MoneywebDRIVE: Driving Impressions
Plant your foot in mid-range and this caragain delivers plenty of thrust.
But if you are a performance junky, rather go with the petrol model.
column is similarly of manual adjustment, all these manual devices meant to keep down the
price. Personally I am cool with
this, as in my mind the less electronic entanglements, the less to
go wrong down the road!
The dashboard features a
rev-counter red-lined somewhere before the 5 000 rpm mark,
denoting its diesel status and a
270km/h speedo. Plant your foot
in mid-range and this car again
delivers plenty of thrust. But if you
are a performance junky, rather
go with the petrol model.
The interior came with so-called
Sabbia coloured leather upholstery, a kind of creamy, pleasant
hue, and a wooden trim known
as Radica, which provoked lots
of comment from people who
sat in the passenger areas of the
car. It has a kind of aged appearance that takes some getting used to.
Rear seat space is not the best in
this smaller version of the Maserati. It is adequate, but taller people may wish for more leg room.
The boot, on the other hand, is
impressive, measuring 500 litres
and featuring an easy-access
loading opening.
Overall the interior could do with
just a few more exotic touches, such as fancy upholstery or
stitching on the dashboard, and
this is in fact available. I enjoyed
operating the large touch screen
with Navigation, a reverse camera and even the climate controls are very easy to use via the
touch screen.
On the road I appreciated the
feel that the steering gave, as
Maserati decided with this car
to stick to hydraulically-assisted steering rather than go the
electric-assistance route as most
other manufacturers have done.
The wheel itself has a pleasant,
thick-rimmed feel, and of course
that Trident logo in the centre
hub winks at you, reminding you
that you are driving a Maserati,
that you’ve arrived, even when
you are setting out on a journey.
As for the handling, it is quite
pointy and the grip seems high,
although I didn’t really push it too
hard. The suspension absorbs big
bumps quite well, but, like the
Quattroporte I drove a few issues
back, it is not as composed as it
should be on the rippled, jiggly
stuff that SA roads often throw at
you. The brakes I found to be excellent. With lots of feel through
the pedal and powerful.
All in all, a nice car if you want
to be different, and its styling
drew gasps at parking lots and
outside my home. It’s nice to see
a car with flowing curves and
styling lines that integrate so well
in a basic sedan format. Italians,
man, they know about making
cars sexy!
As for the price, well the Ghibli Diesel is not cheap. It costs
almost the same as the basic
Ghibli, and about R300 000 less
than the high-powered S model. But at R1 370 000 it has to be
considered to be priced just a
tad on the high side.
By Stuart Johnston
The interior layout is stylish, but could do with some exotic touches. User-friendly touch screen.
16
The Sabbia colour seats are sumptuous, but you'll need to clean it often and finally, typical
Italian flair extends to under bonnet engine detailing