Maserati lobs limited-run Ghibli Sport

MASERATI has brought 60 examples of its limited-edition Ghibli Sport to Australian shores, sporting a number of enhancements over its petrol-powered Ghibli sibling and priced from $149,990 driveaway.

Available until the end of June, or while stocks last, Maserati says the Ghibli Sport represents a saving of up to $16,000 when considering the extras that have been added.

It gains the Maserati Carbon Pack, which adorns the Ghibli Sport in carbon-fibre trim on the door mirrors, B-pillar and door handles and adds a carbon-fibre lip spoiler to the boot.

Inside, the Ghibli Sport adds leather sports seats and extra trimmings of leather through the cabin, including on the sports steering wheel.

The Dual Cast braking system adds extra stopping power, accessed through special Inox sport pedals.

Under the bonnet is the 257kW/500Nm 3.0-litre twin-turbo V6 shared by the mid-spec Ghibli variant, which allows the Ghibli Sport to complete the 0-100km/h sprint in 5.5 seconds, on to a top speed to 267km/h. Fuel consumption is rated at 8.9 litres per 100km.

Following a range update in December last year, the Ghibli variant on which the Sport is based now retails for $143,990 before on-roads, while the range-opening Ghibli Diesel costs $138,990. The top-spec Ghibli S rounds out the range at $179,990.

Maserati Australia COO Glen Sealy said that the Ghibli Sport offered buyers a more involved driving experience.

“With the Ghibli Sport, the performance and style of the Ghibli is made more overt and it enables the driver to even more fully exploit the depth of ability and performance provided by the Ghibli,” he said.

“From the additional capability offered by the Dual Cast Braking System to being held in the ideal driving position by the Sports Seats while exploiting the Ghibli’s remarkable levels of road holding and handling, the Ghibli Sport provides its owners a new level of exhilaration.” To the end of April this year Maserati has sold 55 examples of the Ghibli, down 54.2 per cent on the 120 sales it registered to the same point last year.

So far this year it has outsold rivals such as the Audi A7 (34) and Volvo S90 (20) but is well off the pace of the segment-leading Mercedes-Benz E-Class (691), BMW 5 Series (600) and Audi A6 (115).