Scusate se vado un attimo OT ma, giorni fa avendo del tempo da perdere, mi sono messo a “rovistare” sul web in cerca di recensioni in merito alla Ghibli, soffermandomi soprattutto su quelle made in UK. Ebbene, sappiamo come le riviste automobilistiche nostrane, Quattroruote ed Al volante ad esempio, anche le inglesi, più o meno accreditate, quando recensiscono vetture nazionali abbiano un metro talvolta “discutibile”, poco imparziale. Tuttavia leggendo quanto scrivono ( a seguire vi ho riportato solo alcuni passaggi ), sono sempre le medesime “pecche” denunciate sicchè viene da chiedersi se effettivamente su alcune cose non abbiano torto !!
Certo ad un un suddito della regina, basandosi su queste reviews, passa la voglia di entrare nel marchio modenese, soprattutto se ispirati da alcune che ci vanno giù pesante, non risparmiandosi nulla ( vedi ad es. quella di Clarkson, Caranddriver ) !!
WHAT CARMotore diesel: As you accelerate, the soundtrack quickly becomes uncouth and grumbly. You also feel far too much engine vibration coarsing up through the steering colum and onto your fingertips The engine does at least pull strongly once the turbocharger has woken up, but performance is languid if the revs fall much below 2000rpm.Cambio: The gearbox is also rather disappointing; downshifts are often sudden and clunky, and the 'box takes far too long to select the right gear when you want a sudden burst of pace. The only way to get around this is by changing gear manually by using the steering wheel-mounted paddles (a £245 option). One area in which the Ghibli falls well short of its adversaries is in ride and handling. In Normal mode the ride has a shuddery quality as the suspension patters over the UK’s many road imperfections. At the same time the body is allowed to shimmy and pitch too much, jostling those inside. Sterzo:The steering is light and accurate, but slower than you might expect, and there’s hardly any information fed back from the road surface to the driver – whichever mode you choose. This is the opposite of what you’d expect in any sporting car, and particularly one wearing a Maserati badge. Navi:The 8.5-inch infotainment screen is large enough, but its graphics look old-fashioned and it's slow to respond. Conclusioni: Certainly, the lure of saying 'I drive a Maserati' is a strong one, and the Ghibli looks the part, too. However, you'll need to put up with an unrefined drivetrain, a poor ride and tight rear-seat space to cut a dash in the office car park. CARBUYER.CO.UKSospensioni: But it's not as quiet or refined on the motorway as rivals, and there are some annoying niggles that become wearing over time. However, there's a certain charm to the Ghibli and overall it manages to be both an appealing Italian sports car and an executive saloon at the same time.
MOTOR TREND
Materiali/sterzo/navi: A few MT staffers expressed disappointment in the interior. Cover up that trident logo on the steering wheel, and you almost feel as though you're sitting behind the wheel of a Chrysler. That's because lots of the switchgear is exactly what you'd find in a Chrysler, including the large 8.4-inch screen with UConnect software.
The removable flimsy rubber strip that protects the auxiliary and USB outlet feels cheap, as does the sunroof cover. The overhead lighting in our Ghibli also looks unfinished, since the wiring inside the cover can be seen at a certain angle. These things aren't terrible, but they don't do the Ghibli justice.
The ride is stiff, and although it made for fun in the corners, long drives on the highway seemed a little bit longer. For a luxury sedan, it's not as silent as you would expect, and the hydraulic steering feels a bit more on the artificial side.
CARADVICE
Cambio: the gearshift control is also difficult to get used to. It has a ‘joystick’ feel to it and can be tricky to negotiate quickly between R and D when you’re working a three-point turn, for example.
EVO
Sterzo: The steering doesn’t feel as good as on the rear-drive versions either, and the car seemed slightly more ponderous through the endless corners of our test route; not what I was expecting from theoretically the most sporting Ghibli.
Motore diesel: I just wish the engine was a more competitive unit, as it lacks the top-end spark found in the best sporting diesel engines like BMW’s turbo straight-sixes.
CARSGUIDE
Accelerazione: Surprisingly, there is some turbo lag but the engine is remarkably strong when the turbos start spinning.
