The car comes in three variants: the Ghibli, Ghibli S and Ghibli S Quattroporte. The Ghibli comes with a twin-turbo 3.0 litre V6, which outputs 330hp of power and 500Nm of torque. It accelerates from 0-100 in 5.6 seconds and tops out at 263kmph. In the Ghibli S guise, the same engine delivers an even more impressive 410hp of power and 550Nm of torque. This is good enough to bring those 0-100 numbers down to 5 second flat. The top speed also sees a bump, to 285kmph. The Quattroporte adds four wheel drive to the S variant, shaving another 0.2 seconds off the Ghibli S’s 0-100 figure.
All this power is delivered to the wheels via an 8-speed automatic transmission, which has been tuned for comfort in the regular driving mode and agility in sport mode. The car also has paddle shifters for when you decide to switch to manual mode. And this is a proper manual mode, the car never upshifts as the rev counter approaches the redline. Drivers will also like the option to be in sport mode without making the suspension stiffer. Sometimes you just want to drive fast in a straight line, and don’t really need the cornering advantages that a stiffened suspension will offer. The ability to choose the two options independent of each other is a nice touch. The steering wheel is direct and the car feels nimbler than its size would have you believe.
The Ghibli’s balance of comfort and agility is enviable. It has not sacrificed creature comforts in its bid for road dominance. Simple things such as ample rear leg room, blind spot alert, electronic park break, electronically adjustable seats and steering wheel are well taken care of. But it is good to see that Maserati has decided not to rest on its laurels and gone ahead with adding even more features to the car for the 2017 iteration.
Take the MTC for instance, which is a new standard feature and allows the user to intuitively control almost all of the Ghibli’s on-board equipment such as CD-/DVD-player, radio and navigation as well as Bluetooth mobile phone connections. iPhone’s Siri functionality has been integrated into the system to allow users to perform iPhone tasks and make requests using voice commands, for example for Navigation, music or web search. It also supports Android Auto. Large icons at the bottom of the screen guide to the various menus. The MTC controls the front seat heating and ventilation, the steering wheel heating and rear window shade. The infotainment dial gives you tactile feedback, which is particularly useful when driving about.
Navigating through the MTC will reveal the optional new 360 degree camera, giving you a view of around the car at a touch of a virtual button. A single day with this feature makes you wonder how you ever lived with the simplistic rear-view camera. The Ghibli is a sizeable car and the 360 degree camera with guiding lines makes parking it even in tight spots a breeze. You will never be left wondering if you are getting too close to anything.
The latest iteration of the Ghibli also comes standard with remote start, which is a boon during Qatar’s blistering summers. This is also brings us to another standout feature of the Ghibli: the AC. No seriously, I have yet to come across a better air-conditioning unit in a car. The first hint of the unit’s cooling power comes from the fact that the MTC allows you to go all the way down to 14 for the auto climate control (most cars do not go below 16). And the numbers aren’t just for show. The air-conditioning in the Ghibli is seriously impressive. To test out its capabilities, I parked the car and left the AC on at noon for about half an hour. Upon my return, the cabin was still as cool as I had left it.
Then there’re nods to practicality throughout the cabin, with cubbyholes galore. The rear seats fold 60:40 and the boot has a 500 litres of luggage capacity. The dashboard houses an air vented compartment for mobile phones (plenty of space for today’s supersized phones), as well as USB- and Aux-In plug. The car also comes with optional WLAN technology that effectively turns it into a Wi-Fi HotSpot. Owners can place a SIM card into its WLAN router to receive Internet signals, which can be resent around the car as a wireless Internet signal. Up to three devices can be connected simultaneously.
The standard audio system comes with 8 speakers, but you can upgrade to a more premium 10-speaker Harman Kardon sound system with a 900 watt amplifier. There’s also an option to upgrade to 15-speaker Bowers & Wilkins sound system with a 1280 watt amplifier.
The Ghibli was always an impressive bit of car, perfectly at ease when cruising and ever-willing to growl to life at but a hint of intent by the driver. This dual nature has been emphasised even further with the tweaks and the car becomes all the better for them.
