[KoBeck]

After a nail biting wait, my new mistress, joining my yacht, GF, cat, has finally arrived.

RHD Ghibli base in Blu Emozione, with skyhook, sunroof, alcantara liner, nero with Cuoio tan extended leather, premium sound, GPS, wifi something or other I don't understand, sunscreens, etc etc. Took her for a longish drive last night, and am still smiling now. This will be a long love affair for sure

The blu really is quite amazing, looks quite different in sun than shade.

The one thing I did was change out the 18s for aftermarket wheels; went with 20s from Vossen, which are a deep concave; I probably would never have chosen that graphite colour, but they recommended it and it really does work (when you see in person). Pirellis are crazy expensive here, so am running Yokohama DB decibels instead.

I have read a lot of the comments on line, and maybe its because it is a newer build, but have a few comments, almost all positive:
-drives really well; after a lowered MINI I find sport to be nowhere near too firm; its fine in both sport and non sport (skyhook)
- premium sound is still good - hard to consider listening to music though when you can listen to the car itself
- I would not have chosen extended leather (dealer chose it for me) but it definitely looks better with it than without
- alcantara liner is well worth it; feels and looks great
- key fob is a serious piece of kit
- in sport mode manually selecting gears I don't find there is any real issue with turbo lag as the power band is a fair bit wider than with a 200HP MINI; exhaust note is fairly intoxicating although not nearly as loud and backfirey as my modified Arquay exhaust
- no issues with windows going up and down; one minor rattle somewhere in the dashboard
- no issues with brake squealing after the first 10km
- interior is very luxurious except for 2 minor things; the handles above the doors and the cup holder inside the cover in the dash; these are the only 2 things you would see I think IMHO that look like they came from a Chrysler; everything else looks luxurious and what you would expect
- screen and control menu system is very intuitive, and substantially better than iDrive (IMHO) as that stupid wheel system makes doing things a total PITA
- ability to control wheel/seating position is EXCELLENT (I think have some extended option on the seating) - no idea why anyone would not like the seats (1 review) maybe they should try sitting in a crap MINI seat LOL
- chiller in the console for drinks is great
- service from Empire Motorsport (distributors of Maserati Thailand) has been what you would expect of a true luxury brand - personalised; hands on; handling each step as needed - this is a very different and far better experience for me than buying what I consider to be the entry level luxury car brands (here that means Benz, BMW, MINI, VW - all of which are similar prices and where you are just a 'number' in the order process with no real ability to customise anything) - super, super happy!

The one thing I had was the car didn't arrive with the wheels I thought I had ordered; so the Maser distributor and dealer from VOSSEN kindly sorted out the wheels I wanted, and VOSSEN is providing some spacers on the rear wheels on the way (by far the best wheel brand to deal with here at least in Thailand, price point is attractive but VOSSEN/Eurohaus service has been simply amazing to turn everything around in 2 days). The deep concave gives a bit of an illusion of the wheel sitting inside the arch, but also it looks a bit more aggressive to have the wheel further out anyhow. TPMS were swapped out from the original 18s to the new wheels. So it's fair to say I ended up with something a little more special than the standard 20s which is very cool.

So the plan is now:
- add rear wheel spacers
- change air intake
- change X pipe or maybe more in the exhaust (I am quite ok with a louder exhaust system)
- change springs to lower the car about 1 inch
- ECU tune once someone cracks it since the base can match the S
- check bank account

Having not owned a car of this size ever, (have had 3 series but never a 5) it drives smaller than I expected which is nice; feels size wise like a really good version of a 3 when you chuck it around all over the road, but with loads of power and awesome ride. Space in the front is outstanding. Little smaller in the back, but I never sit in the back :_)

All in all.....I am sure Maserati has hit a home run with this car!

 

[Schnippy]

Congratulations, I wish you very much luck with the car!

Great that I see so many blue emozione's on the forum, here in Belgium my dealer said he only sold 2 of that color before I ordered mine.