CNET
Sospensioni: Over rough roads, the suspension can feel a bit darty. The Maser's available tech pales in comparison to that of its rivals.
JALOPNIK
Materiali: But that Italian style has not been met with materials that Michelangelo would be pleased with. There are a lot of areas, most notably the steering wheel, that feel inexpensive. The Chrysler-souced uConnect system is exactly the same as the one you get in the Dart. There's no new skin or graphics or even a font. It's the same.A lot of this stinks of cost cutting so it can fit in with the BMW 5ers and Merc E-Classes. But this Ghibli S Q4 was still $86,840. At that price, the interior just doesn't match the price you need to pay to sit in said interior.
Rolls Royce and BMW also share infotainment with each other, but the feel is totally different in the Roller than the BMW. The touch interface of the Maserati doesn't feel special, and that's too bad
because this is a special car.
Sterzo: The problem is that you can't just say that steering is better because it's hydraulic. A good electric system is better than a bad hydraulic system, and the steering in this car is mediocre.There isn't a ton of feel, it's slightly vague, it's not as good as some highly tuned electric systems, and that's disappointing. There is some decent feedback, but other than that, I felt disconnected from the road.
But now Maserati wants to be a volume seller that competes with the big boys. It needs to offer all the same features at competitive prices. The looks, engine, and chassis tuning are all there. The interior quality, steering, and other little details just aren't quite yet.
As a first effort at a modern executive sedan, the Ghibli falls short of the players that have been in the market for decades. But it's also far better than a number of first efforts that have come along in the last couple of decades. It's not an $86,000 car yet, I don't think, but give it a few years and some improvements, and the Ghibli should be right among best in class.
It's amazing the difference some fine tuning can make. Get those details right and this car will be magic.
TELEGRAPH
Motore diesel: The diesel engine is noisy, however, while rear seat space is tight and the ride quality is appalling.
ROADANDTRACK
Sterzo: With hydraulically-assisted rack-and-pinions high on R&T's Endangered Species list, it's discouraging that the Ghibli S Q4 doesn't communicate much more than an electric power steering configuration would. While the ratio is roadster-quick and fairly decisive, it simply can't deliver the flat-out feedback you want once the pace gets seriously frenzied. It doesn't ruin the experience, nor does it add anything to it. Pity.
AUTOCAR
Motore diesel: In the meantime, take a moment to ponder the pedigree of this ‘new’ diesel engine. Said to be developed by Maserati under the watchful eye of Ferrari engine man Paulo Martinelli, it is nevertheless based on the same 3.0-litre V6 used by the Jeep Grand Cherokee, even though it is built by VM Motori. And while no one at Maserati is making the connection, we cannot help but notice that not only is its 2987cc capacity identical to that of Mercedes’ current 3.0-litre V6 diesel, but its bore and stroke are also the same.
That’s the Mercedes owned by Daimler that also used to own Chrysler which still owns Jeep, both of which are now owned by Fiat, which also owns Maserati. Engineering multiculturalism at its finest. Ironically, it runs through the eight-speed ZF automatic gearbox used by almost all major players in this class except Mercedes.
Overall, the Ghibli is not as refined as we’d hoped. The diesel motor is too audible when under load and, at least on 20in rims, there is far too much road noise on coarse surfaces.
Navi: The large central sat-nav screen is s much poorer than the MMI, iDrive or Comand systems used by Audi, BMW or Mercedes – but compared to anything hitherto used in any other Italian car, it’s close to miraculous.
Call quality is fine, but connection isn’t as stable as it might be, occasionally requiring you to end a call on the handset when the Bluetooth connection has stalled.
Prestazioni: ‘Adequate’ is not a word you want to hear in any description of a Maserati, but there seems none better to describe the performance of the diesel Ghibli in both subjective and objective terms. Its acceleration would be entirely unremarkable for the class were it to wear a BMW or Mercedes badge. Indeed, it’s slower to 100mph than both the CLS350 CDI and a BMW 530d, let alone the 535d which is its closer rival, and it’s no quicker than an Audi A7 3.0 TDI. Is 0-60mph in 6.5sec and a 0-100mph time of 17.2sec acceptable for a Maserati? We’d say yes, just, but a Volkswagen Golf GTI is about as quick to both targets.
