Maserati has used the
Australian International Motor Show in Sydney to provide
its range topping Quattroporte with a new sporting edge
with the launch of the Quattroporte Sport GTS MC
Sport Line customisation kit. Sitting
alongside the newest version of the Quattroporte on the
stand was the GranCabrio which also made its Australian
debut at the show. Completing the Trident's line-up at
the Darling Harbour Exhibition Center were two examples
of the GranTurismo (including one featuring the Sport
Line kit).
“The Quattroporte Sport
GTS has already been labeled Maserati’s iron fist in a
velvet glove, thanks to its svelte body wrapping around
a high performance drivetrain, a racetrack bred chassis
and a soundtrack from the engine that turns heads even
quicker than its innate style” says Glen Sealey, General
Manager for Maserati in Australia and New Zealand. “The
MC Sport Line could be said to replace the iron in that
fist with carbon fibre, which is used throughout the
interior and, with just 30 destined for Australia, it
will extend Maserati’s reputation for exclusivity.”
The MC Sport Line
equipment package is developed from Maserati’s highly
successful motorsport programme with the Maserati MC-12,
which dominates the FIA GT World Championship and which
currently leads the 2010 title chases for both drivers’
and team prizes.
“Carbon fibre is used
extensively in the MC-12 and its use in the Quattroporte
MC Sportline transforms the ambiance of the Sport GTS,”
says Mr Sealey. “With its use on the gearchange paddles,
which are twice the size of those in the normal
Quattroporte and mirror the paddles fitted to the MC-12,
it is also a tactile change as the carbon fibre has
quite a different feel to the light alloy used in the
normal paddles”
The Maserati
Quattroporte Sport GTS MC Sportline replaces all the
wood trim in the standard car with carbon fibre, across
the dashboard, the front and rear centre consoles,
sections of the door panels, the gear knob and around
the switchgear. Additionally it is used around the
instrument pack and on the gearchange paddles. Each of
the door sills is fitted with carbon fibre trim panels
embossed with the MC Sportline logo and the MC logo is
stamped into the aluminium brake pedal.
When deliveries
of the Maserati Quattroporte Sport GTS MC Sportline
start on this market in November, it will have a
recommended price of A$298,800 excluding statutory
charges, delivery and on road costs.
The Maserati
Quattroporte Sport GTS is the range topping variant of
Maserati’s sleek salon and, since its launch, has been
consistently the best selling variant of the
Quattroporte. Compared to the Quattroporte S, top speed
is lifted from 280 kmh to 285 kmh and the 0-100 kmh time
is trimmed from 5.2 seconds to 5.1 seconds. But these
figures are only part of the story of how Maserati has
produced a luxury saloon that has the driving abilities
of a supercar. Maserati revised the mapping of the V8
4.7 litre engine, with power increased to 323 kW at 7000
rpm. In Sport mode valves open in the exhaust system to
reduce back-pressure increasing maximum available power.
These valves not only release more power – they also
enable the Maserati V8 to create a throaty roar at low
engine speeds and full symphonic sound of a genuine
sports car at higher rpm.
