OK so today we finally got to test drive the car we've been waiting months for.
Here is my experience and my comments:
My wife, baby, and I all went to our local garage today to test drive the SQ4. It was the bronze colour with a beige interior. There was also a Griggio with a Tan interior which I preferred more. There was also a base model in Griggio.
Externally:
The car look great externally when upclose and pictures don't do it justice. Curves in all the right places. I love the front end and the upright grill. The back end could use a little more work but its OK.
The standard wheels and tires SUCK big time and you won't believe the tall sidewalls - like Nova said, they look like something out of the 80's or 90's !!!. Even my dealer admitted that they were TALL. And don't even get me started on the wheels on the base model - YUCK - they look like something off a Toyota - Yes they're that bad! My delaer also pointed out to where the calipers on the rear of the base are just a case piece of metal - no colour and no style whatsoever (although the fronts are better). The SQ4 at least does have better calipers but the wheels are still of poor design and nothing like what I'm used to seeing on a Maserati.
Internally:
A really nice interior. The leather is soft and supple and we liked the embossed logos on the headrests. The carpets seems to be of good quality. My wife commented on how unfussy the dash was and how simple and elegant it looks. She also liked the clock on the dash.
We had no issue with the the dash and central console layout - in fact the TFT display on the dash looks really Cool !
The car didn't feel claustrophobic in any way and we had no issue seeing out of the windows. The window/beltline was also low enough not to be an issue.
The door handles are really nicely integrated into the door panels. The rear passenger central vents have a nice design touch to them.
The seats are very comfortable and supportive. No issues here. However, the seats are tight up against the center console - so much so that putting the seat belt on was a struggle. If you drop something down the eighth of an
inch or so gap, good luck trying to ever find that item.
Plenty of cupholders and an AC / heater in the center console to keep drinks cool / warm.
USB port, Aux, and SD card port are standard - so entertainment connections are covered. However, there's only a single CD disc player. Sound was good even with the standard system.
However, the biggest issue internally (for us at least) was the issue of a lack of rear legroom space. Firstly, anyone back there won't have anywhere near the same amount of legroom space as, say in a Jag, Merc, or BMW of equivalent size. To exit the car, you will have about 10-12in of space in which to get your feet out. I couldn't do so without tuning my foot and my knee almost banged the dor panel on the way out. Secondly when we placed the baby seat behind the front passenger (the dealer in our case), he had to move his seat all the way forward to allow a regular baby seat to fit behind him. His knees were up against the glovebox and I could tell that he wasn't comfortable.
It has a large trunk - in fact too big. They could easily have used some of that space and increased rear legroom for rear passengers.
Engine and transmission:
The gear knob will take some time getting used to since it doesn't have detents for each gear you're in. Instead you keep clicking it back to get from P to R to N to D. The top of the gear knob lights up to tell you which gear you're in but since this can be covered by your hand so it also tells you on the dash screen.
There's a manual button next to the gear shift if you want to drive 'manually'. There were no paddles in the example we drove so I can't comment on that.
There was also a 'Sport' button next to the gear lever which holds the gears longer and makes the engine exhaust sound louder.
The two biggest issues for us were:
a. Booming from the engine exhaust is really quite intrusive - even in the normal driving mode. For my wife this was a deal breaker as she didn't want to have this loud noise and have a baby in the car.
b. For me the dealbreaker was the lack of throttle response. I pressed the gas pedal about 2 inches before anything happened (in regular and slightly less in Sport mode). This was so not like even my son's Infiniti G37, let alone my wife's old Jag XF V8 supercharged. They were instant. The turbo-lag just kills any enjoyment you try to have in this car. The SQ4's pedal has to be pushed half-way to the floor to get any half-decent throttle response. In regular driving, look to push the gas peddle a long way just to get the car moving. I even asked my dealer if there was something wrong with this and he said that even the Quattroportes were the same.
The 4 issues that definitely need improvement in our eyes (and ears) are:
1. Make 18in standard on the base (17in are standard !!!) and 19in standard on the SQ4 instead of 18in - AND CHANGE THE WHEEL DESIGNS.
2. Reduce the amount of booming in the cabin. This is a luxury car - I only want to hear the loud exhaust when I'm in Sport mode - in normal driving, I want a refined and luxury cruiser.
3. Change the throttle response or put in a supercharged instead of a turbo. It's simply no fun in normal mode and even sport requires some gas pedal punching.
4. Not sure what Maserati can do about this without changing the platfoirm - but this car needs more rear legroom.
If you can look past these , then it's a lovely looking car inside and out.
In all, we liked the car but it does need some improvements and despite having waited 3 months to try this out, we came away saying that we couldn't live with the issues outlines above.
Unfortunately, the Ghibli is not for us. Hope this review helps you to look for things when you go for your test drive.
