2007 Maserati Quattroporte Automatic

How it should have been at the start.

But in a luxury sedan, the DuoSelect’s superfast manual shifts and clunky automatic mode make for poor bedfellows. In response to relatively disappointing Quattroporte sales — 3374 sold in the U.S. between its debut in the fall of 2004 and the end of 2006 — Maserati has fitted the car with a six-speed ZF automatic transmission. The DuoSelect model, which stays in the lineup, has a rear transaxle with a torque tube betwixt the engine and final drive. To fit the automatic, Maserati had to make several major changes. The torque tube is gone, and in its place are a conventional differential and a two-piece driveshaft. The engine now has a wet-sump oil system in place of the DuoSelect’s dry-sump arrangement.

The 4.2-liter V-8 again makes 396 horsepower at 7000 rpm, but torque increases from 333 to 339 pound-feet, developed at 4250 instead of 4500 rpm. The weight distribution has gone from 47 to 53 percent front to rear, to 49/51, which is still more rear bias than its main rivals — the BMW 7-series, the Mercedes-Benz S-class, and the Audi A8 — have.