The color combo with cuoio is great, i've also liked the rosso energia interior much but therefore I had to take another exterior color and that was not done so, i'm still the only guy on this forum that has to wait for such a long term... it sucks (I will get it in november I think...)

 

[culverwood]

Lovely looking car - blu emozione really is a special colour.

 

[Joe300]

The outside looks like it was treated with a coating . You can see the sky lol


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[BeerGuy]

Looks really nice with the high gloss blu emozione color and cuoio interior. And the wheels add a unique touch since few Ghibli's would have those 20" wheels ... let alone in Thailand.

Either way ENJOY your new Ghibli!!!

 

[KoBeck]

Yes, definitely I am super happy with the blu, it looks like several different colours, from a deep almost purple in some light to a very light blue in other lights; very very rich. the strange thing is the car has picked up a load of dust, and is not shiny at all, I am getting a coating of some sort applied in the next few weeks, but even so the shine is something quite extraordinary. the tan interior works super well with it.

My staff say they never saw my smile disappear in 2 days since I got my little giblets.... Here BMW and Benz is the typical executive people mover company car, but almost all of them are of the low power engine E200 S250 320 520 525 type variety, which is kind of dull. There is no question the Ghibli absolutely shines compared to these, and there aren't too many on the road (although I understand Maserati Thailand have already sold quite a few so that factor isn't quite as strong as a QP or GT which are very rare here). I got the dealer to deliver the car into town, and his staff got messages 'why is Mr T driving a blu Ghibli into town?' - in a city of 12m+ people, that gives you some idea of how eye catching the Ghibli is!

The other cool thing here is parking is a nightmare and so major shopping centers have dedicated 'supercar' parking which is restricted (usually) to Porsche, Lambo, Ferrari, Aston, Maserati - the idea being you don't need to go up and down ramps. So even in some places, an m5 or an SL 65 AMG is still left parking upstairs with all the Honda Jazzes and pick up trucks (after 40 minutes of finding a park) while I have parking at the front door. Sweet!

This is a clearer pic of the wheels/colour. With a slight lowering in stance, I think the car will be looking like a million dollars. Or should I say....baht!

 

[StickBreitling]

I really like the idea of the dedicated supercar parking! Fantastic idea.


I have the same colour car with a glasscoat applied. The exhaust note is great, let me know how the x-pipe turns out. The exhaust note hits a lovely resonance, but would be nicer to have it more prominent at other revs too.

 

[PlatinumEdition]

Are those Vossen's 20s or 22s?

 

[KoBeck]

20s. 22s were available on back order but the roads here are not the best plus it massively cuts down on options for tires, and would have increased the cost, a lot. Also, I needed the wheels and tires instantly (as my other car was being repaired after the valet drove it straight into a wall).

Once the car is lowered, I think it will look pretty sweet on 20s. IMHO the car needs at least 19s to look good; the 18s are a bit small. 20s are good. 21s are ideal. But as always there is some compromise in terms of costs and ride quality and so forth; 20s handle really nicely.

At night I am loving the blu emozione.....

 

[PlatinumEdition]

20s. 22s were available on back order but the roads here are not the best plus it massively cuts down on options for tires, and would have increased the cost, a lot. Also, I needed the wheels and tires instantly (as my other car was being repaired after the valet drove it straight into a wall).

Once the car is lowered, I think it will look pretty sweet on 20s. IMHO the car needs at least 19s to look good; the 18s are a bit small. 20s are good. 21s are ideal. But as always there is some compromise in terms of costs and ride quality and so forth; 20s handle really nicely.

At night I am loving the blu emozione.....

Looks good! I went with the 20 inch wheels on my car as paying $5400 for the 21s weren't the best option since I cannot sell the wheels after the lease is over. Can't decide at the moment on what 22s I should order.

 

[scott13]

Great Looking Ghibli

The blue with tan interior looks superb. Love the wheels. Congratulations on a great looking ride.