2017 Maserati Ghibli vs 2018

What's the difference?

The entry grade petrol Ghibli is more placid than its rivals, with a plush cabin, comfortable ride, and an engine that doesn't have an anger management problem. The Ghibli's looks like nothing else from the front, but like everything else from the back, there are a few areas where the quality feels like it should be better, but the Maserati brand still adds a superhero aura to the Ghibli and that exhaust note is one of the sweetest soundtracks to come from a V6.

Maserati will tell you people are drawn to its motor-racing heritage and sporting DNA, and that the Ghibli offers something different in a world of grey, business-like conformity.

There’s no doubt the M5 and E63 are left-lane autobahn hot rods, stunningly fast but relatively remote. The Ghibli S delivers a more nuanced driving experience. And the design details all through the car actually do connect with the brand’s history.

So, before you go Deutsche you might want to think about a high-emotion Italian relationship.

On the outside the updated Ghibli is identical to the previous one. Those C-pillars adorned with the Maserati Trident logo flow down into the hulking rear haunches. The nose turns down supercar style to that stiff upper lip. While the front bumper and splitter are cleanly styled and don't steal any of the spotlight away from the centerpiece - that unmistakable grille which along with the decorative side vents have become the key Maserati identifiers.

This is a stunning car and more emotional in its design than the Alfa, BMW, or Benz. Sure, the rear end looks like just about every other car's bottom and it is a bit stumpy, but that's the reality of a cab-back design also shared by its rivals which moves the cabin rearward to allow the nose to extend like that boat from Miami Vice.

Sumptuous is a word really only ever dusted off and used to describe food and hotel rooms, but it also nails the feel of the Ghibli's cabin.

The Ghibli shares the same chassis and suspension design as its Quattroporte big brother, but is 293mm shorter at 4971mm end to end. That's long for this segment – the Giulia QV is 4639, the M3 is 4661mm and the C63s is 4686. It's wider and taller too, at 2100mm across including the mirrors and 1461mm high, the C63 s for example is 2020mm from mirror to mirror and 1442mm to the roof top.

Sumptuous is a word really only ever dusted off and used to describe food and hotel rooms, but it also nails the feel of the Ghibli's cabin. Modern, luxurious and a bit over the top, our Ghibli was fitted with the 'Luxury Package' which costs the price of a brand new Kia Rio, and adds premium leather.

Not so premium is the touchscreen which looks suspiciously like the same one from the Jeep Cherokee (also owned by Maserati's parent company Fiat Chrysler Automobiles), right down to the air vents which flank it, and the window switches are also very close to those used in the Jeep.

On this topic of quality the Ghibli wasn't as high up the scale as we'd expect. The windscreen wipers were unusually loud and had less than perfect contact with the window. The top tether anchor points for child seats were housed in sharp plastic wells that felt little piranha mouths and the air vents and plastics in the back row were a bit cheap feeling.

Not at all cheap feeling is the Ghibli's key fob, it weighs about the same as a small cobblestone and feels like one in your pocket. It's surely weighted with concrete or lead or dark matter to give it that solid, quality feel.

For 2018, the Ghibli is available in two new trim levels. Add $20k to the ‘standard’ price tag and you can choose between the GranLusso, with a focus on luxury (including the option of a Zegna silk interior treatment!), or the more performance-focused GranSport you see here, the high-output S version, resplendent in ‘Blu Emozione’.

The GranSport is identified by its unique front and rear bumpers, as well as a chrome concave grille, with two wings and a prominent splitter underneath it. 

More recent Maserati design signatures, including three stylised vents in the front guards, and aggressively angular (adaptive LED) headlights, merge with classic references like delicately formed trident badges on each C-pillar to form a distinctively dynamic exterior. It’s aerodynamically slick, too, boasting a low 0.29 drag coefficient (down from 0.31 for the 2017 car).

Then you open the door and step inside. In this case, the bright-blue exterior is matched with a black and red interior. Make that mostly red, in fact mostly very red leather on the seats, dash and doors, with trademark touches like the oval-shaped, dash-mounted analogue clock, hooded instrument binnacle, and racy alloy-finish pedals setting the tone.

Taking a different path to its Teutonic competition, the Ghibli S dash and centre console combination manages to blend gentle curves with an occasional sharp turn. Cover over the trident badge and other brand giveaways inside, and it doesn’t feel like the usual suspects. It‘s a distinctive, characterful design.

Also worth calling out is the fact that when you crack the bonnet open to impress your friends they’ll actually be able to see the engine, or at least major parts of it. Like alloy cam covers, complete with Maserati in old-school cursive script in the casting. Yes, there’s some plastic dressing on top, but the ability to lay your eyes on real metal warms the heart.

Leg and headroom in the back seat depends on where you're sitting. At 191cm I can sit behind my driving position with about 30mm of space between my knees and the seatback and about the same distance above my head.

The middle seat in the back is really only for kids – even one of our web developers who's built like an elf complained about the lack of headroom and having to straddle the driveshaft ‘hump'. I didn't mind though, because I was driving.