Sospensioni: Maserati’s standard passive dampers aren’t really up to the job of keeping the car’s two-tonne mass fully in check during fast direction changes, and there’s a troubling change of pace in the steering rack, just around a quarter turn of lock, that makes the car hard to place, and hard to correct smoothly, mid-corner. We don’t think customers will expect a Maserati to ride like a Mercedes, but even with this taken this into account, the Ghibli is still too intolerant of high-frequency bumps and, especially, our ubiquitous potholes, which jolt the structure sufficiently to suggest there’s too much unsprung mass hanging off each corner of the car.
CLARKSON REVIEW
I only watched the brilliant French film Untouchable because in the opening scene the central characters were seen — and, more important, heard — tearing through Paris in a Maserati Quattroporte.
Almost two hours later, when the film was over and the credits had rolled and I’d gathered my thoughts, I was sure of three things: that the human spirit is fundamentally wonderful, that kindness is the backbone of everything that really matters and that I really ought to have a big black four-door Maserati.Actually I’ve always wanted a Maserati. There are so many reasons. Because Joe Walsh’s one did 185. Because of Juan Manuel Fangio four-wheel-drifting his 250F to yet another out-of-sight grand prix victory. Because of the 3500 GT that lived near the back of my well-thumbed Ladybird Book of Motor Cars. And because of the Citroën SM.My dad never wanted a Maserati. But he would dream often and out loud about employing a Swedish au pair who had one. He talked about it such a lot, in fact, that, according to Clarkson family lore, I could say “Maserati” before I could say “Mummy”.
Deep down I want a Maserati more than I want a Lamborghini or a Ferrari. Those two modern upstarts are a bit nouveau, a bit studied, a bit like one of those everything-with-a-bloody-logo stores that you find at the supposedly upmarket end of an indoor shopping centre. They’re red cars for orange people. Maserati, though, has been around for a hundred years. And that makes it a bit more Jermyn Street.The trouble is that since I’ve been old enough to drive, Maserati has not made a single good car. Oh sure, the Quattroporte that tore up Paris in Untouchable was a beauty, and its V8 wailed like a werewolf that had got a paw stuck in a bear trap. But no matter what gearbox you chose, you had time to go for a weekend mini break in the time it took to shift from second to third. And the depreciation was horrendous. And everything looked and felt baggy after a year or so. You wanted one a lot but you weren’t going to buy one. Not unless you were a drooling imbecile.
It was the same story with the 3200 GT and the Karif and the Shamal and the Kyalami and the original Quattroporte. It was even the same story with the Khamsin and the Merak and the Bora. And, as Maserati often liked to name its cars after winds, it should really have called the Biturbo the “Fart”.In fact you have to go back to 1967 to find the last truly great, world-class Maserati: the Ghibli. Which is handy, because it brings us neatly to the car you see photographed this morning: the new Ghibli. I’d been looking forward to driving it for months, but when it turned up, it wasn’t as pretty as I’d hoped.Before we can set off, we have to back the car out of the drive, which means selecting Reverse and, oops, that’s Drive, and no, Jeremy, you’ve pushed it too far forwards and put it back in Park. Easy does it. Nope. That’s Drive again. Gently, Neutral . . . dammit. It’s gone back into Park. Ooh, it’s tricky.But soon we are moving backwards and the parking sensors are beeping like crazy. All four corners of the car are convinced they are about to be crashed, and with each passing inch they become more and more insistent. And it’s hard to turn them off. Indeed it’s hard to turn anything off, or on for that matter, because Maserati went for a simple, clean look, which meant putting most of the switches on the touchscreen central command system. Which means that to do anything at all, you have to go through 42 submenus.Setting the sat nav, however, is easy. It responds immediately with a confident prediction about what time you will arrive, which will be wrong because it simply does not know about roads such as the A40 and the M25.I’m not even out of my drive at this point and the Ghibli is being annoying. It is also being cold. And such is the feebleness of the heater, there’s damn-all you can do to change that. Set the temperature on high, put the fan on full and open all the vents and only then will you not actually die of hypothermia in it.Still, wrapped up warm, with gloves, a hat and a scarf, plus an old-fashioned map, I am eventually on the open road, wondering why all the components are held together by a committee that needs to meet to decide whether the increase in speed you’ve demanded is something it’s prepared to deliver. The steering, the throttle, the gearbox — it all feels woolly.
