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?

 

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 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.

 

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