Starting up, the V6 barks and settles into a delicious idle; ‘delicious’ because the mix of air and fuel seems almost palpable to any petrol-head. Slot the lever into ‘D’, then ‘S’ and off we go, paddles primed. The S Q4 rockets off the line with a ferocity unlike anything the green diesel can manage. Turn into the right hander leading on the straight and it’s foot hard down. Two blinks later I’m up to fourth, doing 140 km/h and heading into the chicane, hard on the brakes, two clicks of the left paddle, turn the wheel right, then left and the Ghibli is composed as ever, letting the G-forces be my mental undoing before I collect myself and throw it into another long right-hander then left, heading up the hill. At this point, gravity seems like a mere concept, and the Ghibli powers up the slope, right paddle flicked midway, and the left one again, into the almost blind right-hander. More S-bends ahead and we head downhill in anger, the Ghibli handling the speed well, the S keeping it up and the Q4 ensuring everything is in check; quite a package!
As I approached the back straight it was more action from the right paddle, getting up to 120 km/h in the short distance before the make-do chicane made me turn in and return to base. The sharpness and agility of this nearly two-tonne car is commendable and there aren’t too many things wrong at all.
What is wrong, however, is something apart from the driving aspect altogether. The S Q4 is not going to set any fuel-efficiency records even with the smooth eight-speed ‘box. Second, the price. With the diesel model already confirmed at Rs 1.1 crore, this will be in the Rs 1.4-1.5 crore range and that puts it among a crop of rather proven speed machines. Nevertheless, it’s a credible car which can take to the highway and the track like a four-legged duck to freshwater and a bath-tub. What it does have going for it, though, is the absence of the BMW 550i xDrive and Mercedes E500 4MATIC, but, on the other hand, its price does make their even more potent versions seem like direct threats.
NEED TO KNOW: Maserati Ghibli S Q4
Price: Rs 1.4 crore (estimated, launch in 2016)
Engine: 3.0-litre, twin-turbo V6 petrol
Max Power: 410 PS @ 6,000 RPM
Max Torque: 550 Nm @ 1,750-4,500 RPM
Transmission: Eight-speed, automatic, all-wheel-drive
Weight: 1,845 kg
COMPETITION CHECK
Audi S6 quattro
4.0-litre, twin-turbo V8 petrol
420 PS, 550 Nm, AWD
Rs 95.25 lakh
BMW M5
4.4-litre, twin-turbo V8 petrol
560 PS, 680 Nm, RWD
Rs 1.35 crore
Mercedes-AMG E 63
5.5-litre, twin-turbo V8 petrol
557 PS, 720 Nm, RWD
Rs 1.35 crore
Jaguar XF R
5.0-litre, supercharged V8 petrol
510 PS , 680 Nm, RWD
Rs 1.39 crore
