2010 Maserati Quattroporte S on 2040-cars

Auto blog

Maserati switching to in-house twin-turbo V6 and turbo four

Automotive News has been able to put some output figures to the two primary engines that will power Maserati's renaissance. Last year the Italian luxury brand sent notice that it would terminate its deal to with Ferrari to use the Maranello-sourced F160 3.0-liter twin-turbo V6 and F154 3.8-liter twin-turbo V8. As new Maserati models appear and current models are overhauled, the brand will begin installing either Maserati's own 3.0-liter twin-turbo V6, or an FCA-sourced 2.0-liter turbocharged four-cylinder. The V6 will greet the world from the middle of the MC20 supercar poised for debut in September, assuming nothing goes worse with the world than it already has. Rumor from Mopar Insiders and Allpar forums is that Maserati began building its V6 based on Alfa Romeo's 690T V6. Alfa Romeo puts the 690T in the Stelvio and Giulia Quadrifoglio, the engine's development having started seven years ago with Ferrari's F154 V8 as its heart. Tuned for speed, peak output could reach 542 horsepower. After making its home in the racy coupe, the V6 will also serve a new midsize Maserati crossover coming next year, as well as the next GranTurismo coupe and GranCabrio convertible. In the crossover, power is apparently limited to no more than 523 horses. In Maserati's new V6, one piece of technology that permits such high output and emissions friendliness is turbulent jet ignition (TJI). German supplier Mahle has been developing the technology for at least 10 years, and put it to use in Ferrari's Formula 1 engine about five years ago, after which Japan's Super GT manufacturers picked it up. Instead of a spark plug igniting fuel directly in the combustion chamber, TJI places the spark plug and an injector nozzle at the top of a "jet ignition pre-chamber assembly." The injector shoots a mist of gasoline into the pre-chamber, the spark plug fires, and the force of ignition in the pre-chamber sprays the combustion through tiny holes at the bottom of the pre-chamber into the cylinder as the piston rises. Mahle says the shorter burn and improved combustion spread means cleaner-burning gas engines that emit fewer emissions.   AN says that the "new V-6 engine will be 'electrified' in some form." It's not clear if that means all versions of the V6 will get some sort of hybrid assistance, or if — as had been thought — there will be a non-hybrid unit.

Watch Maserati prep this Quattroporte for Geneva by hammering on its sheetmetal

There are untold amounts of primping and set up that goes on in the days leading up to an international auto show. Of course, there are exhibits to erect, lights to hang and scripts to rehearse. There are also cars to prep. Usually the latter involves little more than removing finger prints and dusting, but in the case of Maserati the day before the Geneva Motor Show press days, the process apparently includes banging on the sheetmetal of one of your prized showcars like a crazed woodpecker.
We're not sure what caused a surface irregularity in the door skin of this 2014 Quattroporte - perhaps shipping damage - but it was interesting (and mildly painful) to watch, and hear, a show prepper attempt to repair this six-figure sedan with what looks like a jeweler's hammer, high-intensity light and soft cloth.
That'll buff right out.

Maserati Tridente by Vita Power First, Um, Cruise Review: Today on Aquablog

LAKE MAGGIORE, Italy — MaseratiÂ’s Trident logo gets three-pronged inspiration from the famous fountain of Neptune in Bologna, where the automaker got its start in 1914 before packing up and moving to Modena. And a symbol that denotes mastery over the water is appropriate for the all-electric motorboat that floats us in style around ItalyÂ’s Lake Maggiore. Beckoning dockside, the Tridente is a 10.5-meter superyacht tender, the boat that takes you to a bigger boat. But itÂ’s also fine for swanky solo cruises on lakes or ocean coasts, with a roughly 50- to 70-kilometer range (31 to 43 miles). The design collaboration between Maserati and Vita Power, a marine tech company founded in 2017, features a fast DC charging system that Vita claims as an industry first. To make that practical, Vita has been creating charging infrastructure in key locales, including along the French Riviera, San Francisco Bay, New York and a plug here in Lake Maggiore, about an hour north of Milan. We hop aboard the Tridente, the aforementioned logo emblazoned on a bow deck formed from ribbed composite. The molto bene motorboat features a carbon-fiber hull that helps hold a total weight around 5 tons. As with automobiles, thatÂ’s decisively more mass than a comparable ICE-powered boat, thanks to a 250-kilowatt-hour battery pack thatÂ’s big enough to make a Hummer EV blush. We depart the dock and head for Isola Bella, an island that floats a 17th-century palazzo — a summer home for the aristocratic House of Borromeo, which produced several cardinals and one pope — and a baroque Italian garden of over-the-top splendor. I take a spot on a wide, comfy daybed near the stern, and experience the key talking point of any electric watercraft: A welcome lack of diesel or gasoline stink wafting over passengers — notoriously amplified should one experience seasickness — and the ability to hold a conversation without shouting over an ear-rending marine ICE powertrain. Of course, that also means no rainbow petroleum slicks floating in your wake and despoiling the marine environment. Our pilot makes sure IÂ’m hanging on before he punches the throttle, backed by a pair of generous screens that display everything from nav charts to Netflix. Despite its weight, the Tridente proves a punchy beast. A twin-prop arrangement and proprietary control software allows anywhere from 100 to 600 horsepower.