2016 Maserati Quattroporte GTS first drive

The 2017 Maserati Quattroporte has been given the very definition of a mild facelift. Mechanically, there’s nothing much new to see here. Visually, and inside, there is - a bit.

First, then, to the outside of this…this what? This sporty luxury saloon that’ll cost you from £70,000 to £115,000, depending on the engine. Consider the Quattroporte’s rivals, then, to be anything from a BMW 7 Series and Mercedes-Benz S-Class to a Porsche Panamera, Jaguar XJ, and maybe even an Aston Martin Rapide, if you spec the top, V8-powered, Quattroporte GTS model. That’s what our test car, the car you see pictured here, is. 

Outside, it has a new front end that's reminiscent of the new Levante SUV’s, and it gets the same feature behind the grille – an electrically controlled ‘air shutter’, a neat idea which keeps the engine at a more constant temperature. It’s open at lower speeds and/or higher temperatures to make sure the engine’s sufficiently cooled, and closes if it’s colder or you’re going faster. It speeds up the warm-up process and has allowed Maserati to save a few quid by using the same radiator set up on any model in the Quattoporte range – which in the UK has a 271bhp 3.0 diesel as the entry-level motor, includes a 404bhp 3.0 V6 petrol and is topped with this 3.8-litre, twin-turbocharged V8.

The V8 makes the same 523bhp as it did in the pre-facelift model, and drives through the same eight-speed automatic transmission, but the air shutter, combined with a new diffuser and bumper at the back, has cleaned the aerodynamics by 10%, so the top speed is up (by 3mph) to 193mph (small gains at that speed).

Inside, the changes are more significant. To a mild point, anyway. There’s a new touchscreen in the middle of the dash, with a dual-height rotary dial on the centre console. There are a load of new driver assistance systems: adaptive cruise, lane departure warning, emergency braking, and so on. New glass is said to have made the Quattroporte a bit quieter inside.

Finally, there are two distinct trim levels; GranSport, and GranLusso, which brings slightly different bumper and plastic treatments outside and different material finishes inside. The former of the two trim levels is more sporty, with red calipers and black plastics, you know the idea; and the latter is more luxurious, up to and including a new kind of silk trim.

The Quattroporte is like it used to be, which, three years after its launch, is on the ‘quite likeable’ side of things. 

There was a time when a Maserati Quattroporte asked you to make a few compromises. It rode far more harshly than the competition and the gearbox jolted and kicked you around a bit too. The reward was keen steering, rather fine body control and an engine note to die for. It was a luxury car – usually a car enjoyed more from the rear seats than the one from where you twiddle the wheel – that demanded you were driving if you wanted to see it at its best.

These days a Quattroporte doesn’t ask its rear seat occupants to sacrifice so much for the driver, but in return, the person in the front isn’t having so much fun, either. Yet, in turn, it’s not as refined, smooth, or isolated as an S-Class or 7 Series. Therefore, it ends up falling somewhere between the two camps, with insufficient reserves of either luxury or sport.