Owners can customize as well through the Officine Alfieri Maserati Personalization Program. Choose from a variety of exterior and interior colors - 13 hues for stitching and three for the headliner. Higher-grade Poltona Frau leather can be chosen, for example. Owners can select mahogany or walnut briarwood instead of the standard Tanganyka wood provided with the automatic Quattroporte. A carbon fiber or piano black finish is also available.
Comfort isn't just in the colors or cloths: A package for the front or rear seats includes ventilation, massage, and, for the fronts, auto-adaptive versions. And, of course, owners can request a TV screen and a DVD player to keep passengers informed and entertained.
Automatic Customers: It's Almost Automatic
Every Quattroporte driver wants four doors. Not every Quattroporte driver wants to shift.
The automatic transmission sits to the rear of the engine. A hydraulic torque converter provides quick, smooth shifts through the rpm curve. As a result, the Quattroporte maintains the rear bias of |
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nonautomatic DuoSelect-equipped vehicles: 49 percent front and 51 percent rear as opposed to the 47 percent front and 53 percent rear for the latter.
"Because almost all the customers for the Quattroporte are coming from cars with automatic transmissions, they prefer that type of transmission," Simon explains. "They want sports car handling and speed but don't want to have to work to drive the car. Remember, this is a car they will be using every day."
Automatic drivers want to avoid gear-change lurches - not just uncomfortable but, perhaps, inappropriate to the spirit of a great luxury GT. On the smooth-shifting automatic, drivers use the central-console selector and, for more control, select the "sport" mode. For further excitement, owners can select column-mounted paddles.
Trident neatly stowed, Neptune himself would be pleased, even on land. "The car is just so different from any other sedan," Simon notes. "It offers light sports car-like handling and terrific brakes. It's responsive and great looking. It is my favorite sedan - period."
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