Price (as tested) 💲: $142,900
Powertrain ⚙️: Twin-Turbocharged 3.8-liter V8
Output 💪: 580 hp/538 lb-ft of torque
Transmission 🕹: 3.8 seconds
0-60 MPH 🚦: 8-Speed Automatic
Top Speed 💥: 203 mph
MPG (as tested) ⛽️: 13 city/20 hwy/16 combined
Curb weight ⚖️: 4,700 lbs
Despite the trendiness of high performance SUVs, luxury car makers have yet to abandon the sport sedan – and for good reason.
Performance comes easier in the slipperier, lower form of a sedan.
Cabin quietness and ride compliance often favor the four-door.
It’s far simpler to engineer something for exclusive use on road – as opposed to a luxury SUVs *potential* (hardly realized) to venture off-road.
All these reasons for a sedan to excel make the segment fiercely competitive, too.
Being good isn’t good enough.
Which brings us to the Maserati Ghibli Trofeo.
With a Ferrari-sourced twin-turbo V8 under the hood, sumptuous Italian leather lining the cabin, and a splendid gearbox operated via carbon fiber paddles, this sporting four-door has real merits.
Unfortunately, pitted against German and even American (CT5 Blackwing, represent!) alternatives, the Ghibli Trofeo drowns in the many dollars required to buy one. My Rosso Magma tester is a $143,000 proposition – $10 grand pricier than the last loaded M5 Competition I drove (which made 37 more horsepower and was nearly a full second quicker to 60 mph).
That Trident badge is jewelry, but it resides on a body that doesn’t wow from every angle.
When the smell of leather fades, your other senses might not appreciate the parts bin plastics scattered inside.
With a bit of moisture on the road, the rear-drive Ghibli claws feebly for grip while its limited-slip differential is caught snoozing.
Steering is sharp and graced with feel, but the chassis doesn’t love to be hurried.
The Maserati Ghibli Trofeo is worth more than its badge, but when the same money buys you a better sedan with enough left over for a year or two of fuel bills, it’s hard not to see the car as much more than social mobility.