Italian cars are generally known for three things: grace, pace and the occasional hair-tearing quirk that almost drives you to walk away until you look at it, drive it and realise that despite its flaws there’s just that overarching ‘non so che’ that you can’t help but love.
Like any good opera, Italian cars are distinguished by passion, triumph and tragedy in equal measure, and it’s not unheard of for fans to end a journey in tears - sometimes tears of joy, sometimes not.
Italians are also fiercely proud of their independence and proud to be a bit different to the rest of Europe, and it’s a similar feeling of exclusivity, of being different, that Maserati pitches to potential Quattroporte owners.
Essentially, the Quattroporte is a large luxury sports saloon in the same vein as the BMW 7 Series or the Merc S-Class, but much more exclusive. It’s for the CEO who wants to be a step above his senior managers and stand out from the sea of German executive saloons, but who finds a Lamborghini a bit too nouveau riche and a Ferrari a bit too deliberate.
Attention to aesthetics and quality
Designed by ex-Pininfarina designer Lorenzo Ramaciotti, the man behind such dribble-inducing cars as the new Alfa Giulia and the Ferrari 360 Modena, the Quattroporte is at once sleeker and infinitely more aggressive than any German effort thanks to that signature convex Trident grille.
The same attention to aesthetics and quality continues on the inside, where the car is swathed in more leather than you could shake a heavy metal band at, extra fine grain and hand crafted using traditional methods of course, along with polished metal touches and the option of wooden or piano black finishers.
So far so very upmarket, but despite the fact that it’s marketed as a limo as per the 7 Series and S-Class, the QP is a little bit different. Fit and finish are fantastic, as you’d expect, but in terms of equipment the Quattroporte feels a little bit lacking compared to the 7 Series.
The real heart and soul of the model lies in its two petrol engines, both engineered and built by Maserati’s slightly younger and much wilder sister Ferrari. There’s a 3.0-litre twin-turbo V6 that’s new to the range, along with the major talking point, the 523bhp 3.8-litre twin-turbo V8.
As you might expect, they’re quite loud, very fast and not very economical with a combined average economy of 24mpg, but realistically you’d be doing well to get close to that. For a more sensible alternative, and to better appeal to those business drivers, there’s also the option of the Quattroporte diesel V6.
The 3.0-litre turbodiesel engine is quite a bit down on power compared to the petrols with a maximum output of 271bhp, but all the same it doesn’t feel slow with a 0-62mph time of 6.4 seconds, while the range-topping V8 does it in 4.7.
Acceleration is smooth and effortless, thanks in part to the ZF gearbox which suits the car so much better than a dual-clutch like those that come on Ferraris, which tend to grab, snap and bang you into gear at every opportunity.
While it loses out on some of the excitement of the petrols, it swaps this for impressive refinement and the engine itself is whisper quiet in the standard driving mode. In fact, it’s so quiet that Maserati’s engineers had to get creative for sport mode, installing a special resonator in the exhaust which cranks up the volume.
Impressive refinement
Yes, it’s cheating a little bit, but it actually sounds quite good, lending a percussive tone to the exhaust note that’s almost reminiscent of a Hemi V8 or a Harley V-Twin. Not that one would be excited by such things, of course.
Along with sport mode, it also features a special chauffer setting which softens up the suspension for more comfort in an effort to keep your passengers in the back from spilling champagne all over the front of their Savile Row tailoring.
Being the children that we are, we actually prefer the Quattroporte in its firmest sport setting, which stiffens the dampers and reduces the slightly malleable feel it has in its softer modes. Impressively dynamic for a near two tonne car, it’s notably spry for such a big thing and has that perfect shrink-around-you feeling.
Of course, we’re not quite the QP’s target market, for whom travelling in style and comfort will be more of a priority than clipping apexes and crushing lap times, but then the Maserati does value driving engagement much more than its rivals.
To that end, it comes with hydraulic steering instead of electric which is fantastically direct and with absolute buckets of feedback, meaning you can practically tell whether the road markings are gloss or matte just by reading the road through your palms.
Yes, it’s a little firm for a car which markets itself as an executive limo, but where the 7 Series, the S-Class and A8 are all cars to be driven in, the Quattroporte is a car to drive.
That’s both grace and pace covered then, so what about the hair-tearing quirks? Well, there are a few. The steering wheel is a bit fat to wrap your hands around and despite the fact the rear is much more spacious than the previous-generation model, there’s a rather large transmission tunnel which dominates much of the foot space.
Rear visibility is pretty poor and the car has a blind spot so big you could hide the Hindenburg in it, but then the Quattroporte is an Italian car and it wouldn’t be one without at least one thing that makes you want to cry with frustration.
Not perfect, but perfectly Italian
But rather than lament it, perhaps it’s better to celebrate it, warts and all? Maybe it’s because the Italians understand that a car is more than just a method of getting from A to B, but that it’s an extension of ourselves, faults included.
It’s not as cosseting as its rivals, nor is it as well equipped, but the Quattroporte has a charisma that none of its German competitors share, partly because it scraps some of the comfort and arguably some of the ergonomic focus for a unique sportiness.
Perfect it isn’t, but it’s perfectly Italian. It’s got the grace, it’s got the pace and it’ll definitely annoy you, but all said and done would you really rather have a 7 Series…?
You can take the morning off, Jeeves, sir will drive himself today.