If you get really determined, then there’s a fair bit of oomph on offer. I am testing the top-of-the-range S model, which comes with a twin-turbo V6 and a top speed of 177mph. Not that you’d ever want to go that fast in a car that is operated by mechanical trade unionism.And that is jolly big. That’s why the parking sensors go off all the time. In a car this size they’re always too near something or other.There are other things you would find annoying. There’s only one column stalk, which means that if you try to flick-wipe the windscreen, you will activate the indicator. The radio controls are on the back of the steering wheel where you can’t see them, and at night the central control screen is either too bright or off. Oh, and the brakes are a bit on-or-off.But then I go over one of those really stupid, very sharp speed humps, and do you know what? I barely feel a thing. At low speeds this car rides like an old Jaguar XJ, which means that on potholed city streets it is a dream. Apart from the beeping, obviously. And apart from the beeping, it’s quiet. Really quiet.There’s something else. One of the most amazing things about the old Ghibli was the size of its boot. A mate of mine used to be ferried to and from boarding school in his dad’s, and there was enough room in the boot for his trunk. Well, in the new Ghibli there’s enough space to move the school. It is vast.So it’s comfortable and it’s practical and it’s quiet and, I have to say, it’s also a lovely place to sit. Apart from the beeping. And on top of all that, it’s a Maserati. Which means you can say to your husband, “Shall we take the Maserati tonight?”, which will make you feel extremely warm and fuzzy. And that’s a good job because you won’t be warm when you’re in it — that’s for sure.
And that was going to be my conclusion. A great badge, nailed once again to a lacklustre car. But then I saw the price. You can buy the diesel model for less than £50,000. My all-singing, all-dancing twin-turbo S is £63,760. And that’s like being offered a box of chocolates for the price of a penny chew.Yes, it’s not perfect — the heater is not even on nodding terms with perfect — but £63,760 for a 177mph Maserati? Go on: you’re tempted, aren’t you?
CARANDDRIVER
Because it sure as heck isn’t the mediocre infotainment unit from the Dodge Charger. Or a powertrain that goes AWOL between idle and full throttle. Or seats that will be Christmas come early for chiropractors. If Maserati’s ambitions are to be anything more than the hot wind the Ghibli takes its name from, the company has to fix these problems now while it still has its finger on the brand’s reset button.
The Ghibli’s lurid cab-rearward proportions nicely evoke the previous-gen Q’porte, but it’s rendered in much heavier and more simplistic terms, especially in the rear third, where the hips need some liposuction. The back is so anonymous that it’ll be confused with any number of Asian pretenders. If a Maserati isn’t the most gorgeous car in its segment, what is it?
Sedili: the front buckets have center sections that feel like leather wrapped around planks of mahogany. And these boards protrude, always pushing you out of the seat and leaving your upper back and shoulders dangling unsupported. After an hour, our backs were in spastic revolt.
Navi-display: As in every other Chrysler product that runs this touch-it-for-everything system, from the Dart to the Grand Cherokee, the nav displays are Garmin-generic down to the same cheerful “Where to?” button found on Nuvi units sold at Walmart. The processor is slow, so map zooms take time to re-render. And what possible excuse can Maserati give for not supplying a console-control knob like that in an Audi, Mercedes, Lexus, BMW, or even a Mazda? Urgent note to Fiat Chrysler: “The Charger doesn’t have one” is not an excuse that will fly with these buyers.
