Quick drive: 2015 Maserati Quattroporte GTS
When was the last time you arrived somewhere or passed a crowd in your German uber-sedan and received anything more than a passing glance? Call it rampant income disparity or acche din, today’s reality is such that European roundels adorning your bonnet don’t carry the cachet they once did. Maserati too is a European purveyor of luxury motor vehicles, but one that pitches itself a bit more upmarket. By their own admission, they have a cap on their annual production to retain exclusivity. They haven’t reached it yet, but it’s there. Just so you know. The Quattroporte GTS you see here doesn’t have a roundel anywhere on its decadently sculpted coachwork, instead, announcing its arrival with its regal-looking trident brand marque and a menacing hum from its turbo V8.
There’s just no way to tiptoe around the question of price and the value proposition of the Quattroporte GTS. At Rs 2.2 crore ex-showroom, the value prop is awful. You can buy the recently-launched Maybach S 500 for far less and be far more comfortable at the back. You could pony up another Rs 40 lac and get an S 600 with comforts rivalling a private Learjet. This author could buy every single apartment in his modest residential building, freeing up lots of parking spots. For your two hundred and twenty lac rupees before the government takes its share, you get a very basic bench seat at the back with a simple, folding armrest in-between with cup holders. Practical storage is scarce overall. There’s massive hump in the centre of the bench above the transmission tunnel (also massive), leaving the fifth passenger an unfortunate soul.
The only personalisation rear passengers have is in their individual climate control, and whether the sun shades should be up or down. However, every surface is covered in so much luxurious leather that occupants may be in danger of being beaten to death by a right-wing mob. There’s carbon fibre and mood lighting across the dash, but generally, every luxury in this luxury sedan is practically pedestrian compared to its peers. Should you buy the Maserati Quattroporte GTS luxury sedan? Experts in the office agree, the answer is no.
Reflect a moment, if you will, on the name: ‘Quattroporte’, literally, “four doors” in Italian. What an unimaginative and obvious name for a car, you’d think. This is because the fact that the car has four doors is incidental. The purpose of this Maserati is to evoke feelings of wonder and envy in those outside, and turgidity in the bloke behind the wheel. There really is no genteel, gender-neutral way to describe the experience of the GTS. Even in this modest metallic brown colour, the Quattroporte attracts so much attention that it’s downright dangerous. Bikers recklessly overtake just to get a look at the badge in the front grille. Cameraphones are fished out hurriedly for photos and videos. Other luxury cars stop in deference and wait while it circumscribes a giant arc to turn against traffic, even when driven by Pune’s notoriously inconsiderate motorists. You could paint it red and slap an equine logo on the grille and all would be well.
Turn onto the expressway and punch the precious few buttons enabling sport mode and suspension, and there’s an instant change in the exhaust note. It’s not a raucous AMG-style growl/roar, but rather a muted sub-bass frequency that gives occupants enough feedback of pace with the occasional crackle on upshifts if you really mash it. The ride is stiff, even in the regular drive mode, not helped by the huge, sporty 20″ rims shod in low-profile Pirelli rubber. There’s some road noise but the cabin is remarkably quiet and composed at speed. Threading through late night truck traffic at elevated speed in an 5.2 metre-long sedan was not enough to wake this author’s spouse, fast asleep in the passenger seat. The front two seats are heated and cooled, which is a boon at this time of year.
Feedback from the steering is another unique characteristic of the Quattroporte GTS. To begin with, feel is quite heavy compared to the typical electrically-assisted tillers we’re used to. There’s plenty of rumble coming through the wheel from the fat, low-pro tyres, which is not what one expects of a typical luxury sedan. Such is the sensation that one occasionally must fight the wheel as it drags to one side depending on the incline of the road. You may have guessed that this makes it a very entertaining car to drive with the traction control off, circumscribing massive dusty donuts at will. The 3.8-litre V8 makes a surprising amount of power for its modest displacement, generating 530bhp and 650Nm (710Nm with overboost) of torque. Expectedly, power comes on in a rush if you’re in sport mode and pin the throttle, thanks to the small displacement/big boost combo. Despite the huge 285-section rear tyres and all electronic nannies enabled, it’s common to hear the rubber chirp under hard acceleration.
The ubiquitous ZF 8-speed gearbox maintains motivation, and it’s easy to see just why this gearbox is so popular. Whether in regular or sport mode, it handles shifts with such smoothness that it’s imperceptible apart from the changed tone of the motor. It almost feels like a dual-clutch unit in sport, up- and downshifting aggressively to keep things blurry. Once you get past the length, 1900kg weight and fear of scratching a 2.2-crore (ex-showroom) car, the Quattroporte GTS is a genuinely fun car to drive while being cossetted in great comfort, at least up front. The large boot makes it quite practical as well, a quality that’s hard to mix with drop-dead exotic looks. Just watch the speed bumps; the car will scrape on the particularly offensive ones.
The Maserati Quattroporte GTS is like a finely-crafted, hand-made Italian shoes. They fit perfectly and dazzle at the correct occasion, but you don’t wear them everyday, and usually not all day. Should you buy the Quattroporte GTS luxury sedan? At this price, probably not. Should you buy the Quattroporte GTS sport sedan? Sì, sì!
Originally published at ThrillOfDriving.com on October 20, 2015.
