Maserati Quattroporte vs Mercedes-Benz E-Class

What's the difference?

Beauty is way more than skin-deep in the Quattroporte and while the 330 doesn't have the punch of the S, it's hardly that much slower. Maserati reasons you will want to spend the $25,000 saved on options, concentrating on the Italian craftsmanship rather than the outright performance available in the V8 or the efficiency of the less aurally attractive diesel.

As with any car of this type, you've got to want one in the first place, but for a big, beautiful sedan, there's nothing as good looking this side of an Aston Rapide. The Quattroporte 330 does nothing to dim the allure of Modena's big mover and, if you're that way inclined, nobody on the outside will ever know.

It's nice to see the E-Class still embody the ancestral heritage of Mercedes-Benz, a brand which has had much change forced upon it in the last decade.

This hybrid one in particular does a remarkable job of blending the future and the past in one deeply capable and customisable package, but not one without its flaws.

While the E 300 e manages to unite these elements nicely, it's ultimately held back by its classic rear-drive underpinnings which have consequences for packaging and electric range.

Long, flowing lines mark out the Maserati as something quite different to its German, British and Japanese competition. This Quattroporte has increased in every dimension but the lines cover its size beautifully.

Big wheels, long wheelbase, low ride but it still looks like a sedan rather than pretending to be a coupe.

The elegance of the lines is complemented by a distinct lack of bling – there's little in the way of chrome work or shouty details. There's plenty satin finishes available and the beautiful paint, while available in pretty much any colour you like, is best kept to a restrained, deep hue. Or silver.

The cabin will doubtless age well. Classic shapes house a fairly conventional but hugely comfortable cabin. The front seats have heaps of adjustment and are large but supportive. Naturally, the leather is soft and supple.

The central screen isn't the dominant feature, like a 50-inch LCD screen in a small living room while buttons are kept to a minimum.

The rear seat is sensationally comfortable, with hectares of available space and a seat comfortable for either lounging or working.

The E-Class recently received a significant facelift to bring it in line with the brand's latest design ethos, and it serves to refine an already elegant sedan.

The E-Class isn't just the brand's definition by reputation, but by its look, too. While some may be disappointed by how similar it now looks to the C-Class below, or the S-Class above, giving the core Mercedes sedan range near identical silhouettes, it cuts a unique path from its traditional rivals.

BMW's 5 Series leans into a sharper and more aggressive design language, while Audi's A6 does much the same with a post-modernist edge.

I'd argue the stoic Germanic stare of the E-Class’ softer face places the Mercedes exactly where it needs to be, but it doesn't stray from its sporty rear-drive underpinnings entirely.

The car's new blacked-out highlights accentuate its width, and the 10-spoke alloys on our test car fill the wheelarches and draw your eye to the car's low stance and big brakes.

A classic Benz beltline runs from the front lights to the rear, uniting a tidy and clearly well-built package.

Inside and the more luxury-focused touch of the E-Class compared to rivals is evident. Lavish wood trims work their way through the doors and across the grandiose dash, and while the flashy screen fittings from the wider Benz range are present here, the interior is toned down several notches from the glitz of the brand's smaller vehicles.

This offers it a much more stately ambiance, matched by the synthetic leather ‘Artico’ seats which are more like lounge chairs you sink into.

The overall design links the E-Class with its siblings nicely, and there are a lot of the brand's re-imagined classic touches present, like the circular climate vents, wooden panel inserts, and silver-tinged toggles which run down the centre.

It's not all retro, though, with the E-Class wowing observers with its giant single gloss panel hosting the multimedia suite and digital dash elements.

Obviously, you can go further here, with a long list of optional interior colour and trim combinations to customise the E-Class to your heart's content, although I was happy with the classic black on brown woodgrain of our test car.

The Mercedes-Benz E-Class has a complicated range, consisting of multiple bodystyles as well as performance options, but the E 300 e is the only hybrid.

It is the electrified version of what would normally be the mid-grade sedan, and it wears a starting price, before on-road cost (MSRP) of $122,872.

Sitting below is the E 200 (from $98,576) and above is the E 350 (from $127,100) which replaces the old petrol-only E 300.