Materiali interni:Using cheap-car parts to save money in a way that’s hidden from the customer is an art form. VW-Audi have nailed it; Chrysler-Maserati not so much, though with engines they are at least much closer. The Ghibli’s 3.0-liter twin-turbo V-6 block starts life as an aluminum die-casting from Chrysler’s Kokomo, Indiana, plant, but its path quickly diverges from blocks headed for less glamorous duty as it goes overseas to Ferrari’s Maranello campus for its machining and assembly with Ferrari-cast
Motore ( prestazioni ): If you take manual control of the ZF eight-speed automatic via the steering column’s big metal paddles, you may never experience anything but love for the Ghibli’s powertrain. Keep the engine at a permanent low boil and turbo lag is nearly nonexistent. The party stops when the trans is left in auto. It lunges for the top gear and a low-rpm economy setting, so the boost drops off and everything goes to sleep—unless you put it in sport mode, which locks out eighth gear and is thus not great for everyday driving.
When you need speed, things are slow to wake back up. Prod the car with half the throttle and nothing much happens. Nail it and time passes while the trans drops three gears and the boost builds. If you’re eyeing the open freeway lane next to your stopped one, goose it well before jumping out or risk being rear-ended. That’s when you notice how small 3.0 liters is in a two-ton-plus car. And our four-wheel-drive S Q4 version had the powered-up 3.0-liter. Just imagine the 345-hp version of this engine in the rear-drive Ghibli. It’s all or nothing with this engine, the “all” being, granted, rather spectacular.
Sterzo-sospensioni: he Ghibli is wide and stable and will make haste through mountains with its 0.91 g’s worth of grip. Though the steering is old-school hydraulic, it blots out most road feel and has a relaxed ratio, so it’s not very aggressive. Its eagerness to return to center isn’t very strong, either, so on the expressway it doesn’t feel locked in a groove. You can go fast in a Ghibli and feel secure doing it, especially with the Q4’s four-wheel-drive system seamlessly handling changing traction conditions. But there isn’t as much pleasure in it as there should be. Especially since the suspension, lacking the $3110 Skyhook electronic-damping option, has the elasticity of nodular iron.
Again, why choose this Italian over a German? Or even the fabulous new Cadillac CTS Vsport? There have to be reasons if, as Maserati indicated with its Super Bowl ad, it plans to take down the giants. But the Ghibli doesn’t yet offer enough of them. It needs a little more development time and a lot more la vita Italiana.
AUTOEXPRESS
Cambio: Engaging drive with the shifter is tricky, as you need to be deliberate when pulling the trigger to select it, otherwise you’re left in neutral, which can be frustrating. Another niggle is that it’s easy to knock the lever across from drive to Sport mode, because it’s closely positioned just ahead of the climate and infotainment controls.
Motore diesel: The 271hbp 3.0-litre V6 diesel never feels as fast as the engine in the BMW 530d (it’s two tenths of a second slower from 0-62mph) and sounds a bit old school when you start it up. It revs smoothly, though. and delivers plenty of mid-range surge with an interesting exhaust note for a diesel.
Sedili: Rear space is poorer than in the Jag, too. The heavily sculpted outer seats mean the middle seat feels more like a perch, and head and legroom are tight.
CARWOW
Materiali: some testers suggest overall quality isn’t quite as good as it could be – one scathingly suggests it’s “more Fiat than Ferrari”.
Motore diesel: it's the first diesel Maserati has produced, and it gets mixed reviews. The benefits it has on economy - at 47.9mpg - can't be overstated, but it's neither the quickest nor the most refined among its peers.... the quality of that performance is only deemed "adequate" by some testers. Another calls the grumbly engine note "uncouth", and a couple of reviewers mention some driveline "shunt" when applying and releasing the throttle. It could be better then, but for most the diesel Ghibli's extra economy will make it the only choice in the range.
Conclusioni: in many areas it’s not quite as good as more humble cars from Audi, BMW and Mercedes-Benz. If you can accept that a run-of-the-mill 5-Series is technically the better car – and frankly, anyone considering a Maserati would probably get over that pretty easily – then it’s well worth a look.
HONESTJOHN
Cambio: Clunky gear selector can be frustrating to use.
Interni: Interior is somewhat bland for an Italian exotic car.
Riassumendo, cosa non piace agli inglesi ?
