Quattroporte

The Four Door Maser.

Ashraaq Wahab

Italian is a language that can make ordinary words sound sexy. Quattroporte - doesn't it sound exotic and exciting? Translate it to English and it means "Four Doors". Maserati have been making their "Four Door' for over five decades now, with the first one rolling off the production line in 1963. It was in the form of a large saloon powered by V8 engines. initially 4.1 litres and then 4.7 litres with 290bhp output. This resulted in the 4.7 litre boasting a top speed of 155mph (250km/h), earning it the crown of fastest four-door in the world at the time! 

Over the past 100 years. the Legendary 'Marque of the Trident" has been a symbol of creativity. passion, innovation and style. Its craftsmanship, technology and painstaking attention to detail creates highly desirable cars that never fail to excite and inspire. 
The latest M156 series 6'" generation 

Quattroporte was introduced in 2013. and it is from this series that the stunner we are looking at here hails. It is the first Quattroporte to hit the shores of Sri Lanka. The M156 series marks the first time a 1/6 engine and a diesel engine option are offered in the Quattroporte. A mild facelift resulted in 2015 with some cosmetic changes and upgrading of trim specifications. 

The car you see here was brought down by Eurosports Auto Lanka (Pvt) Ltd for the exclusive use by the Italian Ambassador, to replace the ageing Alfa Romeo 166 that served for close to two decades. It is a diesel, rear-wheel drive model. 

The Oily Bits

However, it is not at all lacking in power: the VM Motor' 2,987cc turbo powerplant puts out 275bhp and a massive twisting force of 600Nm. The 0-100km/h sprint is dispatched in 6.4 seconds and on to a top speed of 250km/h. All these are figures that were unheard of in diesels, even as recent as a decade ago. The power is put to the rear wheels (all wheel drive is available on higher-spec petrol engine models) through an 8-speed automatic transmission supplied by ZF. The Quattroporte sits on five-link suspension at the rear and unequal length wishbones at the front. Braking is by large ventilated discs all round_ Maserati employs what they call the "Skyhook- principle for damping, whereby the computer systems visualize the car body as being suspended in space at a single point while the road below moves around. This is said to give a high level of ride comfort, and the dampers can be stiffened for sport driving_ The steering is also of the variable assistance type.