Maserati
Quattroporte
The Maserati Quattroporte is a
luxury four-door sedan made by Maserati of Italy. The
name translated from Italian literally means "four
doors". There have been five generations of the
car, each separated by a period of roughly five years.
In 2004, Maserati started production
of the Pininfarina-designed Quattroporte, with the
same dry sump 4.2 L engine as the Coupé, Spyder
and the new GranTurismo but improved to 400 hp (SAE)
(298 kW). Due to its greater weight than the Coupé and
Spyder, the 0-62 mph (0-100 km/h) time for the Quattroporte
is 5.6 seconds and the top speed is 167 mph (269 km/h).
The Quattroporte was unveiled to the world at the Frankfurt
Motor Show on September 9, 2003 and made its US première
at the 2003 Pebble Beach Concours d'Élégance.
It is a continuation of the long tradition of Quattroporte
luxury sedans in the Maserati line-up.
The 47% front
/ 53% rear weight distribution (with the DuoSelect
transmission) allows the large sedan to have very nimble
handling. This weight distribution is achieved by setting
the engine further back in the chassis behind the front
axle to shift the load back towards the cabin, and
the adoption of the Transaxle layout which sees the
gearbox rear-mounted in unit with the differential.
The transaxle architecture is normally reserved for
high performance sports cars and is the first time
applied to a luxury sedan. The Quattroporte's weight
distribution maximizes traction and thrust during acceleration
so that the car remains exceptionally stable and well
balanced at all times. With the newer automatic transmission,
the transmission is adjacent to the engine and weight
distribution changes to 49% front / 51% rear.
The Maserati Quattroporte is offered
in four configurations: the base Quattroporte, the
Quattroporte Sport GT, the Quattroporte Sport GTS,
and the Quattroporte Executive GT. |