The fold-down armrest in the back row houses a storage tray with a USB port and a 12 volt power outlet, plus two cup holders. There are another four cup holders up front (with two in the giant centre console bin). The connoisseur of the finer things in life will also be happy to know that a jumbo Slurpee will fit in the cupholders near the shifter. 

There is still an apple in the boot of the Ghibli but it's just going to have to stay there because it's so far back  I can't reach it even with my stupidly long arms.

The only bottles you'll be able to fit into the tiny door pockets are those little ones from hotel bar fridges. But for the rest of the hotel towels, linen and bathrobes there's heaps of space in the boot, which is massive.

Seriously, there is still an apple in the boot of the Ghibli but it's just going to have to stay there because it's so far back  I can't reach it even with my stupidly long arms. That might give you a better picture of the cargo space rather than just telling you that it has a 500 litre volume. But if you appreciate numbers you'll like to know its boot capacity is 20 litres bigger than the luggage room of the M3, C63 s or Giulia Quadrifoglio.

Front-seat passengers enjoy a spacious feel, thanks largely to the dashboard’s progressive slope towards the windscreen, rather than the hard-edged, upright layout more commonly found in high-end sedans.

There are two cupholders in the centre console, but locating anything bigger than a piccolo latte in them would be a struggle. Same goes for the doors. Yes, there are storage bins, but forget water bottles or anything much thicker than an iPad (in a Gucci slipcase of course).

That said, there are several covered storage boxes in the centre console, as well as multiple connection options including an ‘auxiliary in’ socket, USB port, SD card reader and 12v outlet, plus a specific drawer for your mobile (in place of a now-deleted DVD player).

Although it doesn’t look it, at close to five metres long and two metres across, the Ghibli S is marginally longer, and wider, than the M5 and E63 (line ball on height).

No surprise then that rear space is generous. I was able to sit behind the driver’s seat, set for my 183cm height, with plenty of legroom and more than adequate headroom. The gap for your feet under the seat in front is kinda squeezy, but it’s nowhere near a deal-breaking issue. Three large adults across the rear is do-able, but tight.

There are two adjustable vents for rear-seaters, map pockets on the seat backs, small door bins, plus a neatly configured storage box and (small) twin cupholder combination in the folding centre armrest.

The rear seat backs split-fold 60/40 to increase the standard 500-litre cargo capacity and improve load flexibility. There’s a 12v outlet, a side net pocket, and decent lighting back there, too. But don’t bother looking for a spare, a repair kit is standard issue, and an 18-inch space saver is an option.

Cost of entry to this exclusive Italian club is $175,990 (plus on-road costs) for the Ghibli S, with an additional $20,000 opening up the choice of Ghibli S GranLusso or S GranSport ($195,990).

No small chunk of change, and in the same territory as the M5 and E 63, so what does that mean in terms of standard spec and tech? 

For a start, the S GranSport rolls on 21-inch ‘Titano’ alloy rims, and features an eight-speaker, 280-watt Harman/Kardon sound system (including DAB digital radio). You’ll also luxuriate in extended leather trim (including a leather-wrapped sports steering wheel), carbon and piano black interior highlights, 12-way power-adjustable and heated front seats, keyless entry and start, sat-nav, LED headlights, power rear window sunshades, power boot lid (with hands-free mode) and soft-close doors.

There’s also dual-zone climate control air, cruise control, front and rear parking sensors, a rear-view camera (plus surround view), rain-sensing wipers, a sunroof, ambient lighting, alloy-finish pedals, a 7.0-inch TFT instrument display, and an 8.4-inch colour multimedia touchscreen with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto present and accounted for.

That’s plenty of luscious fruit, which is cost-of-entry in this rarefied market territory.

The C63 s has its bellow, the M3 screams, the Giulia's voice is deep and loud and the Ghibli exhaust note is unmistakably a Maserati with its high-pitched, smooth sound.

In that long nose is a Maserati-designed, Ferrari-built 3.0-litre twin-turbo V6 making 247kW/500Nm. Compare that to the Giulia QV's 375kW/600Nm, or the M3 Competition's 331kW/550Nm, or the C63 s's 375kW/700Nm and the base spec Ghibli seems underpowered.

The eight-speed ZF automatic transmission is smooth and a bit slow, but perfect for highways and peak-hour city driving. I find it preferable to the dual-clutch in the M3 which while super quick isn't too smooth in heavy traffic.

The Ghibli S is powered by 3.0-litre, 60-degree, twin-turbo V6 petrol engine, designed by Maserati Powertrain in Modena and manufactured by Ferrari, just up the road in Maranello.

It’s an all-alloy unit featuring direct-injection, variable cam timing (inlet and exhaust), low-inertia parallel turbos, and a pair of intercoolers.

While it can’t match the powerhouse Germans on outright numbers the Ghibli S still produces just over 321kW, or around 430 horsepower at 5500rpm, and 580Nm of torque from 2250-4000rpm. That’s a boost of 20kW/30Nm over the outgoing Ghibli S.

Drive goes to the rear wheels via a ZF-sourced eight-speed automatic transmission.

