Maserati claims to have become one of the pioneers of the performance saloon market when it dropped a V8 into the very first Quattroporte 4200 in 1963.
Now, having refined and redeveloped the 3.8-litre twin-turbocharged V8 of the 2014 Maserati Quattroporte GTS and then put it to work in the Maserati Levante Trofeo of 2019, it has endowed this new range-topping Quattroporte with that same engine, which makes up to 572bhp of peak power and 538lb ft of torque between 2250rpm and 5250rpm.
The Trofeo’s engine uses a Ferrari F154 cylinder block; but its crossplane crankshaft, special camshafts and high-tumble cylinder heads, wet sump lubrication system and parallel twin-scroll turbocharged, twin-intercooled induction system are all of Maserati’s own design. If the foundations of a great super-saloon are laid on a great performance engine, it certainly sounds like a promising start.
Where next, though? The Quattroporte Trofeo doesn’t look like the typical steroidal, bespoilered, fast four-door, and that might be because Maserati considered it vital that the car should blend visual aggression with elegance as only a sophisticated Italian option could. Judging by the reactions of our test jury, though, the firm might have played it too safe. The Trofeo rejects typical super-saloon styling addenda, such as bootlid spoilers and bonnet louvres, and its lack of a truly sporting stance (despite the fitment of 21in forged alloy wheels as standard) made one tester remark that he might have mistaken the car for a mid-range model.
