserati Quattroporte |
How? Well, enough about mafia stuff, let's talk about the design. For starters, the front looks more of the same but it feels like Fidel Castro's face being squished by several pliers. Also, two kinds of Maserati badges showed up in the front. One in the hood, one in the grille. Same as the Maserati GranTurismo but really? Do you need two badges on the front? And then there's the back view which feels like it came from the Kia K7. Go ahead, when you see a Kia K7, park near to it and you might notice that both of their backs look more of the same. Hmmm...
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| 2013 Maserati Quattroporte interior |
Now, what about the interior? Judging by its new interior, it's pretty much well crafted and well tailored like an exotic Chinese dress for the long-legged or maybe is Angelina Jolie's gown as seen in Mr. and Mrs. Smith, perhaps? Well, whatever that is, it's still looking nicely for the brand new interior of the new Quattroporte. Also, there's this stereo system in which when you had some spare change, you can opt in for the Bowers & Wilkins Premium Surround System which features 15 speakers, 5 x 25mm aluminium dome tweeters, 5 x 100mm Kevlar midrange drivers, 2 x 165mm Kevlar bass/midrange drivers, 2 x 165mm Rohacell bass drivers, 1x 350x200mm racetrack subwoofer 16 channel Class D amplifier with a combined output 1,280W, and QuantumLogic Surround Sound processing.
Sounds wonderful though, and what's amazing though that is has an available WLAN technology that effectively turns it into a rolling Wi-Fi HotSpot. With this, your boss at the back will spend most of the trips doing Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram with some hashtag nonsense. Yeah right, you might wanna leave as much hashtags you can while on the trip to Monte Carlo. He he he...
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| 2013 Maserati Quattroporte |
So, what about driving? If you were on the top-spec GTS version, it's still a a great car to drive on the open roads and on normal roads, as long as you're not fiddling with anything, it's still a comfortable premium saloon car. It was interesting but sadly, the fun doesn't last for long because the ride and handling doesn't have that "Ah!" factor so how about adding an extra ingredient? Four-wheel drive!
STOP: Four-wheel drive versions of the Quattroporte are available exclusively on the Left Hand Drive markets. Yes, really, the Quattroporte S Q4 is available only for selected Left Hand Drive markets.
The S Q4 version of the Quattroporte provides this 4-door supercar four-wheel drive so you can reach amazing angles and still rescue it but for a price, the 3.8 V8 engine was downgraded to a 3.0 V6 engine, which delivers 410PS of power, does 0-60 in 4.9 seconds and a top speed of 176mph. Still, it was worth a shot against premium luxury German saloon cars with a top speed limited to 155mph so no worries for this one. Anyway, with the four wheel-drive, it becomes more forgiving and more enjoyable in the corners but sadly, it feels a bit more milder. It's too mild for a Quattroporte with four-wheel drive so you don't get the sensation flowing through your adrenaline so for a real challenge, let's go back to the GTS model because it has rear-wheel drive, 3.8L V8 engine that develops 530PS of power, and some added dynamism for some added challenge.
But still, whichever which version you're on, whether if its a rear-wheel drive GTS variant with a V8 engine or a four wheel drive S Q4, an 8-speed flappy-paddle gearbox is the only gearbox available for the new Quattroporte and although still a single-clutch rather than the too-common double clutch, it's worth on par with the best sport/luxury sedans in this segment but sadly, nothing's too perfect for this gearbox because it's still as complicating as the other Chrysler Group sedans wearing the same gearbox. Sigh...
Even though the gearbox is a bit of an issue for the new model because it's too much and the suspension noise that's more terrible to notice than checking your door for a power interruption notice on the next day, the new Quattroporte is still one of the most top notch premium sedans ever made and it sets a blistering pace against any two-tonne saloon that has any right to. It's still worth a try for a mafioso hitman to drive one or a chauffeur who turns out to be a former special ops.
Available colors: Nero, Bianco, Grigio Metallo, Bronzo Siena, Champagne, Nero Ribelle, Blu Passione, and Rosso Folgore.
Photo: Maserati
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