WHEELS & WATER
SMOOTH SALOON The Maserati Ghibli Hybrid GranSport offers drivers an enviable combination of Italian design, power and performance. WORDS CHRIS NIXON IF YOU WANT TRUE Italian motoring heritage without joining the Red Brigade (or the Lime Green Lairs)*, look no further than Maserati. It’s existed since 1914. Maserati won the Formula 1 World Championship in 1957 with Juan Manuel Fangio and the singleseater regarded as the most beautiful racing car ever, the 250F. It enjoyed many other motorsport successes before and after World War 2, and although racing had faded by the 1960s it set the pattern for future generations of road cars that continue today. Maserati took a different direction to its rival Ferrari, diversifying from sports and grand touring cars into high-performance saloons, starting with the elegant Quattroporte of 1963. You can still buy a Quattroporte (simply ‘QP’ to the cognoscenti), but it's a big, expensive – exclusive – car and more sales fall to its smaller sibling and subject of this review, the Ghibli. No-one should feel short-changed by driving a Maserati that’s a sedan. To my eye, it's the best-looking four-door currently for sale, except for the even more handsome QP. While other makes fiddle with crass chromium grilles and other exaggerated bodywork features, Italians like Maserati retain their vision for beautiful design. In fact, a salesman told me the Ghibli’s look is one of its strongest selling points, even though some critics have found the model lacking in objective performance comparisons with German rivals in the executive class. Each to his own. I found the Ghibli Hybrid GranSport a tempting machine. This is not least because the opening list price for a Maserati is now a comparatively modest $139,990. The variant reviewed for Cove, however, was the top-line GranSport priced at $163,900. But the core of this Ghibli, literally and emotionally, is the hybrid engine. It's a four-cylinder petrol unit – Maserati’s first in many decades – of two litres capacity, boosted by a turbocharger and an electric hybrid system running a supercharger. This doesn't pretend to be a full-fledged Electric Vehicle – that will come all too soon – but instead captures kinetic energy generated during acceleration and braking and stores it in a battery to power the supercharger when the engine calls for extra shove. This results in claimed peak power of 243 kiloWatts and 450 Newtonmetres of torque, 0-100 acceleration in 5.7 seconds and top speed of 255 kmh.
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– Issue 88
That’s more than brisk enough for most drivers, but the more important impression is how it handles. The electric supercharger, said to be a unique Maserati feature, dips in and out of the game so seamlessly the driver doesn't know it’s working except by a powerful but smooth shove in the back. Power is always on tap with just a brush of the accelerator and it’s never harsh or raucous. The engine does sound tast y for a fourcylinder, however. Turbochargers and superchargers tend to dull engine sound, but the Ghibli Hybrid when pushed sounds satisfying and like something much bigger. Officially-tested petrol consumption gets no lower than 8.5 litres per 100 kms, confirming this hybrid is designed for performance, not ultra-economy. Power is delivered through an eight-speed automatic transmission with the now-usual fingertip shift paddles behind the steering wheel. On fat Italian Pirelli tyres – well, what else? – and employing Maserati’s long-standing automatic shock absorber system aptly called Skyhooks, the Ghibli grips the road confidently and churns through corners in proper sports sedan fashion. It feels substantial and is not a car to be thrown around on tight roads, but driven as intended it’s highly capable. Ride comfort, too, is unexpectedly smooth and quiet. It helps no doubt to be riding in the Ghibli’s magnificent cabin. Again, it’s quintessentially Italian with soft, aromatic leather crafted into superbly comfortable seating and trim. It’s not especially spacious in the rear compartment, but so cossetting it hardly matters. All the usual safety, driving and comfort features are included in the price, while the review car included a range of cosmetic enhancements such as blackchrome accents and Maserati’s iconic trident badge embroidered in the front seat headrests. The Ghibli Hybrid is perhaps a slightly surprising experience. I didn't expect a four-cylinder hybrid to drive with such power or extraordinary smoothness. Its great looks and interior comfort were expected. Every drive was a pleasure. (*Red Brigade – Ferrari, of course. Lime Green Lairs is less obvious, but describes owners of raucous Lamborghinis with a penchant for lime green paintwork.)