Maserati says the Ghibli should consume premium unleaded at an average combined rate of 8.9L/100km. Ours needed 19.1L/100km which is higher because most of the 250-odd kilometres we drove were in the city, and in Sport mode, and with me shifting manually, and mainly holding second gear almost all the time to impress/offend bystanders. You too can more than double the recommended fuel usage and annoy people if you drive like me.

Claimed fuel economy for the combined (ADR 81/02 - urban, extra-urban) cycle is 9.6L/100km, emitting 223g/km of CO2 in the process. And you’re looking at 80 litres of 98RON premium unleaded to fill the tank. Start-stop is standard.

The first impression is how large that steering wheel is, the next is the exhaust note and then long nose out in front. The Ghibli feels light, the steering is smooth, the suspension is soft even in sport mode and the ride is comfortable even on the 19-inch rims shod with wide and low profile Pirelli P Zeros (245/45 front, 275/40 rear).

The Ghibli is a chatterbox in that the feedback from the road through the steering and the seat is excellent; handling is exceptional and is helped by a (mechanical) limited slip differential.

These factors along with the comfortable ride make the Ghibli easy to live with – more so than an M3 or C63 s.

But in this base grade it lacks the brutal punch of its more powerful rivals, you'll also need to drive it harder to get it to shout louder and that could obliterate a driver's licence instantly.

The turning circle isn't bad at 11.7m (the same as a Mazda CX-5), steering is light and visibility (forward and rear) is good, while the transmission is smooth. These factors along with the comfortable ride make the Ghibli easy to live with – more so than an M3 or C63 s.

I never could get used to the shifter. It looks normal enough but the lumpy mechanism meant I nearly always overshot reverse and had to concentrate to select my gear.

All doors have a central locking button – sounds appropriate for a limousine, but it provided unending amusement for my toddler who locked and unlocked the doors constantly and all we could do was demand that he "stop it for Chrissakes!"

So, the first thing to say is the Ghibli S GranSport is fast, but it’s not in the same eye-widening league as the M5 and E63. The sprint from 0-100km/h is covered in 4.9 seconds, and if you’re game (and your driveway is long enough) claimed maximum velocity is 286km/h. For reference, the just released (F90) M5 is claimed to hit triple digits in 3.4sec, and the E 63 in 3.5.

The V6 turbo sounds nice and growly in the Sport setting, the soundtrack controlled by pneumatic valves in each bank of the exhaust. In ‘Normal’ mode, the bypass valves are closed up to 3000rpm for a more civilised tone and volume.

Maximum torque is available across a useful band from 2250 to 4000rpm and the twin-turbo set-up helps with linear power delivery, while the eight-speed auto is quick and positive, especially in manual mode.

The sports seats (12-way electric adjustable) feel great, a 50/50 front to rear weight distribution helps the car feel balanced, and the standard LSD helps put power to the ground without fuss in tight going.

And despite a 1810kg kerb weight, it does, in fact, manage to feel lighter and more involving than its high-profile, highly powerful German rivals.

Braking is courtesy of big (red) Brembo six piston calipers at the front, and four piston at the rear on vented and cross-drilled rotors (360mm front/345mm rear). They’re up to the task, and the claimed 100-0km/h stopping distance is impressive at 36m.

The new electrically assisted power steering (a first for Maserati) is light at parking speeds, but it points nicely and road feel improves as the speedo needle twists to the right.

Suspension is double-wishbone front, five bar multi-link rear, and despite big 21-inch rims wrapped in high-performance Pirelli P Zero rubber (245/35 front-285/30 rear), ride comfort is amazingly good, even on patchy surfaces. 

Maserati’s ‘ADAS’ (Advanced Driver Assistance Package) is standard on the Ghibli S, and now includes lane-keeping assist, blind-spot monitoring, and traffic-sign recognition.

There’s also AEB, forward-collision warning, ‘Advanced Brake Assist’, ‘Rear Cross Path’ and a tyre-pressure-monitoring system.

The 2018 Ghibli and larger Quattroporte sedan are also the first Maseratis to feature IVC (Integrated Vehicle Control), a tailored version of ESP (Electronic Stability Program), using a smart controller to predict driving situations, adapting engine speed and torque vectoring (by braking) in response.

The ‘Maserati Stability Program’ (MSP) also wraps up ABS (with EBD), ASR, engine brake torque control, ‘Advanced Brake Assist’ and a hill holder.

In terms of passive safety the Ghibli is equipped with seven airbags (front head, front side, driver’s knee, and full length curtain) as well as anti-whiplash headrests.

There are three top tether points across the rear for child seats, with ISOFIX anchors in the two outer positions.

Although ANCAP hasn’t assessed the Ghibli it rates a maximum five stars from EuroNCAP.

The Ghibli is covered by a three year/unlimited kilometre warranty. Servicing is recommended every 12 months/20,000km.

Maserati supports the Ghibli S GranSport with a three year/unlimited km warranty, which is now some way off the industry leading eight years (160,000km) from Tesla, and seven years (unlimited km) from Kia.

But the recommended service interval is a lengthy two years/20,000km, and the ‘Maserati Maintenance’ program offers pre-paid schedules for Ghibli and Quattroporte owners, covering required inspections, components and consumables.