Maserati Quattroporte review

Drivers sit medium-high in wide, well bolstered seats, but comfortably so and not to the point of feeling perched, while rear-seat occupants have plenty of room all round, albeit without enjoying the serenity of the Mercedes S-Class’s rear space. The long boot yields a useful 520 litres of luggage space.

Despite the V6's banks making 60deg to the V8's 90deg, the two are closely related. Both are twin-turbo, variable-valve, direct-injection engines built by Ferrari at Maranello to Maserati designs, but the V6 revs lower, produces peak torque from just 1750rpm and is 13 per cent thriftier at 26.9mpg. Both use a ZF eight-speed automatic transmission and have 50/50 front/rear weight distribution (a balance commendably achieved by the Q4, too).

The GTS manages 0-62mph in 4.7sec and tops out at 191mph (making it the fastest production saloon on sale), while the S takes 5.1sec and can reach 177mph. Both feel extremely fast, and anyone choosing the cheaper car won’t feel short-changed on performance.

While the new engines can’t match the previous Quattroporte’s naturally aspirated V8 symphonies under rising revs, even the V6 has bags of character, expressed instead in heady upshift blarts, which sound like a bass drum in the boot, and the overrun's repertoire of crackling explosions.

Both sounds can be hushed by disabling Sport mode, but the engine is rarely truly quiet. We also noticed a faint wastegate fluttering when cruising in the V6 that’ll hopefully be remedied before deliveries start. The V6 exhibits noticeable but fleeting turbo lag, and is best enjoyed between 4000 and 6000rpm.

Sport mode also prescribes rapid, aggressive upshifts from the eight-speed, ZF-sourced automatic gearbox, although downshifts are slower. Normal and ICE (economy/low-traction) modes yield smooth shifts, while the gearbox is only occasionally caught out when self-shuffling. The gearstick is not intuitive to operate, and manual mode is selected via an overly discreet button; we’d rather knock the lever sideways as per convention. The paddles work well, though, and are large enough to justify being fixed.

There’s a separate Sport mode for Skyhook that significantly tightens body control. To date, we’re yet to drive either model in the UK, but our GTS drive in the south of France brought different conclusions regarding dynamics to our stint in the S in northern Italy.

The V8 was a sharp handler, but massively let down by its ride, while the V6 also showed impressive agility but didn’t concede much in terms of comfort aside from occasional kickback from the hydraulic steering. Needless to say we’re looking forward to driving both on UK roads.