2015 Maserati Ghibli S Q4: Delightfully Charming
Maserati made serious waves last year during the Super Bowl by airing a commercial. It was the first time the brand advertised to that audience, and it was the talk of the Internet for weeks afterwards. The car they were advertising was the Ghibli, their entry-level four-door sedan designed to compete with the likes of the BMW 5 Series and the Mercedes-Benz E-Class. But unlike those German competitors, the Ghibli is the one I’d buy.
Even though my time in the Ghibli was brief as part of the 2015 MAMA Spring Rally at Road America, it was enough time to become enamoured with this little car. It is by no means perfect, but it exudes so much more charm than the competitors do that it’s hard not to fall in love with it.
The all-wheel drive setup makes the car viable in all-seasons, which would be great for the 99% of the country where it snows (at least that’s what it seemed like last year), and the turbocharged V6 engine making 404 horsepower is plenty of power for the daily drive and the enthusiast.
Let’s get the negatives out of the way first. The interior is nicely done, but there are a few places where it feels a bit low-rent. The steering wheel feels wonderful in the hand, but the wheel’s center looks way cheaper than it should. Maserati sources some parts from other FCA brands, but even the steering wheel center in the Chrysler 200 is nicer to look at and touch.
One other Chrysler comparison comes from the infotainment system. It’s clearly a Uconnect system, which is fantastic, but it’s not the most modern Uconnect setup. It is still using the Garmin-based navigation that FCA dumped ages ago in their other products. It still works, and I still prefer it over iDrive or COMMAND, but I think it could use an upgrade.
None of these concerns are deal-breakers. Once you press the engine start button and the breathed-on-by-Ferrari engine fires to life, you don’t have any other cares.
The engine is awesome, but so is the transmission. It’s a regular, torque-converted automatic transmission, but it’s a ZF 8-speed. It’s damn-near perfect. In sport mode, the shifts are lightning quick, and the paddles are responsive. The paddles are also mounted to the column and not the steering wheel, the way God intended.
When you aren’t driving quickly, the paddles become noise makers, because you want to downshift while cruising just to hear the engine burble and pop. The sounds are natural and nothing is augmented.
While I’d need more time in the car to render a final verdict, I have to admit my time with the car on the roads around Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin was joyous. It’s so refreshing to drive this car after just climbing out of some of the competition. If you’re bored with the mainstream, the most-affordable Maserati is one of the best Maseratis and should be on your short list if you’re looking for a new car.