2016 Maserati Quattroporte GTS Test Drive Review

Maserati Quattroporte GTS

Car Tested: Maserati Quattroporte GTS; Road Test No. 665

Price OTR Mumbai: Rs. 2.87 crores

The Maserati Quattroporte GTS offers the best of both worlds – luxury and performance

There is no sanity in this world. This is what I realised when there was an arrow straight empty road lying ahead of me, something that I could see from the windscreen of the Maserati Quattroporte GTS that I was driving. The empty road was enticing but it were the horses under the hood that made the experience really better. So while a kid and his parents from the Mercedes S-Class next to me looked at our car in astonishment, I had flown ahead before the kid in the S-Class could even utter the word Maserati. So while you are busy reading this review of this Italian veicolo, I’ll just go and wipe off my drool. Hmm, I think I’ll never be able to get over this car, NEVER!

Motor Quest: The Maserati Quattroporte is currently in its sixth generation. The first generation of the car came out in 1963 and it had 3-speed automatic and 5-speed manual transmissions. The vehicle kept evolving over the years and the current generation is extremely high on technology. Another interesting fact about the company is that the Maserati brothers left the company they founded!

Exteriors – I can bet you whatever you want, that when you see the Maserati Quattroporte GTS in person, you’ll spend a lot of time just staring at the car. In the sea of BMWs, Audis and Mercedes’ on our roads, the car looks extremely unique. In fact, it got us a lot of attention even in this rather dull brown colour, I can’t even imagine what would’ve happened if our test car came in red or yellow or any other bright shade. Two words are enough to describe this car – supreme and mesmerising. Yes, that’s what the car is. The stance in which it stands, makes it look so supreme that all you want to do is just keep looking at the car, while the rightly proportioned lines and curves give this cousin of Ferrari a very mesmerising charisma, something that is not easy to imitate.

The Quattroporte looks beautiful and has the right proportion of curves

The highlight of the front fascia is the grille which lends a lot of appeal to the car. The striking headlamps add a fine balance to the stance of this Italian car while the long bonnet indicates that there is something sweet installed under it. The ground clearance is low and it feels as if the front bumper is hugging the road below it. The side profile shows you how long the car actually is! The four-door sedan is very long but the designers at Maserati have done a splendid job of hiding out the length of the vehicle with just the correct usage of lines and curves, thus making you believe that the Quattroporte is not that long. The 20-inch wheels look lip-smacking and the automaker couldn’t have chosen a better design here.

The rear of the Maserati Quattroporte isn’t half as sexy looking as the front. Sure, it does have its own share of fine elements like the beautifully curved boot lid and the elongated tail lamps, but otherwise it doesn’t feel that much special. The centre of the boot lid comes with the word Maserati emblazoned right across it. The quad exhaust pipes are again testament to the fact that this car is not just about the looks, but also delivers something else, more on that later! To put numbers in perspective, the Quattroporte measures 5262 mm in length, thus making it longer than the Mercedes S-Class. The car measures 2100 mm in width and has a height of 1481 mm. The wheelbase is also extremely long at 3171 mm.

Interiors – Open the doors of the Maserati Quattroporte and the first thing you notice is the abundance of space everywhere inside the cabin. The dashboard itself is very well laid out and has a simple yet functional design. The top portion is covered in leather while the bottom part gets a beige finish. The centre panel running across the length of the dashboard comes in carbon fibre. The highlight of the centre console is that analogue watch which looks extremely royal. The AC vents also get a sleek design while the console looks clutter-free with only a few buttons. The 8.4-inch touchscreen infotainment system isn’t too jazzy though and is again aimed at being functional. Overall, the quality is very good but still it feels a notch below what Mercedes, BMW and Audi offer. Maybe Ze Germans have really spoilt us, eh?

The pedals come with an aluminium finish and the GTS trim also gets powered pedals which have a really nice feel to them. You also get powered sunshades at the rear along with a powered boot lid. There are a lot of other features like front and rear parking sensors with graphic display and automatically dimming and heating electric mirrors. The Quattroporte also gets easy entry/exit function for the driver’s seat and the steering wheel where both of these parts automatically adjust themselves to give you easy ingress/egress and come back to their original positions again. You also get a dual-zone climate control system which chills the cabin pretty efficiently.

