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The Maserati Quattroporte is a luxury four-door sedan made by Maserati of Italy. The name translated from Italian literally means "four doors". There have been five generations of the car, each separated by a period of roughly five years.
In 2004, Maserati started production of the Pininfarina-designed Quattroporte, with the same 4.2 L engine as the Coupé, Spyder and the new GranTurismo but improved to 400 hp (SAE) (298 kW). Due to its greater weight than the Coupé and Spyder, the 0-60 mph (0-96 km/h) time for the Quattroporte is 5.2 seconds. The Quattroporte was unveiled to the world at the Frankfurt Motor Show on September 9, 2003 and made its US première at the 2003 Pebble Beach Concours d'Élégance. It is a continuation of the long tradition of Quattroporte luxury sedans in the Maserati line-up.
The 47% front-53% rear weight distribution allows the large sedan to have very nimble handling. This weight distribution is achieved by setting the engine further back in the chassis behind the front axle to shift the load back towards the cabin, and the adoption of the Transaxle layout which sees the gearbox rear-mounted in unit with the differential. The transaxle architecture is normally reserved for high performance sports cars and is the first time applied to a luxury sedan. The Quattroporte's weight distribution maximizes traction and thrust during acceleration so that the car remains exceptionally stable and well balanced at all times.
Automatica
A full automatic transmission with 6 speeds (by ZF) was presented at the Detroit Motor Show in January 2007 with the first cars delivered right after the launch, marketed as the Maserati Quattroporte Automatica. The Automatica will be available with paddle-shifters on the Sport GT model as standard, but on the base model and the Executive trim levels paddles will be an optional extra. The Automatica uses a dry sump and the transmission is located in the front of the vehicle, as opposed to a wet sump and a rear-mounted transmission used on Duo Select models. The dry sump method is also featured on the up-and-coming Maserati GranTurismo.
Competitors
The Quattroporte's current competitors are the Jaguar XJ, Audi A8, Mercedes-Benz S-Class/CLS-Class and the BMW 7-Series. In 2008 the Jaguar XF will enter the market as a Quattroporte competitor, but like the aformentioned cars, the XF will be mass-produced with approximately 100,000 vehicles being manufactured per year. This is significantly more than Maserati's production as only 5,700 Quattroporte's were made in 2006. In 2009, the Aston Martin Rapide will be the Quattroporte's main rival as the market, trim, exclusivity and price will be very similar, although it will be powered with a V12 engine. Also in 2008/2009 the Porsche Panamera will be on sale, creating more competition to the high-end luxury saloon segment. |
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