Maserati Quattroporte Automatic 2007 Review

Not so much
>> Fiddly menu system for dash controls
>> Small boot
>> No spare wheel

That said, it is the latest generation (introduced in 2004) that has most firmly placed the model on the local automotive map. Globally too, for the current Quattroporte has been Maserati's most popular model ever -- notching up over 9000 sales around the world.

In Australia, the car managed to find over 50 buyers in 2006. Given the typical buyer, however, this progress was held back due to a lack of a true automatic transmission. Now that has changed with the arrival of a six-speed auto-equipped Quattroporte which will be sold alongside the original six-speed DuoSelect automated manual.

With the bulk of the Quattroporte's competitors being automatic, Maserati now expects to be able to lift sales of the car this year to close to 180 with an estimated 80 per cent of those buyers opting for the new automatic.

PRICE AND EQUIPMENT
As is the case with the DuoSelect models, the Quattroporte Automatic is offered in three spec levels all sharing Maserati’s Ferrari-derived 4.2-litre V8.

The entry-level automatic model is priced the same as its manual kin and starts at $269,000.

As you would expect of a luxury car, standard equipment levels are high and include dual-zone climate control, electric front and rear outboard seats, windows and mirrors, a premium BOSE concert hall six-stack CD audio system and 18-inch alloy wheels.

Maserati offers 11 leather and four wood trim choices that it claims (along with individual preferences for piping and stitching and external hues) enable no less than 4 million different combinations of interior and exterior colour and trim.

Next up is the Sport GT with 20-inch alloys, sports tune for the standard adaptive dampers and automatic transmission and a deeper rumble to the sound from the V8. Cosmetic and interior changes include a sports steering wheel (with integrated paddle shifts for the manual mode for the auto transmission), alloy pedals and carbon-fibre trim. The Sport GT is priced from $288,000.

The top of the range Executive GT starts at $298,000 and uses the base car's suspension and auto transmission settings and sits on 19-inch alloys but gains a number of comfort features. These include heated, ventilated and massaging rear seats, Alcantara roof lining and separate adjustments for the rear climate control.

On the engine front, while the Automatic retains the same 4.2-litre capacity, bore/stroke and compression ratio as the manual version’s V8, the powerplant now uses a wet sump as opposed to the manual's dry sump lubrication. Other changes include new inlet manifold, variable valve timing, modified pistons to improve combustion and redesigned, blue-painted cylinder heads.

Maximum power remains the same as in the DuoSelect V8 -- 295kW at 7000rpm -- but torque has increased by 9Nm to 460Nm peaking at a slightly lower 4250rpm compared with the manual's 451Nm at 4500rpm.

As you would expect the automatic loses the performance edge over the manual with a slightly lower (but nevertheless still very rapid) top speed and 0-100km/h time. Maserati claims 270kmh for the auto versus 275km/h and 5.6sec versus 5.2.

The automatic Quattroporte is, however, more frugal at the bowser with an official combined fuel consumption of 14.7lt/100km. The manual glugs the same premium unleaded at the rate of 15.8lt/100km.

The other big change of course is the introduction of the ZF-sourced six-speed automatic transmission. Unlike the manual box, which uses a transaxle layout and is mounted longitudinally on the rear differential, the auto is mated directly to the engine at the front end of the car -- hence the above noted floorpan changes.

The automatic transmission offers four modes of operation -- Normal, Sport, Ice and Manual -- with ‘Sport’ holding gears longer before upshifting and ‘Ice’ locking out first from stationary and shifting up at a maximum of 3000rpm. Manual mode uses a sequential system that is actuated either by the steering wheel mounted paddles -- standard on Sport and optional across the range -- or via the transmission lever in the new centre console, which also features the auto-only electric park brake lever.

Repositioning the transmission has changed the weight balance of the car, although with both the engine and transmission mounted behind the front axle, the automatic still maintains a slight rearward weight bias with a 49/51 per cent front to rear weight distribution. The DuoSelect model has a 47/53 percent front to rear ratio.

Both models feature front and rear double wishbone suspension with continually adjustable and individually controlled adaptive dampers that Maserati calls its ‘Skyhook’ system. Hitting the sports mode button, not only adjusts the transmission response but also firms up the dampers.

PACKAGING
At just over 5m long, the Quattroporte is not a small car. That said, while it is marginally longer than BMW's 7 series and slightly smaller than the Benz S-class, it doesn't have the same sort of expansive interior as the Germans.

