The magnificent Maserati Quattroporte Sport GT S that has graced our Gold Coast driveway for the past few days is the latest upgrade of the flagship of the iconic Italian range. Upgrades for the 2010 season include an astonishing engine note, one that had car lovers standing open-mouthed as they heard the car grumble past, producing a sound very close to that of a pure-bred racing car. Not an American V8 note. No way, this is a very Italian racer in the quality and quantity of the exhaust output.

In a lovely throwback to the styling of bolder days, the Quattroporte Executive GT has a chromed mesh radiator grille featuring the traditional ‘trident’ badge. A chromed finish is also featured on the side extractor grilles. Polishing the 19-inch alloy wheels create a particularly interesting finish in their nine-spoke design. Inside this latest Quattroporte variant there's an interesting blend of elegant trim colours, quality wood veneers and alloy highlights.

The Quattroporte's cabin in our road test car was trimmed in quality black leather with standout red stitching. The dash and console had a carbon-fibre-look interior with a leather-wrapped sports steering wheel. The package was completed with the fitment of optional lightweight aluminium pedals.

By the way, talk to your local Maserati dealer if you have a preference for different interior or exterior features in the way of trim, colour, material of style of finish, the ladies and gents at Maserati are only too happy to oblige. Telling us they could supply four million Quattroportes without any two of them being identical.

Performance for the Maserati GT S comes from an even more powerful version of the 4.7-litre unit than that fitted to the standard car (if ‘standard’ is the right way to describe any model!). It produces 440 horsepower at 7000 rpm (Italians have no interest in kilowatts, but it's around 323 of them). Torque of 490 Nm highlights the efficiency of the engine design. It's extremely hard to get 100 Newton metres per litre from a naturally aspirated engine, the Maser 4.7-litre achieves 104 Nm per litre.

Power is transferred to the rear wheels by a new design of front-mounted automatic transmission with several methods of overriding it manually. When you are in full sports mode the auto is almost as pleasant as a manual gearbox to sit behind. And it must be admitted that it changes ratios faster than any human can manage.

The auto gives a wonderful blip of the throttle on fast downchanges. Which sounds great, but there were times when these changes were rougher than anticipated. To the extent that I would have been embarrassed at the poor quality of the changes had I been driving a full-manual car.

Chassis dynamics have been re-tuned as part of the 2010 makeover. The Sport GT S is now fitted with racing-style suspension system that has single-rate dampers, stiffer springs and lower ride height than the standard models. It really does feel as though it’s glued to the road on bends. The steering is nicely sensitive and responsive under all conditions and this two-tonne car is surprisingly willing to change direction mid corner.

What about the Maserati Quattroporte as a sedan? The back seat is surprisingly spacious, with good legroom and adequate headspace. As it's set up for two rather than three occupants there's good elbow room. The rear-centre area has a fold up central armrest that contains a console stowage box and twin drink holders. And the boot is similar in volume to that of the typically Aussie sedan. This really is a magnificent touring machine for four people.

Prices of the Maserati Quattroporte GT S depend on the extras chosen and are subject to government charges that vary from state to state, not to forget dealer preparation charges. Our test car had a manufacturers’ recommended list price of $338,900. This is reasonable for a thoroughbred Italian sports machine, even if it's well into lottery-winning territory from my point of view. If only...

AT A GLANCE

MODEL RANGE
Quattroporte 4.2-litre four-door sedan: $296,000 (automatic)
Quattroporte S 4.7-litre four-door sedan: $323,800 (automatic)
Quattroporte Sport GT S 4.7-litre four-door sedan: $338,990 (automatic)

FEATURES
ABS Brakes: Standard in all models
Air Conditioning: Standard in all models
Automatic Transmission: Standard in all models
CD Player: Standard in all models
Central Locking: Standard in all models
Cruise Control: Standard in all models
Dual Front Airbags: Standard in all models
Front Side Airbags: Standard in all models
Stability Control: Standard in all models
Traction Control: Standard in all models

SPECIFICATIONS (Maserati Quattroporte Sport GT S 4.7-litre four-door sedan)

ENGINE:
Capacity: 4.691 litres
Configuration: V8
Head Design: DOHC, four valves per cylinder
Compression Ratio: 11.0:1
Bore/Stroke: 94.0 x 84.5 mm
Maximum Power: 323 kW @ 7000 rpm
Maximum Torque: 490 Nm @ 4750 rpm

DRIVELINE:
Driven Wheels: Rear
Manual Transmission: Not offered
Automatic Transmission: Six-speed
Final Drive Ratio: N/A

DIMENSIONS, WEIGHT AND CAPACITIES:
Length: 5097 mm
Wheelbase: 3064 mm
Width: 1855 mm
Height: 1423 mm
Turning Circle: 12.3 metres
Kerb Mass: 1990 kg
Fuel Tank Capacity: 90 litres

SUSPENSION AND BRAKES:
Front Suspension: Independent, double wishbones, coil springs, anti-roll bar
Rear Suspension: Independent, double wishbones, coil springs, anti-roll bar
Front Brakes: Ventilated disc
Rear Brakes: Ventilated disc

PERFORMANCE:
0-100 km/h Acceleration: 5.1 seconds

FUEL CONSUMPTION:
Combined Cycle (ADR 81/02): 15.7 L/100km

STANDARD WARRANTY:
Three years/Unlimited km