FORZA AUTOMATICO!

Maserati gives the Quattroporte the transmission it always needed, writes Paddy Comyn.

Without a doubt, the coolest fourdoor car in the world is the Maserati Quattroporte. Well, at least until the Aston Martin Rapide and Porsche Panamerica come along. Luxury sports car makers have been watching the success of the Maserati’s sporty luxury car with interest and want a slice of the pie.

MASTERING A MASERATI

The concept of a four-door sports car is not new to Maserati. They have been doing it for years with varied success. But their most recent Quattroporte has been something of a hit and owners and prospective owners were very happy; apart from one thing. When the car was launched a few years back it came with just one transmission and this was the sequential paddle-shift that was shared with Ferrari. This is a good gearbox in its own right and in the right setting, but many luxury car owners who are used to lazy Mercedes-Benz or BMWs found it jerky and a little tricky to master.

SELF-SHIFTING COMFORT

Roll forward to 2007 and you can now have the Quattrporte with a six-speed ZF transmission that you will find in cars such as the Jaguar XK and Aston Martin DB9. There have been some tweaks required to fit in this new gearbox, which sits right behind the now more forward lying 4.2litre V8 engine. But it has nothing to spoil the cars almost perfect weight distribution and now allows the traditionally more docile luxury car driver to waft around in selfshifting comfort and when the mood takes them they can change gears manually using the paddle shifts or the centre lever.

If you do decide to awaken the snarling V8 then you will find 400bhp and 460Nm of torque under your right boot and this makes this stunning-looking car seriously fast, too. In this car 0-100km/h arrives in 5.6 seconds and on to a top speed of 268km/h. And all with the most wonderful soundtrack coming from the V8.

EXQUISITE INTERIOR

The interior is beautifully finished and you can really have it your way as regards leather and wood finishes. The rear seats can recline, too, should you prefer letting Jeeves do the driving, but then again, try the Quattroporte for yourselves and all Jeeves will be getting is a P45. It will cost you from €160,000 for a Quattroporte from the official dealer Charles Hurst Specialist Cars in Belfast and for that you get something very different from the usual suspects, with loads of heritage, loads of power and something that is achingly cool.