Good feedback, thanks for it. Do you know the build date of your car? On the two cars I have driven, there was no issue with the brake pedal. The shift was also every bit as good as the latest 575. I didn't notice any issues with the climate control either, but that I suppose is a good thing. Luckily I have had the opportunity for an extended test drive of the car I am purchasing, which thankfully, is the same as the car I originally tested many months ago. My initial drive of the QP was full of scepticism, expecting the worst and being pleasantly surprised. I'm hoping your experience was a relatively isolated instance.
My QP happily enough has more than acceptable brake sharpness, overall the interior fit and quality is outstanding but the visors are cheap looking. I love the gear box but I don't drive it in auto mode. My experience with temperature controls is the same as LWR550 and I hope it can be fixed or improved. I think LWR550 feedback is excellent objective reporting but does reflect his priorities. For me, its a terrific car that I look forward to driving every day. I don't think its a poor man's Ferrari; maybe an adventurous man's Jaguar. Keep the faith.
I was worried about contributing my thinking to this thread - thank you both for not flaming me. I think KBrookings had it spot on with the fact that my observations are a reflection of my priorities. To that end, I'm not sure I'd be happy with any of the QP's so-called competition - the CLS55, S55, Audi S8 etc. I replaced the QP with a Bentley Continental GT - a good chunk of change more that the QP. Those of you with different priorities to mine would no doubt find the Bentley a little disconnected and lacking the flair you might expect from an Italian machine. Horses for courses... I hope you all love your QP's... still think that Nero and Bordeaux was absolutely amazing! LWR
After a week of LA driving(rain and sun),my only gripe was the lack of power(coming from S600),my wife on the other hand did not like the tranny's jerkiness in stop and go traffic. A/C worked fine ,the interior looked and felt great,it was a pleasure to drive that car. I would not buy it though in it's present form after hearing about V12 being possibly offered in '06. If that one comes,I'm first in line.
Yup we drove the Gt continental, but for my wife it is too much an ol mans car, the flying spur has got heaps more room in the rear and again it has the look of being an ol man's car, plenty of go but in Australia the Bentley has a stigma associated with it, hard to put into words, Stephen might know what i mean. Thw QP we drove did not have anything as you have stated given that i stepped out of an ML55 and into the QP, it was like going from a willy's jeep to the space shuttle, the ML55 is soooo last century technology and harsh, the brake travel on the QP is better than on my M3, the front end has more feel and the entire pachage just seemed such a pleasure, i hope yours was an isolated case. BG
I hate the seats in the Audi (We didn't get the recaros in the US), the transmission's OK, but tiresome, but it has heaps of power. I drove the QP and ordered one the next week. Better balance, interior, and style. The Audi, I found, just wasn't as much of a driver's car as I had hoped for. Don't get me wrong, I love it, it always brings a smile to my face as to what it can accomplish, but it's just not that rewarding to drive.
Just read on italiaspeed that demand for the Qp is rising as well as the 612. I think that Maserati will keep improving the Qp steadily like they did with the Coupe and Spyder.