Importantly, Mercedes ups the value equation by adding the ‘Air Body Control’ suspension package from the E 350 as opposed to the regular multi-link suspension on the E 200.

The other thing which might surprise you if you haven't looked at the E-Class in a while, is only AMG-branded variants now have more than four cylinders, with the rest of the range sharing a version of the brand's 2.0-litre turbo-petrol engine.

Read more about that in the engine and transmission part of this review, but the value equation is a surprise given the E 300 e packs a 90kW electric motor and a 13.5kWh battery on top of air suspension.

In the scheme of luxury sedans, this gives the E 300 e its niche, still coming in nearly $5000 below the E 350 (which offers a more powerful petrol engine, seat trim with a percentage of real leather, and larger alloy wheels), while being faster and more complex.

Looking at the standard equipment on this mid-grade it's clear there's no taxi-spec E-Class in Australia, and you'd hope so with this car costing well over $100,000.

Included is the impressive ‘MBUX’ array of dual 12.3-inch screens, one for the digital dash, one for the multimedia functions (which include built-in nav, digital radio, as well as Android Auto and Apple CarPlay connectivity), leather interior trim (at least, seats which are some percentage real leather, according to Benz), fully electrical adjust for the front seats, and an LED interior ambient lighting package (with a choice of 64 colours).

Also on-board are a wireless phone charging bay, 19-inch alloy wheels (the 300 e has a different design to the base 200), dual-zone climate control, fully keyless entry with push-start ignition, an auto parking system and 360-degree surround cameras, and the full active safety suite, which we'll look at later.

An AMG exterior styling pack is standard in Australia, and our test car had pretty much every option ticked, including the ‘Vision Package’ ($6600) which includes a panoramic sunroof, head-up display and premium 590W audio system, the ‘Innovation Package’ ($1300) which includes a more powerful version of the MBUX suite with gesture controls and extended voice control functionality, and the ‘Energizing Package Plus’ ($9500) which includes improved air filtration to the cabin, heated and cooled front seats with heated rear seats, and tri-zone climate (including a separate climate zone for rear occupants).

This brings the total cost for our car to ($140,900) and that doesn't even include the Type 2 to Type 2 charging cable ($565.16) which you'll probably want for the convenience of topping up your charge levels whenever you stop at the shops (more on this later).

If it were my Benz I'd probably leave off the ‘Innovation Package’ and ‘Vision Package’, although the pricey ‘Energizing Package Plus’ adds compelling upgrades.

It's worth noting when it comes to rivals the Audi A6 range tops out at a suddenly-cheap-sounding $116,177, although there's currently no PHEV variant in Australia, while the BMW 530e PHEV comes in at a closer-to-the-mark $122,900 before you start ticking option boxes.

Like the S, the 330bhp is powered by Maserati's twin turbo 3.0 litre V6, made with more than a dash of Ferrari involvement. As the name suggests, it produces 243kW and a chunky 500Nm. With just under two tonnes to shift, the ubiquitous eight-speed ZF automatic transmission whisks the Quattroporte 100km/h in 5.6 seconds, only half a second down on the 301kW V6 S.

Maserati claims 9.1L/100km on the combined cycle (with the help of stop-start), which seems reasonable given our figure of 10.8L/100km, which we got a with a mix of city and highway running as well as a very enthusiastic blast through some secret back roads.

The E 300 e has a 2.0-litre turbocharged four-cylinder petrol engine producing 155kW/350Nm mated to a nine-speed torque converter automatic transmission, driving the rear wheels.

The transmission contains an electric motor which is capable of producing 90kW/440Nm on its own, allowing full range of motion in the ‘Electric’ driving mode.

It is also capable of hybrid assistance to the petrol motor, making the E 300 e the fastest non-AMG-badged E-Class model to 100km/h, with a claimed sprint time of just 5.7 seconds.

It also has a 13.5kWh lithium-ion battery pack, which is good for a claimed electric-only driving range of 51km (on the more lenient NEDC testing cycle).

It's a complex mix of gear, and the electric range I experienced was certainly less than 40km. In other words, it's used up very quickly.

