BeSPOKE 07

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we are in italy, a few kilometres from siena, on
the state road travelling gradually in a seaward
direction. this is the site of the wonderful resort
borgo la bagnaia which was the backdrop to the
presentation and road trials of the new Maserati
ghibli. it is a sort of oasis set deep in the green
senesi hills, ideal for any wine and food tour and
equally perfect for any sort of test drive because
of the morphology of the terrain and the splendid
panoramas which all of the many state roads
in this wonderful part of tuscany offer us around
every bend.
now that we’ve looked at the backdrop of our trials,
let’s move on to analysing in more detail the
house of the trident’s newborn which, although
it is related to its elder sister the Quattroporte to
some extent, is totally original in the context of
the Maserati range. echoes of tradition - apart
from its name - are only there in certain style aspects
such as, for example, the classic front radiator
grill incorporating the trident and part of the
back busbar which gives the ghibli that sporty
coupé look which is such a feature of the trident.
but let’s move onto the key technical character-
istics that mark out this newborn immediately
and the first of these is its new diesel engine
consisting of a V6 3 litre engine capacity single-turbo
capable of producing 275 hp and as
much as 600 nm of torque enabling the ghibli
to get up to 250 km/k and reach 100 kilometres
an hour in only 6.3 seconds from starting position.
whatever its performance, it is interesting
to note that, in order to maintain the charm of
the trident’s sound characteristics, a sound actuator
has been added to the exhaust pipe called
Maserati active sound which is easily up to the
classic tone standards of the petrol engine. petrol
engines with two different units - both direct
fuel injection twin turbo (once again six cylinder
and 3 litres engine capacity) - used to equip, respectively,
the basic version, the s and the sQ4
with power levels varying from 330 to 410 hp.
and all this for absolutely top performance (especially
for the sQ4 version accredited with 0 to
100 km/h in just 4.8 seconds from starting position)
combined with top level quality guarantees
ensured by engine assembly on site at Ferrari’s
Maranello factory.
in the ForegroUnd,
the aggressiVe Front
oF the sQ4 and its Maserati
toUCh Control with
the Central tUnnel whiCh
Contains its new aUtoMatiC
zF eight speed gear box.
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