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Ram/Jeep Ecodiesel engine has Maserati roots

The 3.0L turbodiesel V6 in the 2014 Ram 1500 EcoDiesel earned a slot on Ward's Automotive 2014 10 Best Engines for its power, fuel economy and refinement. In a piece looking at how Fiat subsidiary VM Motor developed the engine, Ward's also makes note of the fact that the same lump goes in diesel versions of the Maserati Quattroporte and Ghibli. They're tuned a bit differently, naturally, with the QP putting out 275 horsepower and 442 pound-feet of torque, the smaller, lighter Ghibli making do with the same number of horses but a lower torque output of 420 lb-ft.
The 240 horsepower and 420 pound-feet put out by the oil-burning six-cylinder in the Ram was tamed with a host of advances, but it appears that Ram hasn't tamed demand: the initial allocation of 8,000 engines was spoken for within three days of the truck going on sale. Head over to Ward's to read the story of how Ram worked out the equation light-duty-pickup + diesel = success.

2014 Maserati Quattroporte goes on a night run

While it was in development, Maserati rolled out its 2014 Quattroporte for a little testing, but rather than slather the big luxury sedan in gobs of camouflage to protect from it prying eyes, engineers used the cover of darkness to conceal the vehicle's design. Then they made a video about their cleverness and posted it on the Internet. The team spent some time whipping around the Balocco Proving Ground with chief test driver Fabrizio Galvan at the controls to evaluate the sedan's new drivetrain, noise levels and handling in the real world.
We got our hands on the 2014 Quattroporte last month for a first drive ahead of the vehicle's North American debut at the 2013 Detroit Auto Show. You can read our impressions here, but first, take a look at the video below for a new glimpse at the machine's development.

Maserati GranTurismo Folgore teases itself around Monterrey

Maserati began teasing the GranTurismo Folgore toward the end of Car Week on Twitter and Instagram with a caption that read, "A rose gold wrap suited to the Golden Coast. Impossible to keep it secret. We’re touring California with the new GranTurismo Folgore and an audacious Italian-American entertainer. The air is electric. Keep following us down this road." Maserati seems to have meant the line about not keeping secrets more literally than one would expect, because it nonchalantly parked an uncamouflaged car in the same rose gold wrap at a charging station on the Monterey peninsula before the teases began. It had been thought that the automaker might debut the coupe over the weekend, which could have happened. Autocar says the Italians hosted a private preview for potential customers — that, apparently, was the secret.  This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. Maserati teased a different prototype draped in a blue wrap earlier this year before the Formula E grand prix in Rome. This version, with its Homeric rosy hue and quasi-three-spoke wheels is what we've been waiting for. We like what we see. Yes, it's highly reminiscent of the GranTurismo that went off the market in 2019. Why should that bother us? That coupe is still beautiful. From what we can tell of the Folgore, the updated lines should make the coming EV even more so. Guests at that putative private event might know what powers the 2+2, but we don't. We know the battery-electric Grecale crossover will get an EV powertrain with 590 horsepower, the much more expensive GranTurismo should handily outdo that even if it doesn't touch the 1,200-hp figure some believe possible. We expect to get that info when the official debut happens in the coming months. The official GranTurismo Folgore launch is scheduled for next year, probably joined sometime in the year by its droptop sibling, the GranCabrio Folgore. It's thought there will be an ICE-powered version for the two-door as well, maybe offering the choice of an unaided 3.0-liter Nettuno V6 or a hybrid centered around the V6 or a 2.0-liter four-cylinder. Certain markets sell the Ghibli sedan with a 2.0-liter hybrid; however, that option is viewed as a long shot for the new GranTurismo.  Related video: This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings.