A LOOK INSIDE We talked with a repairman AUTOMOTIVE from Alaska to find out how timesunion.com/cars cold can affect cars and hear IN ASSOCIATION WITH about possible solutions. Maserati’s conventional approach to its big Quattroporte sedan, even in the new 580-hp Trofeo trim, leaves us wanting. 2021 MASERATI QUATTROPORTE TROFEO Needs to Be Weirder PHOTOS: MASERATI BY JOHN PEARLEY HUFFMAN CAR AND DRIVER he 2021 Maserati Quattroporte Trofeo The Quattroporte name, Italian for four-door, isn’t weird enough. It ought to be louder goes back to 1963. The first Quattroporte was a Tthan a hyperactive calliope, styled using zany looking, Frua-designed model that seemed Specifications Dadaesque chaos theory, and have an interior untethered to convention or reason. The first designed for a lobster. The Quattroporte should Maserati with a V-8, it seemed to be cross-eyed be for lunatics, not people who just want a and going six directions at once. Only 776 were 2021 Maserati Quattroporte Trofeo Lexus with garlic butter. Yes, the Quattroporte built. is Italian. But it needs to be really, really, deeply The second Quattroporte was a V-6-powered VEHICLE TYPE TRANSMISSION Italian. Like stupidly, insanely Italian. front-driver that shared its chassis with the front-engine, rear-wheel- 8-speed automatic The Trofeo is the high-performance version Citroen SM and had an awkward and angular drive, 5-passenger, DIMENSIONS of the Quattroporte and sits in Maserati’s line body from Bertone. The third generation 4-door sedan alongside the smaller Ghibli Trofeo sedan and reverted to rear drive and V-8 with a Giugiaro Wheelbase: 124.8 in the Levante Trofeo SUV. At $148,085 to start, body. The fourth Quattroporte resorted to a sort BASE PRICE Length: 207.2 in Width: 76.7 in the 580-hp, twin-turbo V-8-powered Trofeo is at of brutalist battleship design ethos. Imposing $148,085 Height: 58.3 in the top of three-model Quattroporte line. That’s and massive, a case could be made that its ENGINE TYPE Trunk volume: 19 ft3 two steps above the 424-horsepower, twin-turbo famed supercar designer Marcello Gandini’s twin-turbocharged and Curb weight (C/D est): V-6 powered, rear-drive S model, and one step least beautiful design. The Pininfarina-designed intercooled DOHC 32-valve 4750 lb up from the $108,685 S Q4, which is the S but fifth-gen returned some of the elegance of the V-8, aluminum block and with all-wheel drive. The Trofeo is rear-drive early generations. The in-house design of the heads, direct fuel injection PERFORMANCE (C/D EST) only, making this the big, powerful, luxury four- current Quattroporte debuted in 2013 as a 2014 60 mph: 3.9 sec door to buy if lurid burnouts are part of your model and is the least adventurous of the bunch. Displacement 100 mph: 9.2 sec commute. While it may be the least adventurous, it’s 232 in3, 3799 cm3 1/4 mile: 12.2 sec Keep in mind that the impressions reported the fastest of the predecessors. The 3.8-liter Top speed (mfr’s claim): Power here come from limited exposure to proctored twin-turbo V-8 isn’t new, having been offered 203 mph 580 hp @ 6750 rpm laps run around Southern California’s Willow in the current Quattroporte since 2014. The EPA FUEL ECONOMY Springs International Raceway. More exposure engine is a version of the V-8 Ferrari installs Torque Combined/city/highway: to the Quattroporte Trofeo on actual streets is in all the current Ferrari models. But while the 538 lb-ft @ 2250 rpm 16/13/20 mpg pending. current Ferrari versions displace 3.9 liters and Continued on next page 1111 Troy Schenectady Rd., Rte. 7 Latham, NY 12110 | keeler.com | Sales: 888-600-3013 | Service: 888-794-6552 AUTO NEWS How Severe Cold Affects Your Car (and What to Do about It) We talked with a repairman from Alaska to find out how cold can affect cars and HELEN H. RICHARDSON | GETTY IMAGES hear about possible solutions. as that can cause uneven or unsafe tread wear. screens, such as for infotainment, you may notice Getting winter tires is always a good idea in that they become a bit sluggish when the car has states with inclement weather. been sitting in extreme cold. That’s because, just BY DAVID MULLER Problem: Dead Battery like the engine’s oil and the battery’s electrolyte, CAR AND DRIVER molecules in liquid crystals slow down when the Winter is especially hard on batteries. If your car temperatures drop. won’t start in the extreme cold, one of the most t’s that time of year when it is so bitterly likely problems is that the battery is dead. Solution: In vehicles