Part of the reason is the engine/transmission’s rearward position does eat into the cabin space a little but the car's very sporty, sweeping styling also plays a part.

There is still ample room for four adults. Up front the seats are very comfortable and supportive, trimmed in sumptuous leather and electrically adjustable in a multitude of directions. With an electric adjustment for rake and reach on the steering column, getting a good driving position is easy.

The rear does incorporate three three-point seatbelts but to all intents and purposes it is a two-person space with two airline-style individual electrically-operated reclining and sliding positions. There is more than enough legroom and headroom and if sir or madam should wish to ride in the rear in greater comfort, a handy button in the centre fold-down armrest electrically slides the front passenger seat forward.

Despite the car's size, the boot is very small with a capacity of just 450 litres and that is without any spare wheel of any sort. Interior storage space is adequate with the auto getting two big cupholders up front, but the door bins are narrow.

The centre stack housing all the controls for audio/HVAC etc is nicely laid out and reasonably stylish but the controls for the menu system that operates the sound system/phone/satnav and various other adjustable functions is fiddly to use.

This is definitely something that needs to be done by the passenger or when stopped.

SAFETY
With such enormous performance potential, the Quattroporte is not short of safety kit with its very well balanced and solid chassis kicking off a solid performance.

Big 330mm ventilated discs with four-pot calipers are on each corner and are monitored by an anti-lock system with electronic brakeforce distribution. Other electronics include MSP stability and traction control which also works in conjunction with the active damping system.

Passive safety features include six airbags (dual front, front side and full-length side curtain) and five three point seatbelts with pretensioners on the front.

COMPETITORS
As a large, luxury four-door sedan, initial comparisons might be made against BMW’s 7 Series, the Mercedes S-Class and Audi A8 V8 models but with its overtly sporting flavour, Maserati sees the car in a slightly different market -- albeit largely against the same manufacturers.

Price and performance-wise in the Audi camp, the new V10 S8 at $259,900 is more closely aligned to the Quattroporte and over at BMW, although only a two door, the four seater M-tuned V10 $275,400 M6 Coupe is probably more likely to be shopped against the Maserati.

Mercedes probably offers the closest rival in the form of its four-door coupe-style CLS. 6.2-litre AMG-fettled V8 CLS 63 AMG is priced from $252,300. 

The gurgling sound emanating from the rear quad exhaust pipes is simply delicious and a firm thrust of the right foot delivers a strong and immediate response. The urge off the line is very rapid as the revs quickly climb in a smooth and refined fashion.

The shifts from the slick six-speed auto are smooth and seamless and under hard throttle the transmission will hold ratios right through to the 7200rpm soft redline. Before you know it you are stretching the bounds of legality, and then some...

In normal mode, the ride is undoubtedly on the firm side but with a surprising amount of compliance to deal with short, sharp ruts, the Quattroporte was pleasantly comfortable on both highway and B-grade country roads. Even on one appalling C-grade tarred goat track that we detoured through, the ride quality was never uncomfortable or jarring.

At the same time, the excellent stability and balance of the car meant that you could push on hard and the car unswervingly kept its line, swallowing mid corner ruts and off-camber bends with ease.

Switch into Sport mode and there is discernible stiffening of the dampers though never to the point of making the ride uncomfortable or harsh. The already responsive transmission gets even quicker -- so much so that the manual shift mode becomes almost an irrelevant gimmick.

Driving hard down through the twisting, smooth-surfaced Chum Creek Road in Victoria's Yarra Valley, the car remained incredibly flat and stable with prodigious grip from the big Pirelli rubber ensuring that the subtle intervention of the stability control was kept to an absolute minimum.

Such is the balance and poise of the chassis and very well controlled and executed active adaptive nature of the dampers, that you would really only want to drive in Sport mode when truly pushing for the limits. In most other situations we’d prefer the better ride quality compliance of normal mode.

Our only niggle about the active suspension and adaptive transmission is that under very quick changes in driving style, the car's computer sometimes took a few moments to readjust to the new mode of travel. This occasionally caused the ride to remain very firm or the auto box to catch the wrong ratio.

With a slight rearward weight bias, the steering is delightfully precise and well weighted with a superb amount of feedback. Likewise the big brakes are very effective with decent pedal feel and little fade.

The vast improvement in smoothness and driveability that the auto transmission offers in the Quattroporte is delivered without any detraction from the car's performance and handling prowess. Thus you wonder why anyone would opt for the unrefined and at times confounding DuoSelect.

This is the drivetrain Maserati’s flagship saloon needed from the beginning.

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