The cabin is excellent on space and features but fares below the Germans when we talk about richness

The front seats are large and comfortable while being placed a bit closer to the ground. The travel range is good and there should be no complaints on this front. The rear also has acres of space and you also get AC vents on the B-pillar apart from the conventional rear vents at the centre. There is some good detailing in the cabin and the Maserati logo is sweetly emblazoned on the seat headrests. You do get a comfy armrest at the rear but what the rear misses out on is an entertainment package including a couple of screens. The boot is also pretty decent having a capacity of 530-litres. You also get laminated glasses which do such a good job of cancelling out outside noise that unfortunately you cannot hear the engine’s growl if the windows are shut.

Performance – The looks of the Maserati Quattroporte GTS makes you want to believe that there is something really exciting and furious lying under the hood. Pop the bonnet up and what you see is a gleaming 3.8-litre V8 engine with red accents that make the motor look aggressive even when the car is standing still. The massive engine unleashes 530 HP of power between 6500-6800 RPM and 650 Nm of twisting force between 2000-4000 RPM while in overboost the car produces a humongous 710 Nm of torque between 2250-3500 RPM. To get used to so much power and force, you need to take the car easy initially and that’s when you realise that the engine is so fricking responsive than even a slight dab of the throttle makes the car fly low.

The V8 engine makes the Quattroporte GTS a splendid performer always

Pottering in the city at low speeds is an easy task for the Maserati Quattroporte and it needs minimal throttle inputs. Power is sent to the rear wheels and if the Aladin in you wants to gather some pace, then the Maserati is all up for it because power is spread across the rev range in a very brilliant manner and never do you feel you’re running out of steam. However, if you’re still not satisfied with the pace and want to go even quicker, i.e. you’re feeling like Superman, then fret not, just go full down on the throttle and the car will fly from 0-100 km/hr in just 4.7 seconds. Faster than Superman too? Maybe. And that moment, when you get thrown into the back of your seat when the car flies straight on an empty road, with that enormous amount of power is when you say the words, “There is no sanity in this world!” There is also quite a bit of torque steer when you give it the beans.

Turbo lag is very nicely contained and the car receives an excellent surge of power once the turbo starts spooling. The car does 100 km/hr in 2nd gear while in 8th gear, it cruises at the same speed at 1400 RPM in D mode and around 1500 RPM in S mode. The Sport mode makes the car feel even more tight and it goes all the way to its redline before shifting gears. The engine is mated to an 8-speed automatic gearbox from ZF which is the same unit that is found on a lot of other luxury cars too. The gearbox is smooth but at low speeds it finds itself a bit confused.

The Quattroporte GTS also gets a manual mode with paddle shifters and it is super fun to use. If you don’t want to use the paddle shifters, then you have an option to change gears using the gear lever, activated by pressing the M button on the centre console. Maserati also provides an I.C.E (Increased Control and Efficiency) mode where performance gets a bit toned down in order to churn out that little bit of extra fuel efficiency. But hey, it’s a Maserati, do you really need to care about fuel economy? The V8 engine has a very eargasmic growl but most of it can be heard outside the cabin only. The cabin is so well insulated that even the exhaust isn’t properly audible, damn!

Driving Dynamics – The Maserati Quattroporte GTS comes with a very heavy steering and Faisal even commented whether the car has a power steering or not. But once you start driving the car, you kind of get used to it and it really doesn’t matter much, except at parking speeds. Handling is splendidly sharp and the car is very fun to drive. The vehicle stays glued to the road and remains very stable even at the highest of speeds, instilling a lot of confidence in you. Also, it is very easy to forget how long the car is and throwing it around corners is fun too. The Italian beast loves wagging its tail out and allows you to have some fun post which all the gazillion number of gizmos like traction control kick in and bring the car back to its line.