where this is an issue, there freezing that even a 30-degree day can feel is not much you can do beyond waiting for the Solution: The good news is that it can be an like a balmy respite. Temperatures plummet car to warm up. Installing an engine-block heater I easy fix: jumper cables are not hard to use. But into the single digits, wind chills are painful and will help speed things along. to avoid a dead battery altogether, the Car Care dangerous. It’s cold outside. Council suggests keeping its connections clean, Problem: Windshield Wiping Woes Few places in the U.S. know cold better than tight, and free of corrosion. It also recommends Sub-freezing temperatures can cause the rubber Alaska, and James Grant, who owns Right Choice replacing batteries that are more than three years on windshield wiper blades to become brittle, Automotive Repair in Fairbanks, has seen a bit of old. Those in the coldest climates may want to which means it could tear or crack. Also, some what frigid temperatures can do to vehicles. We purchase a battery warmer, available at most auto washer fluid may not work as well in colder talked with Grant as well as the Car Care Council parts stores or online. The warmers typically cost months. to find out how the cold can affect cars and between $30 and $70. trucks and hear about any possible solutions. Solution: The Car Care Council said you could Problem: Thick Oil consider buying winter wiper blades made for Problem: You Drive an EV As it gets colder, oil gets thicker. At about 20 harsher climates, but you could also just make Solution: Granted, driving the EV isn’t the degrees below zero, by Grant’s estimate, oil gets sure the ones you have are not too old and problem, but cold weather does impact an EV’s so thick that the engine’s oil pump struggles worn. The council recommends replacing them efficiency and performance. Low temperatures even to pick it up and circulate it. “The viscosity every six months, but surely few people are that slow the battery chemistry, resulting in less just goes way up, and it’s like trying to pour zealous with their windshield wiper blades. energy for acceleration. It takes more energy molasses,” he said. Problem: Windshield Frozen on the Inside to keep the battery at an efficient operating Solution: The Car Care Council recommends temperature, and a little more energy still to switching to low-viscosity oil in the winter. If your car’s defrost function isn’t working keep the cabin (and you) warm. All of this “Synthetic oils will help out a great deal,” Grant properly, that can be a serious safety issue. “Your results in less efficient performance, which noted. Don’t forget to read your owner’s manual, breath can condense and freeze on the inside of means you might not have as much range as as the manufacturer may specify an oil weight the windshield as you drive without a defrost you think. That’s an important consideration if for cold-weather operation. Synthetics can function,” Grant said. you don’t want to end up walking in the cold. In provide better startup performance and flow at Solution: Make sure all defrosting and general 2018, we ran a Chevy Bolt EV in cold weather to temperatures down to -40 Fahrenheit. heating functions in your vehicle are in working compare against a 2017 test we did in nearly ideal order. conditions. The result was a 19 percent drop in Problem: Ice in the Fuel Line efficiency. Got more questions about EVs? We Unless you live somewhere where the It may be a bit late to hand out this advice have answers. temperature gets down to 100 degrees below this year, but for future reference, the Car Care Council recommends taking your car or Problem: Deflated Tires zero, the gasoline in your car will not freeze. However, water moisture in the gas lines can truck in for an inspection before winter hits As the air in your tires gets colder, it contracts become icy. “In regard to fuel, one of the things so you can stave off the above problems ahead and has less pressure. Tires correspondingly we do see, if there’s any water content inside of time. “Vehicles need extra attention when become underinflated. the fuel tank, that water can freeze and clog fuel temperatures drop below zero,” executive director Solution: Check your tire pressure more often pickup,” Grant said. Rich White points out. “Whether consumers than you normally would. The Car Care Council Solution: Keep the tank at least half full, the Car perform an inspection and required maintenance recommends doing so once a week.