The Maserati Quattroporte Sport GT S. A bit of a mouthful?

It is, but Quattroporte sounds better than ‘four-door’ - which is the literal translation - and when the whole thing is said in an Italian accent then there are few more evocative names on the market. Add Sport GT S to that and you’re now looking at the most focused Quattroporte yet.

The Quattroporte Sport GT S (and no, I’m not paid by the word) builds on the Sport GT package but takes this saloon one sporting step further. The Italian company, which turned a profit this year for the first time in 17 years of Fiat ownership, claims the car is designed to provide ‘exceptional dynamic behaviour and uncompromised handling’.

Having said that, the Quattroporte will only come with the six-speed automatic transmission that appeared at the start of 2007.

So what are the changes to make this the most sporting Quattroporte yet?

First up are new fixed dampers, doing away with the adaptive Skyhook system. The Sport GT S also sits 10mm lower at the front and 25mm at the rear than the non-S version to benefit the handling and the car's appearance.

And just below the suspension are so-called ‘co-fusional brakes’. The discs - co-developed with Brembo - are made of iron and aluminium and are supposed to increase both brake feel and resistance to fade. Clamping these up-front are new six-piston callipers.

And what about this sinister black trim?

Taking its styling cues from Darth Vader, the Sport GT S has a black mesh grille, window trim and exhausts. The door handles are body-coloured and the dark chrome 20-inch wheels are wrapped in specially-developed Pirelli tyres.

Inside there are leather seats with Alcantara inserts, and that same material features on the door panels and steering wheel. The dashboard is finished in ‘carbonfibre with a new woven aluminium design’, whatever that may mean.

Finally, the rear seats are said to be more cosseting, though if our experiences of the Sport GT are anything to go by, the only place you’ll want to be is the driver’s seat. No word yet on prices but the regular car costs £83,302, so expect to shell out near-£90k for the coolest four-door on the planet.


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M

wow that is amazing..love it

Look at this car... It looks amazing...

It seems as though Maser has the right idea about the profits, re-investing them to make their cars that much more special.

M

Good going Maserati! Keep this up and the Quattroporte will be taken seriously in the full size luxury sedan segment in the very near future!

'Porte in a storm

Regular readers of Top Gear magazine will know about our Faszination section, where we chronicle the worst excesses of German uber-tuning.

So pervasive is the trend that 'Faszination' has become a recognised adjective, verb and probably a number of other linguistic functions within the office. Thus, when we saw the first photos of this, the Maserati Quattroporte Sport GT S, the question was asked: 'They haven't done a demi-Faszination, have they?'

Cue widespread outrage at such a heinous suggestion. For a start, the Quattroporte Sport GT S hasn't been tuned by some bob-a-job aftermarket firm, but rather by Maserati's in-house team.

Secondly, though it ticks most of the tune-up boxes - more aggressive looks, lowered ride, big alloys - it all fits together into a rather tasteful package.

And it should drive, too. Though the auto drivetrain and 400bhp V8 remain the same, the Quattroporte GT S sits 10mm lower at the front and 25mm lower at the back than the standard car on stiffer springs and dampers.

The electronic 'Skyhook' adjustable suspension from the stock car has been junked in favour of more conventional suspension components for what Maserati is calling a 'racing set-up'. That might be a bit strong, but the suspension should sharpen the Quattroporte up a bit.

So should its brakes. The GT S is the first-ever production car to get Brembo's new 'co-fusional' brakes: discs made from both iron and aluminium that Maserati reckons give better feel and reduced fade - hopefully without the squeaking that tends to accompany carbon-ceramics.

If you look closely at the photos, you'll notice that the rear alloys (20-inch dark chrome, since you ask) are dished slightly while the front wheels are flat. That's because the GT S has an even fatter set of rear tyres: 295/30 Pirelli rubber for increased stickiness.

The subtle visual changes are limited to a black mesh radiator grill, black quad exhausts and body-coloured door handles. Inside, there's a bit of extra carbon fibre and Alcantara, but in all it's a pleasingly understated effort.

The only issue - and the only reason that GT S has just a hint of Faszination about it - is whether the world really needs a harder Maser Quattroporte with an auto 'box. Surely you buy a Quattro' for effortless wafting rather than concentrated-expression thrashing?

But maybe not. The enduring popularity of expensively modded metal must mean there are plenty out there who think it's a good idea, so better leave it in the hands of the experts rather than a crackpot German with swathes of carbon fibre and a glue gun.

We'll see the £85k Quattroporte Sport GT S (an £8k premium over the standard £77,095 QP Automatic) in the flesh in Frankfurt, where it'll no doubt be surrounded by a bunch of Germans saying: "You know, you could fit a nice set of 22s on that..."

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M

Thank God this car didn't come with any major changes to the drivetrain... If not, we'll be pretty pissed.

I wonder why they removed the Skyhook suspension. It is comfortable on non-sport and bloody stiff on sport. It works well on our car but well I've heard of reliability issues on it before.

I don't like the body coloured door handles. If our car is white, would that mean the handles will be white? I much prefer the current chrome handles.

Oh and - in case one thinks this is the sportiest QP ever - it comes only in automatic. Way to go... I thought the sportiest QP should at least come with DuoSelect.

Just a marketing exercise.

I'm waiting on that rumored V12 version, should be a monster.

M

Press Release

The new Quattroporte Sport GT S will be unveiled at the Frankfurt Motorshow for its worldwide preview. The Quattroporte Sport GT S is the ultimate expression of Maserati’s saloon sportiness.

Exclusively for those looking for an even stronger sporting edge in a luxury saloon, the Quattroporte Sport GT S, equipped with an automatic 6-speed gearbox, stands out for its exceptional dynamic behaviour and uncompromised handling.

This result was obtained with the introduction of new suspension layout, featuring single rate dampers and a “racing” set up. The Quattroporte Sport GT S sits 10mm lower at the front and 25mm at the rear compared to other versions of the Quattroporte, and also features new, stiffer springs and dampers.

The Quattroporte Sport GT S boasts a unique braking system developed in collaboration with Brembo. This innovative technology uses dual-cast brake discs, and this is the first time such a set up has been employed on a road car.

Unlike traditional cast iron discs, dual-cast discs are made of two materials, cast iron and aluminium, to ensure optimised braking, improving performance in the most extreme conditions and providing greater resistance to fade even at the highest temperatures. The Quattroporte Sport GT S’s new braking system also benefits from new mono-block, six-piston callipers at the front and tyres developed especially for this car (front 245/35-R20 and rear 295/30-R20). The increased size of the rear tyres allows optimum use of the Maserati’s V8 power, whilst the new tyre compound helps the brakes and set-up to guarantee a superior level of handling and driving emotion.

The Quattroporte Sport GT S’s exterior is distinguished by a more aggressive look. Along with the black-chrome mesh front grille, a characteristic element of sporty Maseratis, the side window trims and the two double exhaust pipes are also in black, whilst door handles are in the same colour as the body of the car.

The Quattroporte Sport GT S is fitted with eye-catching dark-chrome 20", seven spoke alloy wheels.

Even the choice of material for the interior of the Quattroporte Sport GT S reflects the car's sporty character. Traditional Poltrona Frau leather has been combined with Alcantara, which covers the central zone of the seats, the interior door panels and the steering wheel. Maserati has previously used Alcantara for the interior of the Trofeo cars and the MC12.

The dashboard is finished in new carbon fibre with aluminium treads, whilst front seats are characterised by a new, more cosseting sporty shape.

[Source: Maserati via WCF]

I have a feeling it will come with the facelift if it will ever happen. But I'm expecting the 4.6L V8 to come first before the V12.