Sharp handling characteristics with the steering being a bit heavy, ground clearance is horrible for our roads

The suspension is very stiffly sprung and the ride is something that your back isn’t really going to love. But hey, its a performance vehicle so you really cannot expect the ride of a Mercedes. The suspension does its job of soaking up bumps and crannies but major bumps do tend to unsettle the car as well as its passengers. The only major grouse I had with the Quattroporte is the ultra low ground clearance of 100 mm and combined with the long wheelbase, it scrapes every nasty speed breaker that our Indian roads have to offer. You need to be extra careful with the car and even after taking it sideways over every speed breaker, it does succumb.

The suspension gets Skyhook technology which is an electronically variable active damping system and it is manually adjustable with 2 levels of stiffness. The Maserati Quattroporte GTS runs on 20-inch Pirelli P-Zero rubber having a staggered set up. The front has 245 section tyres with a profile of 40 while the rear makes use of fat 285 section tyres with a lower profile of 35. The tyres have splendid levels of grip but the low profile does make the ride stiff. The vehicle also gets an 18-inch space saver spare tyre. There is a proper 50:50 weight distribution at the front and rear thus giving the car perfect driving dynamics. The front gets 6-piston aluminium monobloc ventilated drilled discs while the rear gets 4-piston ventilated discs. The brakes are very sharp and have a lot of bite, making this Maserati shed speeds very swiftly.

Safety and After Sales Service – Maserati doesn’t have much of a presence in India when we talk about sales and service but they do serve some of the major cities by now. The Quattroporte GTS comes with a warranty of 4 years and it can be extended up to a period of 7 years/1.3 lakh kms. In terms of safety, the vehicle comes with dual-stage front airbags, side bags and head bags, seatbelts with pretensioners and load limiters, Acceleration Slip Regulation (ASR), ABS, EBD, Maserati Drag Torque Control (MSR), Hill Hold, TPMS and an electric parking brake.

Verdict – Are you bored of the Germans? Want something different that provides good space and a lot of fun behind the wheel? The Maserati Quattroporte GTS is just what you need then! The vehicle has enticing looks that will gift you with a lot of attention on the road, the interiors have a long list of equipment to keep you entertained all day long, the engine is a complete blast and the highlight of the car is the way it accelerates while the fun handling characteristics will also satisfy the enthusiast in you. Buy the GTS and your neighbour’s wife is surely going to have an argument with her husband. This car gives you the snob value that no Mercedes S-Class or BMW 7-Series can match. Yes, the Quattroporte is a bit overpriced when compared to competition and you could land yourself a proper sports car for these many monies but then, this Italian is targeted towards that part of the audience who wants to have the best of both worlds – rear seat comfort and pure driving pleasure, making the Maserati Quattroporte GTS a terrific buy. Now only if our roads could handle that ground clearance, that would be something, right?

What’s Cool

* Looks extremely beautiful and unique on our roads
* The engine is a complete blast, offers splendid performance
* Handling characteristics are bang on, a proper fun to drive car

What’s Not So Cool

* Ground clearance is just not suited to our roads
* Maserati’s sales and service reach is limited in India

Alternatives: Aston Martin Rapide, Porsche Panamera Turbo, Bentley Flying Spur Speed

Maserati Quattroporte GTS Specifications

* Engine: 3799cc, V8, Turbocharged, DOHC
* Power: 530 HP @ 6500 – 6800 RPM
* Torque: 650 Nm @ 2000 – 4000 RPM
* Transmission: 8-speed automatic
* 0-100 km/hr: 4.7 seconds
* Fuel Consumption: 5-7 km/l
* Fuel Type: Petrol
* Suspension: Double wishbone (front), Five-link (rear)
* Tyres: 245/40/20 (Front), 285/35/20 (Rear)
* Brakes: Ventilated discs (front and rear), ABS
* Safety: ABS, EBD, ASR, MSR, Hill Hold

Maserati Quattroporte GTS Dimensions

* Overall length x width x height: 5262 mm X 2100 mm X 1481 mm
* Wheelbase: 3171 mm
* Ground clearance: 100 mm
* Turning radius: 5.9 metres
* Fuel Tank Capacity: 80-litres
* Kerb Weight: 1900 kgs

Testers’ Note:

Picture Editing – Sri Manikanta Achanta