- Sedili posteriori poco confortevoli in termini di spazio per le ginocchia/piedi
- Sterzo non elettrico
- Materiali vari interno abitacolo, di derivazione Chrysler ( alzacristalli, comando accensione motore, navigatore, etc )
- Sospensioni ( soprattutto tenendo conto della tipologie delle loro strade non proprio perfette )
- Cambio: non il massimo in termine di facilià di selezione marcia ( in effetti io stesso ho avuto qualche difficoltà inizialmente )
- Motorizzazione a gasolio: troppo rumoroso, meno performante di quello dei tedeschi
Sicuramente, dal punto di vista motoristico, quello a gasolio è il principale imputato, soprattutto rapportandolo alla concorrenza tedesca visto che è, e sarà sempre, il target di Maserati. Personalmente non ho mai testato la versione a gasolio della modenese, tuttavia di BMW quali la 330d ( in passato ho posseduto una e92 ), 530d, 535d sì e devo dire che mi hanno tutte entusiasmato; non parliamo poi del 3500 biturbo chè era un vero “missile terra-aria”, sound a parte. Se non erro, voci di corridoio parlano già di una motorizzazione a gasolio più potente per la Levante ( o sbaglio ? )da circa da 340 cv che ritengo a mio parere quantomai “doverosa” per una siffatta vettura, considerato anche il peso della stessa. E pur vero che in casa nostra, pena superbollo, il maggior volume di vendite riguarda, almeno finchè esisterà questa scellerata tassazione, il 250 cv visto che già con il 275 cv si pagano 720 euro di sovratassa; tuttavia mi chiedo se sarebbe stato opportuno, soprattutto per il mercato estero, una versione più performante visto che poi i confronti vengono inevitabilmente fatti con i crucchi, Audi o Bmw che sia, magari regalando sì qualche cavallo in più ma anche ottimizando ulteriormente il motore in termini di prestazione ( vd accelerazione ) e silenziosità ad alti regimi.
Viceversa, sul benzina, almeno il 410 cv ( il 330 cv non è mai stato testato ) non da adito a critiche....è ottimo, il vero motore Maserati che riscuote consensi a 360 gradi!
Per quanto riguarda il resto ho già riassunto precedentemente i punti deboli sottolineati dalla stampa estera. Una voce fuori dal coro tra le nostrane risulta “Auto” di cui riporto alcuni passaggi:
“.....più evidente è la qualità percepibile: appena sali, ti accoglie il solito sfarzoso arredamento, fatto di pellami di qualità e orpelli vari.
Ma passati i primi cinque minuti, l’entusiasmo inizia a scemare. Colpa della componentistica presa pari pari dalle
Chrsyler, che stona con tutto il resto e non è nemmeno lontanamente paragonabile alla maniacale attenzione al dettaglio delle tedesche: i pulsanti di regolazione dei sedili, degli alzavetri o quelli al volante che restituiscono un feedback negativo al tatto e alla vista, l’impianto multimediale dalla grafica e dalle funzioni limitate, la navigazione con un Garmin di fascia bassa non è un gran bel vedere. Inoltre, lo schermo è poco protetto dai raggi del sole. Alcune plastiche piuttosto economiche. La componentistica è piuttosto economica e manca quella sensazione di lusso e artigianalità tipiche delle Maserati.
Come dire: hai una villa hollywoodiana ma arredata Ikea…Sterzoidraulico e non elettrico. Ciò nonostante non è perfetto: lento dei ritorni, leggero in certe situazioni, poco progressivo”.
Spero tanto che Maserati in futuro possa colmare queste piccole lacune( perchè in effetti ci sono ) al fine di proporre un prodotto veramente superlativo in modo da “seppellire” una volta per tutte le tanto elogiate teutoniche e convincere al 100 % la stampa estera più scettica, più esigente! Non credo ci voglia chissà quale sforzo, ma devono fare meglio se vogliono sorpassare la concorrenza anche in prospettiva Alfieri, Levante e Granturismo dove i vecchi peccatucci di gioventù dovranno essere resettati !
Gio 2 Apr 2015 - 23:35
