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2019 Maserati Ghibli GranLusso S Quick Spin Review | A mixed designer bag

It's been a minute since we've driven the Maserati Ghibli (our first drive was way back in 2013), the twin-turbocharged, V6-powered smaller sedan from the legendary Italian outfit. In the last couple years, rumors have swirled that the Ghibli would donate its platform to the Dodge Charger and its Challenger and 300 siblings. So, in a sense, our time in Southern California in the 2019 Maserati Ghibli GranLusso S was both a preview of FCA's shared rear-drive sedan future as well as a check-in about how the Ghibli is maturing in general. Not that the Ghibli hasn't evolved in the six years since it went on sale. For 2018, Maserati moved to an electrically-assisted steering rack, mostly to enable driver assistance systems with steering intervention. The V6's output has been bumped in the S, to 424 horsepower. The headlights and grille have been updated, too, to compliment the newer and more aggressive Levante. In Los Angeles, at least, the Ghibli doesn't stand out – the town is lousy with Ghiblis, Levantes, and Quattroportes. Good for Maserati, I suppose, but bad for exclusivity. Nor does the car pop in photos like it does in person. My tester was a metallic, creamy white, which is flat and dull in photos or from far away. That's a shame, because this car has phenomenal contouring. From behind the wheel, the driver's side fender porpoises above the shapely hood. Walking along the side, the curvature of the rear fender where it meets the deep tumblehome of the C-pillar is delightful. Everybody stares at an exotic, but the owner of a Ghibli should feel special contemplating their sheetmetal. This sense of specialness dissolves inside. There are Maserati tridents everywhere, presumably to help you remember that you're looking at the expensive Italian sports sedan you just purchased rather than a riot of low-rent, Chrysler-derived bits. The steering wheel buttons feel cheap and wobbly, the too-shiny center console finish seems synthetic, the prominent lighting and engine start/stop controls to the left of the steering wheel are ensconsed in a dull plastic surround. Some of the aesthetic choices – subjective, yes – are confounding. Take the textile inserts on the seats and door cards. I love the fact that interior designers are playing with textiles, which can be used to great effect. And the pitch here is compelling: an apparently famous Italian designer (Ermenegildo Zegna) used a fancy fabric (mulberry silk) with special weaves and textures.

Maserati confirms the Grecale SUV will get a high-performance version

Maserati will parachute its second SUV, the Grecale, into territory controlled by the Porsche Macan. It hasn't unveiled the model yet, but it has already confirmed a fire-breathing high-performance variant is in the pipeline. "We will have a Trofeo version of [the Grecale], we will have a Modena version of that. We will have a GT version," revealed William Peffer, the CEO of Maserati's North American division, in an interview with The Drive. While he stopped short of revealing specifications, Maserati saves the Trofeo name for its quickest and most powerful models. As of writing, all of its cars with the exception of the MC20 are available in Trofeo tune. They're powered by a twin-turbocharged, 3.8-liter V8 engine — even the smaller Ghibli — and they gain a number of chassis tweaks as well as several model-specific styling cues. We expect the Grecale will get a similar treatment. One ingredient of the traditional Trofeo recipe that the Grecale might not be cooked with is the V8. It's an older engine, and we're not sure that an eight-cylinder fits in the engine bay. Rumors claim the model will ride on an evolution of the Giorgio platform that Alfa Romeo's Stelvio and Giulia are built on, so the top engine might be a V6. Maserati is nearly done fine-tuning the Grecale. It will unveil the model in November 2021, and sales will start in time for the 2022 model year. Additional details about the firm's next SUV will emerge in the coming months. Related Video This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings.

330-horsepower Ghibli Hybrid is Maserati's first electrified model

Maserati kicked off its electrification campaign by releasing a hybrid version of the Ghibli, its entry-level model. The sedan gains a mild hybrid system, subtle visual tweaks, and many technology upgrades inside. Unveiled online, the brand's first production-bound electrified car features a gasoline-electric powertrain built around a turbocharged, 2.0-liter four-cylinder engine. It works jointly with a 48-volt belt-driven starter-generator and what the company calls an e-booster that's essentially an electric supercharger. The system's total output checks in at 330 horsepower at 5,750 rpm and 332 pound-feet of torque at 4,000 rpm, and it channels its power to the rear wheels via an eight-speed automatic transmission and a limited-slip differential. Maserati quotes a 5.7-second sprint from zero to 62 mph, and a 159-mph top speed. While fuel economy figures are still being finalized, preliminary estimates peg the Hybrid's fuel consumption at about 27.6 mpg in a combined cycle, a figure which — if accurate — makes it less efficient than the 31.3-mpg diesel model it will replace. Adopting 48-volt technology was the best way to electrify the Ghibli, according to the brand. "We thought about a plug-in option for the Ghibli, but when you put a lot of batteries — and a lot of other stuff — into the car, it adds weight and it's going to jeopardize the performance and the fun-to-drive quotient that is key for Maserati. I'm not saying this to diminish the good points of the plug-in hybrid technology, but it's not the best solution here," Francesco Tonon, Maserati's head of global product planning and marketing, told Autoblog. Tonon pointed out making the Ghibli a hybrid wasn't an excuse to make it dull; it still needed to drive and sound like a Maserati. It's 176 pounds lighter than the diesel-burning model, and it offers better weight distribution because there is a lighter engine under the hood and some of the hybrid components are installed in the back. As for the sound, Tonon proudly explained his team gave the Ghibli a unique exhaust note worthy of the storied trident emblem without resorting to an amplifier, by tweaking the system and adopting resonators. Subtle design changes set the Hybrid model apart from the non-electrified Ghibli.