qp 4

my non car buddy asked me to help with his next sedan purchase. he is trading in his old bmw and leasing a new car through his company. he is not really into cars that much, but knows what he likes to have in terms of performance and service etc.

his wife did not want an audi or a mercedes, and he needed 4 doors, 5 seats, 4 wheel drive, and all the latest gadgets.

so we went to bmw first. i told him for my money i would have the m6 grancoupe 640d xdrive. that ticks all the boxes, and is the best looking bmw at the moment. he liked it. his wife sort of. we were there for a while waiting for the dealer to give a number for the trade in car, and to come up with a base number for the new car etc etc. so while we were waiting we got into every other car to make sure they were not missing anything. conclusion there was that my original suggestion was the right bmw for them.

then the wife says she can hardly tell sedans apart, and that most of these bmw's look boring, and the grancoupe is simply the least boring looking of the bunch.

so i suggested we go over to the ferrari/maserati dealer and check out the new qp4. they were reluctant, but i dragged them over anyway. when we got there the old qp and the new one were parked side by side - which i think is a bad plan since the old shape is so much nicer, but it did allow them to make the comparison. no harm though because they liked the new body. so we went into the showroom to talk with the main guy who i know. contrary to bmw, he comes over talks with us a bit, gets the gist of the plan and just says here are the keys to the qp4, take it for a spin while i have the mechanics check out your bmw for resale.

so off we went. he drove his wife back home. she sat in the back and checked out all the stuff. the car was black, which is not her first choice but the interior was the tobacco color she would have chosen so she was somewhat pleased. it had very nice wood accents, and all the usual stuff. she liked it. after we dropped her off i drove back. the car does really have some get up and go. that v6 turbo is nice and powerful, and the noise is great. difficult to get much more of an impression on a 15 minute drive in a crowded city, but it seems to be a very good car.
the cool thing is this is the only one delivered so far to the dealer and he almost didnt want to sell it because he cannot get more before winter. the numbers were essentially the same as the bmw, but my friends liked it a lot better because it seemed different and unusal and classy. i think they will end up getting it.

does anybody else here have the new qp4 and can give us some wider driving experience notes?

 

Ross,
I like the story and I hope many more people will go the same way.
Just to avoid confusion and attract the right audience to your thread: The new Quattroporte is actually the QP6. I suppose you are referring to that one. The QP4 was built between 1995 and 2002 and also had V6 turbos and V8 turbo engines.
I have seen the QP6 but not driven it yet.
Regards, Otto

 

I will only add a note about the V8 engine version (QP GTS), which is WAY more impressive if you are into sporty driving, it truly makes the car fly. If "sporty" is not your thing, then the V6 is also fine.

 

although i didnt have it on a track, the vg twin turbo sure seemed plenty sporty for a sedan. i think they have a winner here. i wish it was inside the old body tho

 

so nobody has a new quattroporte to talk about??

 

I don't own one, my limited experience has been with 30 minute test drives.

- Its a nice car, I understand they had to make it look more "audi" so it could sell to the mass market. So I prefer the body of the previous QP.

- The new V8 engine with 530bhp is spectacular.

- It does not drive like a Bentley or a Rolls, if you expect a limo kind of car then you'll be disappointed. It has lots of road noise, exhaust noise and does not "float" on the road. That is because its got a sporty character that makes it a different kind of beast.

- Oh one last thing, they finally fitted the QP with a usable entertainment/infotainment system, good news because the old one was bad.

 

It's also a lot bigger inside is it not?

 

If it was, I didn't notice anything in the front seats. Maybe it seems bigger due to the console in the middle between the seats, makes you feel there is more space around.

 

i like the old body style better too. if it were me, thats the one i would buy used.

but my friend wants 4 wheel drive so now other choice.

lots of room inside. and in the trunk. very impressive. i liked the dynamic character of it - much less removed from the action.

wonder if the build quality will hold up.

 

HI I think you must be talking about the QPV or a variant of that. The QP IV was actually quite a nice car but I don't think it made it to the US. There is one for sale you can check out.

Maserati Quattroporte IV 2.8 V6 Evoluzione For Sale, (Car: advert number 208497) | ClassicCarsForSale.co.uk

 

Interesting thread.

I have testd the new QP6V8 too. It has a sound inside which is in fact very much like the QP III !!

Today, I drove a 2007 QP5 today and that car is very good too even with the not-so-popular Duo Select transmission.

I have also driven the QP4 in V6 and V8 versions quite a bit. They are really great cars. V8 twin turbo with manual transmission!!

I hope all the classic Maseratis will increase in value!


Erik

 

my friend bought the quattroporte v6 turbo with 4 wheel drive - called the q4 here. he is happy and i am happy, and i got some points with the ferrari dealer....and we all know how important that can be

 

Very odd, it's not even QP5 numerically.

Heritage

 

The Q4 in the series Vl Quattroport is for 4 wheel drive.

Roman numerals are used to identify the series.

 

Once again the Italians lead via clarity ...

Do these guys look backwards even as far as 1999?

I guess not, hence the new Ghibli instead of Ghibli III or much better Ghibli Quattroporte

A quick survey, who else in the annals of automotive history has re-utilized the name of a performance coupe for a sedan?

Camero sedan?
Mustang sedan?
Corvette sedan?
911 sedan? Panamera and ugh!
Charger sedan?