The Crittenden Automotive Library

Maserati Ghibli First Drive Review

Topics: Maserati Ghibli

Maserati Ghibli First Drive Review

Matt Hubbard
Speedmonkey
November 28, 2014

I'm running a Maserati Ghibli Diesel for a few days. Here's my first drive review

The first time a Maserati Ghibli landed on British soil was at the 2013 Goodwood Festival of Speed. I was there and had a peak around it. It was a glorious looking thing, especially in bronze paint with the tan interior.

A year or so later and I've finally driven a Ghibli. Unfortunately the test car comes in white with a black interior. It's still a handsome car but white dulls its curves somewhat and the black isn't as flattering to some of the materials as tan.

And curves it has. Some designers put curves here, there and everywhere in order to define the brand and make a name for themselves - not always successfully. The Ghibli's curves are inherited from the larger Quattroporte and work better in the smaller car. As far as exterior design is concerned it's a resounding success.

Talking of the Quattroporte this is the first time in Maserati's history that it's offered two saloons at the same time.

Another more well known fact is that from 1967 to 1973 the Ghibli name adorned a 2-door coupe that rivalled the Ferrari Daytona. Then from 1992 to 1997 Ghibli was revived for another coupe, much squarer this time, so technically the latest car is the Maserati Ghibli Mk3.

The Ghibli is spacious inside and has a load of cubby holes in the front, large rear seats with lots of legroom and a huge boot, and 60/40 split seats. It also has several cupholders and a great infotainment system. It's quite a practical, sensible car.

The chassis is brilliant. The steering is damn fine for a car that weighs 1,830kg, it provides good feel and allows for a crisp turn in and good grip through corners. Being rear wheel drive you can feel the rear pushing out ever so slightly, and the traction control allows a degree of slippage before reigning things in.

It's softly sprung and the ride is lovely and smooth over most road surfaces although you do get a bit of a crash if you hit a speed bump too fast.

All round the Ghibli is a fine car but it does have some let downs, and they're all to do with the interior. The design is gorgeous - swooshing lines in all the right places and some of the details are great, such as the brushed aluminium door handles. The material that covers the headlining and pillars is soft and much nicer than you get from the Germans, although it's not as good as the Alcantara you'll find in a Jaguar XF.

But some of the materials used are not what you'd expect in a £50k car. The dash top and trim on the doors is leather, I think (it could be fake leather like Mercedes' Artico which you'll find in some premium models), but the grain doesn't look very good. I never noticed it in the tan car so can only conclude it shows up more in black.

The 'wood' trim on the centre console is obviously plastic, which does the Ghibli a disservice because Maserati could have spent just a little more on something that looks and feels better.

Elsewhere the aluminium around the info screen, on the gear paddles and around the air vents and on the doors is properly lush. It really is a car of contrasts.

And then we come to the engine. It's a diesel. In a Maserati.

But it's a good one, in fact it's a great one. At idle it sounds like a diesel but push the throttle and it sounds like a throbbing twin cylinder motorcycle engine, which is a good thing. It's got lots of power too, 275hp and a mighty 443b ft of torque.

In fact the Ghibli Diesel is a fast car, really fast. 0-62 in 6.3 seconds doesn't tell the whole story, all that torque pushes it along on a wave of oomph anywhere in the rev range.

I'll publish a full review once I've put a few miles on it and given the Ghibli back.

Stats:

Price - £49,160
Engine - 3-litre, V6, turbocharged diesel
Transmission - 8-speed ZF automatic
0-62mph - 6.3 seconds
Top speed - 155mph
Power - 275hp
Torque - 443lb ft/600Nm
Economy - 47.9mpg
CO2 - 158g/km
Kerb weight - 1,830kg