Maserati Ghibli review - Practicality, comfort and boot space

The Ghibli is only available as a four-door saloon, but its swoopy styling makes it more of a stylish-looking rival to the more ‘regular’ appearance of the 5 Series or E Class.

Up front, there’s lots of seat and wheel adjustment, although the offset pedals mean your legs are angled away from your arms – it’s a good job the car is only available as an auto, as the addition of a clutch pedal would exacerbate the problem.

An air-conditioned glovebox, large door pockets, a centre console storage bin and 60/40 split rear seats help make the interior a genuinely useable space, and the luxurious interior trim creates a comfortable ambience. The car is quiet and refined while driving, although pressing the Sport button makes the exhaust a lot more intrusive. The ride quality is less than perfect on the UK’s increasingly pot-holed roads, which some owners will find irritating too.

Size

With an overall length of 4,971mm the Maserati Ghibli is just a shade longer than the Jaguar XF, although the Italian exec is around 35mm narrower.

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Leg room, head room & passenger space

While there’s plenty of room up front, rear space is poorer than in the Jaguar XF. The heavily sculpted outer seats mean the middle seat feels more like a perch and is pretty much unusable apart from for short journeys. Head and legroom are also tight, the swoopy rear roofline not helping accommodation all.

Still, the seats are comfortable, and the centre armrest folds to reveal a storage area with two cup-holders, plus USB and 12V sockets.

Boot

The Maserati’s 500-litre boot is 40 litres down on the Jaguar XF’s, but has a wider opening and lower lip. The back seats split 60:40, although the through hatch is narrower, plus there’s some exposed metal around the opening.