Here is my experience and my comments:
My wife, baby, and I all went to our local garage today to test drive the SQ4. It was the bronze colour with a beige interior. There was also a Griggio with a Tan interior which I preferred more. There was also a base model in Griggio.
Externally:
The car look great externally when upclose and pictures don't do it justice. Curves in all the right places. I love the front end and the upright grill. The back end could use a little more work but its OK.
The standard wheels and tires SUCK big time and you won't believe the tall sidewalls - like Nova said, they look like something out of the 80's or 90's !!!. Even my dealer admitted that they were TALL. And don't even get me started on the wheels on the base model - YUCK - they look like something off a Toyota - Yes they're that bad! My delaer also pointed out to where the calipers on the rear of the base are just a case piece of metal - no colour and no style whatsoever (although the fronts are better). The SQ4 at least does have better calipers but the wheels are still of poor design and nothing like what I'm used to seeing on a Maserati.
Internally:
A really nice interior. The leather is soft and supple and we liked the embossed logos on the headrests. The carpets seems to be of good quality. My wife commented on how unfussy the dash was and how simple and elegant it looks. She also liked the clock on the dash.
We had no issue with the the dash and central console layout - in fact the TFT display on the dash looks really Cool !
The car didn't feel claustrophobic in any way and we had no issue seeing out of the windows. The window/beltline was also low enough not to be an issue.
The door handles are really nicely integrated into the door panels. The rear passenger central vents have a nice design touch to them.
The seats are very comfortable and supportive. No issues here. However, the seats are tight up against the center console - so much so that putting the seat belt on was a struggle. If you drop something down the eighth of an
inch or so gap, good luck trying to ever find that item.
Plenty of cupholders and an AC / heater in the center console to keep drinks cool / warm.
USB port, Aux, and SD card port are standard - so entertainment connections are covered. However, there's only a single CD disc player. Sound was good even with the standard system.
However, the biggest issue internally (for us at least) was the issue of a lack of rear legroom space. Firstly, anyone back there won't have anywhere near the same amount of legroom space as, say in a Jag, Merc, or BMW of equivalent size. To exit the car, you will have about 10-12in of space in which to get your feet out. I couldn't do so without tuning my foot and my knee almost banged the dor panel on the way out. Secondly when we placed the baby seat behind the front passenger (the dealer in our case), he had to move his seat all the way forward to allow a regular baby seat to fit behind him. His knees were up against the glovebox and I could tell that he wasn't comfortable.
It has a large trunk - in fact too big. They could easily have used some of that space and increased rear legroom for rear passengers.
Engine and transmission:
The gear knob will take some time getting used to since it doesn't have detents for each gear you're in. Instead you keep clicking it back to get from P to R to N to D. The top of the gear knob lights up to tell you which gear you're in but since this can be covered by your hand so it also tells you on the dash screen.
There's a manual button next to the gear shift if you want to drive 'manually'. There were no paddles in the example we drove so I can't comment on that.
There was also a 'Sport' button next to the gear lever which holds the gears longer and makes the engine exhaust sound louder.
The two biggest issues for us were:
a. Booming from the engine exhaust is really quite intrusive - even in the normal driving mode. For my wife this was a deal breaker as she didn't want to have this loud noise and have a baby in the car.
b. For me the dealbreaker was the lack of throttle response. I pressed the gas pedal about 2 inches before anything happened (in regular and slightly less in Sport mode). This was so not like even my son's Infiniti G37, let alone my wife's old Jag XF V8 supercharged. They were instant. The turbo-lag just kills any enjoyment you try to have in this car. The SQ4's pedal has to be pushed half-way to the floor to get any half-decent throttle response. In regular driving, look to push the gas peddle a long way just to get the car moving. I even asked my dealer if there was something wrong with this and he said that even the Quattroportes were the same.
The 4 issues that definitely need improvement in our eyes (and ears) are:
1. Make 18in standard on the base (17in are standard !!!) and 19in standard on the SQ4 instead of 18in - AND CHANGE THE WHEEL DESIGNS.
2. Reduce the amount of booming in the cabin. This is a luxury car - I only want to hear the loud exhaust when I'm in Sport mode - in normal driving, I want a refined and luxury cruiser.
3. Change the throttle response or put in a supercharged instead of a turbo. It's simply no fun in normal mode and even sport requires some gas pedal punching.
4. Not sure what Maserati can do about this without changing the platfoirm - but this car needs more rear legroom.
If you can look past these , then it's a lovely looking car inside and out.
In all, we liked the car but it does need some improvements and despite having waited 3 months to try this out, we came away saying that we couldn't live with the issues outlines above.
Unfortunately, the Ghibli is not for us. Hope this review helps you to look for things when you go for your test drive.