Powered-up Maserati Quattroporte Sport GTS
Range-topping Italian four-door supercar gets more power and performance, with no price increaseMaserati is digging deeper to challenge the likes of Porsche’s Panamera with an up-powered, kitted-out Quattroporte Sport GTS sedan that hits the road with no price increase over the previous model.
If not the ultimate version of the current Quattroporte, it must be close to it. With power raised from 323kW to 331kW, and a torque increase from 490Nm to 510Nm, the reworked 4.7-litre V8 delivers more performance, while the Sport GTS’s adoption of the previously optional MC Sportline package adds a touch of extra glitz.
The Ferrari-built, normally aspirated engine’s extra power and torque essentially comes from revised engine mapping that results in minimal acceleration improvements: Zero to 100km/h comes in just 5.0 seconds, where the previous model took all of 5.1 seconds to reach the same speed.
The engine gives the driver a choice of Sport mode, in which valves in the exhaust system open to reduce back pressure and increase power while enhancing the familiar V8 blast.
The top-shelf Maserati’s MC Auto Shift transmission is claimed to be the closest conventional auto yet to a DSG-style sequential manual gearbox with sharp, efficient shifts under hard acceleration and smooth operation at more relaxed speeds.
The Sport GTS’s interior dressing up comes in the form of carbon fibre in places where wood trim once sufficed, as well as around the instrument pack and on the (longer) shift paddles. Door sills and brake pedal are embossed with the MC Sportline logo.
The manufacturer’s list price for the Maserati Quattroporte GTS MC is $298,800, while the “base” 4.2-litre version is listed at $250,000. Neither price includes on-road charges. Interestingly, Porsche’s Panamera spans a price range from just below $195,000 (184kW/550Nm 3.0-litre turbodiesel V6) to more than $440,000 for the 405kW/750Nm twin turbo 4.8-litre petrol V8 version.
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