Powersliding

The other week I was given the opportunity to test drive a car that I’d aspired to drive for a long time.

For petrolheads, there are a selection of cars they’ve always hoped to drive and in my case, been trepidatious to do so. I remember the first time I drove a Porsche 911 race car, as I climbed in over the roll cage I was shaking. The first time I has race tuition I stalled the Caterham five times in a row as my foot kept sliding off the pedals! When I first drove the Aston Martin N24 I got in without my helmet on.

So, when presented with the chance to get behind the wheel of a Maserati Quattroporte it took about half a second to think about it. I’ve always had more than a passing interest in the marque, but been wary of multiple reports from various owners of huge depreciation in the blink of an eye as well as impossibly high maintenance costs.

(I did not have my camera with me, as this was an unexpected test drive)

So I sat in the drivers seat, flipped the flappy paddle gearbox into neutral and fired up the engine. The rumble from the 4.2l V8 engine sounded reassuring and seemed to fit the eloquence of the cabin. The inside of the car was well finished, it didn’t look cheap or tacky and although it wasn’t too plush it was finished in a way that you’d imagine a £94k car would be.

As I edged the car out onto the street, I waited for a suitable gap in traffic and then when the moment arrived, planted my right foot on the accelerator. I watched as the rev counter climbed as a cacophony of engine and exhaust noise rose and then as the revs just started to nudge into the red, I pulled the right paddle and repeated the process again, and again and then possibly again. The semi automatic gearbox is okay, nothing special and sadly not as good as I’d hoped it would be. I always find myself disappointed when a flappy paddle gearbox isn’t as responsive as you hope, especially when compared to a traditional manual one.

I think this car has two sides to it. The first where in urban driving it handles well, despite feeling as wide as a bus. At these speeds the car feels planted on the road and reasonably responsive whilst making quite an aural and visual statement to those nearby. However at higher speeds the car transforms itself. I’m used to feeling a car on the road through the steering wheel, at higher speeds the car felt like it was wallowing through corners. Whilst ordinarily I’d be happy to drive a car round a corner using the distribution of the weight of the car and the power from the engine to keep things smooth yet quick, I found myself backing off from doing so and being alarmed at just how much the front of the car rolled around.

This car has noticeable road presence, a combination of its sleek looks and sound mean that people stop and stare at you when you are driving it, especially when you use a bit too much right foot when exiting a petrol station and leave almost sideways.

However I got out having driven it for about 60 minutes feeling both distinctively underwhelmed, disappointed as well as quite glad to be done. That itch has been scratched, I doubt it will itch again.