15 Jan 07
Anyway, the overall result is a smoother, easier-to-drive, less frenetic Quattroporte. There's minimal damage to the rocketship pace and, if the blattering, crackling V8 soundtrack is a little more subdued, it remains as stirring as ever. The top speed drops by 3mph but 168mph is still plenty rapid enough - and even if 0.4sec has been added to the 0-62mph time, you'll still do the sprint in 5.6 seconds.
Crucially, the QPA is now a relaxing and co-operative traffic companion; yet out on the open road, with paddle-shifters deployed, its character is hardly reined-in at all. Here is the Quattroporte as it ought to be, the major obstacle to its enjoyment now banished, sales success now assured.
Despite this, Maserati's recently arrived CEO, Roberto Ronchi, says that owners who have the DuoSelect hate the idea of a true automatic, and that automatic-users similarly hate the DuoSelect. Now Maserati can please both camps and everyone can be happy - although existing owners' anti-auto declarations are surely based more on prejudice than on fact.
Incidentally, there's no price for favouritism either way, for both DuoSelect and Automatica will be priced identically when the new price lists appear shortly.
