Quattroporte GT S
New range-topper for Maserati four-door gets its unveil at Detroit
Maserati has added an extra prong to its four-door attack with a new variant of the Quattroporte super saloon. This one is the most super of them all, too. It's the QP Sport GT S, and it takes the 4.7-litre V8 from the S versions of the GranTurismo and Quattroporte, which provides 433bhp and 361lb ft.
In the near two-ton Quattroporte that means a 5.3sec dash and a 174mph top speed, which beats all its 155mph-limited German rivals, at least. Changes over the QP S include tuned gearbox software to sharpen up the drive, a louder, throatier sports exhaust and a remapped engine. The front and rear suspension gains single-rate dampers, stiffer springs and a lower ride height to hike up the handling further.
On the outside, changes mirror those seen on the GT S: a more pronounced grille, darker titanium-finish headlights and black detailing around the car crank the aggression up while inside there's new alcantara and leather seats.
It'll be available from Spring 2009 with the price set to stray towards the £89,900 of the GranTurismo S. And it should be enough to put any prospective Panamera owners slightly off the new Porsche...