2014 Maserati Ghibli S Q4 and Quattroporte S Q4 Second Drive

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If you're an avid reader, you might have noticed there's a lot more Maserati news inMotor Trendthese days, all thanks to a big push from the brand to raise awareness, not to mention sales. The company has gone on a product offensive that includes two new sedans, an upcoming SUV, and its first-ever all-wheel-drive system in hopes of expanding its presence in markets around the world. While all-new vehicles are essential to such ambition, all-wheel drive could lead to more sales.

In fact, it already has. Maserati says 70 to 71 percent of 2014 Quattroporte and Ghibli sales in the U.S., respectively, have been Q4 all-wheel-drive models. Total U.S. sales last year were up 76 percent, a number you don't often see in the automotive industry, especially not from a traditionally niche brand. Not bad considering the new models have only been on sale a few months. The simple fact is that the northern half of the country isn't especially interested in rear-wheel-drive sports cars, not when they have to deal with snow for months on end. The folks up north want all-wheel drive with their horsepower, and delivering it has been a boon to Maserati (and more than a few of its competitors).

Of course, simply supplying power to all four wheels does not necessarily make a good all-wheel-drive car, as more than a few vehicles have proven. None of those products, thankfully, are Maseratis. Snowbelt folks can rest assured they haven't bought a gimmick, but in fact a good, all-wheel-drive sports sedan.

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I can confirm this because I've been given the opportunity to try the new Quattroporte S Q4 and Ghibli S Q4 in proper winter conditions. Maserati brought me to the foot of the Matterhorn (or Cervino, as the Italians call it) at nearly 6600 feet, plus a few feet of snow, to see if the new all-wheel-drive system is up to snuff.

On the snowy, slushy, and, at times, icy, roads through the mountains, neither the Quattroporte or Ghibli could be bothered to put a winter tire seriously wrong. The worst conditions we found on the roads provoked only the slightest occasional slip from the front or rear of the car before it found grip again, even with my lead-footed, Michigan-reared co-driver at the wheel. In the best conditions of the day, when the road was simply wet, the winter-tired Maseratis could be driven nearly as hard as one would drive them on a perfect summer's day. Grip: These cars have it.

To drive the point home, we finished the day on the Breuil-Cervinia ice track. Even in full snow and with a championship-winning rally driver yelling "full gas" from the passenger seat, it was tough to upset the Maseratis without simply being a hooligan. As with any car, turning off stability control and dropping the hammer will induce plenty of oversteer in either car, but both are equally balanced and controllable, allowing you to drive tail-out with ease. Computer on and set to Sport mode, you can still get plenty sideways while retaining an electronic safety net. Cancel Sport and the cars become docile, the computer quickly resolving any slippage with minimal rotation. If you really don't want to bend an expensive Italian fender, the absolute safest way to drive in snow is in I.C.E. mode, which does not mean ice. In fact, it means "Increased Control and Efficiency," which is apparently how you say "eco mode" in Italian. Put either car in I.C.E. mode, and the transmission upshifts as early as possible, so you're never in the meat of the powerband. Combined with stability control on snow and ice this makes it virtually impossible to upset the car with the throttle. It's like driving with a brick under the pedal. The cars just putter along on their merry way. It's boring, but being as safe as possible usually is.

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While careening around the ice track with the computer on, the cars showed remarkable grip even at speed. The only way to upset them was to carry too much speed into a hairpin, which would induce understeer in any car on the snow (or in the dry, at much higher speeds), or to find a patch of ice (again, a great equalizer of cars). In the sweeping corners, you could put your foot to the floor and let the stability control and all-wheel drive computers sort it out. At that point, it was simply a function of tire grip, something no car can control. Give the tires an opportunity to grip and the cars will make the best of it. Even on a steep uphill slope, the cars will start from a stop with almost no wheelspin, provided you don't stop on the only patch of ice on the hill.

This control in poor conditions is not simply the result of a good stability control program, but of a good all-wheel-drive system. Maserati claims the computer can detect slip in less than one rotation of a wheel and react accordingly, shuffling power frontward or rearward as needed. A wet multi-plate clutch fitted to the rear of the eight-speed automatic transmission feeds up to 50 percent of the power to the front axle and actively varies the torque split at all times. While the front differential is open, the rear is controlled by a mechanical limited-slip differential. Combined with a 50-50 weight balance, they make the cars incredibly neutral and well-balanced, even in the snow. (Fun fact: Getting that 50-50 balance required moving the engine as low and as far rearward in the chassis as possible. To achieve this, the driver's side front axle half-shaft runs through the oil pan.) The Q4 all-wheel-drive system is only available with the rev-happy, mid-range, 404-horsepower, 406 lb-ft twin-turbo 3.0-liter V-6. Why not with the V-8? Because Maserati customers aren't asking for it. Maserati says it's technically possible, but there isn't enough demand to cover the engineering cost. Same reason there won't be a right-hand-drive all-wheel-drive model.

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What's most impressive about this system is that it's absolutely seamless. Maserati claims it's rear-biased and only transfers power forward when needed, but keeping an eye on the torque-split display on the in-cluster screen shows some amount of power usually being routed to the front. The reason for this is that the system is not designed simply as a poor-weather traction aid, but as an all-season performance aid. Even in the dry, it's constantly responding to the road and your inputs to maximize grip and performance. As much as the torque-split display dances around, though, you can't feel it working. The car's balance and grip don't change perceptibly as more power goes to the front, nor does it affect the steering. It just grips.

You may have noticed I've been referring to the two cars as one for much of this review. Maserati isn't shy about the fact they're very similar. It's like offering the same car in two sizes for two different budgets. They use the same engine and all-wheel-drive powertrain and ride on the same platform. The Ghibli is simply 6.8 inches shorter between the front and rear wheels and a foot shorter overall. As such, the cars behave similarly, with the Ghibli being a little more nimble, thanks to its shorter wheelbase. Personally, on the snow and ice, I liked the Quattroporte's slightly slower, slightly more deliberate responses better than the Ghibli's sports car attitude, but on a dry road, I'd likely go the other way.

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Sharing so many similarities, the Quattroporte and Ghibli also share faults. While I applaud Maserati's principled stand in retaining hydraulically assisted steering for better feel, there just isn't any. This is not to say the steering wheel feels dead, as it transmits road and powertrain vibrations, but not any discernable feedback from the front tires. This is not just a factor of the wintery test conditions, but something we called out in our First Drives as well. Maserati says it's looking into it. Looking around for other faults, I find the Chrysler switchgear disappointing, and the trim around the Chrysler UConnect infotainment system looks like an afterthought. The lack of standard heated seats on the all-wheel drive model intended for cold-climate customers is an odd oversight as well. I'm otherwise hard-pressed to find fault. I will say, though, that while both cars sound very good for turbocharged V-6s, the Quattroporte sounds better. It's got a bit more rasp and doesn't suffer the boominess of the Ghibli's exhaust note.

What we have here, then, are two well-balanced and driver-friendly cars. Luxury sedans they may be, but they beg you to drive them hard. They then reward that hard driving with balance and control that makes you confident in any conditions. Maserati says it's spending its development money on making drivers' cars rather than on aids like lane-keeping assist or blind-spot monitoring, and these cars back that up. They're not on the cutting edge of technology and they'll never drive themselves. They want to be driven, and Maserati wants to sell cars to the select few luxury car customers who truly appreciate unassisted (or, at least, as minimally assisted as the law allows) driving. For that small segment of the population that both waxes poetic about the purity of driving and has the want/means to purchase one, Maserati has a car for you. You just have to decide which size you want.