The Benz offers some interesting driving modes to help with this, which we'll explore later in this review.

Just a few hundred metres behind the wheel is all it will take to convince you the Maserati belongs in the same class as the competition. It's incredibly quiet – courtesy of the acoustic double glazing – and all occupants benefit from supreme comfort.

While the 330 is 58kW down on the full fat V6, you won't really miss them. There's a fat torque curve, with all 500Nm available from 1750 to 5000rpm, meaning easy progress for the 5.2 metre sedan.

The Quattroporte has two sport buttons to choose from – one looks after the drivetrain and exhaust valving while the second stiffens up the Skyhook suspension.

With the first sport button pressed, you get a more lively throttle, sharper shifts and a glorious noise from the exhausts, although they are a long way from your ears.

It's still a fast car, with strong acceleration from standstill and in the gears, the power as linear as you like with no real turbo lag and a most un-turbo noise to go with the performance.

The only dynamic problem is the electric steering – it seems to get confused between your inputs and feedback from the road, the tyres feeling like they're 'nibbling' an uneven surface, tweaking the wheel in your hands. 

The assistance is a little spotty, too, unexpectedly changing weight. It's just a bit weird. In normal driving, you'll never notice it.

For all the electrification and evolution in Mercedes-Benz’ greater range, it's almost like coming home to sit in the E-Class.

Not only does the E 300 e stay true to the brand's luxury sedan roots with the comfort and refinement on offer, but it's perhaps the one variant in the E-Class range that makes a significant stride toward the future of the nameplate.

I'm sure we'll see a fully electric version of the E-Class in the near future (the brand is shifting to electric-only with an aggressive timeline), but for now, at this price, hybrid is the way forward for luxury sedan refinement.

The way this car blends its electric and combustion modes is notably smooth, and the engine is so distant it's genuinely hard to tell when it turns on, unlike this car's smaller A 250 e PHEV hatch sibling which takes a major drop in refinement when the rattly 1.3-litre four-cylinder engine needs to be relied upon.

This is likely due to the higher-end nature of the 2.0-litre engine and nine speed longitudinally mounted transmission in a much larger and heavier car. One thing I've never liked about the Mercedes PHEVs (and is a common problem among many PHEVs) is the ‘hybrid’ mode could be a bit smoother and more transparent on how it divides its time between electric and with the engine on. At times it runs the engine at the lights for no reason, and it seems unusually keen to turn it on when it could be using electric power. Perhaps we are spoiled by the simplicity and twenty years of refinement of Toyota's Hybrid Synergy drive, but it has the affect of making you wish every hybrid was as good.

The default ‘Comfort’ mode, while the most forgiving in terms of this car's ride, is weighted toward entirely draining the battery before it uses combustion power. The extra drive modes and customisation this PHEV offers are very useful though. Battery Saver mode lets you rely predominantly on combustion power. It's better to use on the freeway where combustion power is at its most efficient, allowing you to switch back to Comfort or Electric when you're stuck in traffic.

Sport hunkers the E-Class down for a sportier and firmer experience, and it also tweaks the accelerator response and auto transmission for a far more aggressive driving tune. As this mode won't use the electric motor at all, even at low speeds, it can be handy to use it to charge the battery via regenerative braking for times when you might not have access to a charger.

In fully electric mode, the regen braking can be tweaked to the max using the paddle shifters to increase your electric efficiency and range.

Like the smaller A 250 e, it's a highly customisable experience, letting you experience as much or as little electrification as you want in the moment, although in this case it's let down a little by the limited battery capacity.

Still, the E 300 e is an E-Class, quieter and sleeker than before. The ride is as stately as the interior suggests, and even on those 19-inch wheels little noise or discomfort makes its way into the plush cabin. The transmission is as close to an old ‘slush-o-matic’ you can get, and I mean that in a good way. Unless you're in one of the Sport modes, it will never interfere with the experience from behind the wheel.

Once you do awaken it in Sport or Sport + though, it shifts, even via paddles, with a surprising urgency, and it's in those modes where the air suspension transforms the cosy barge-like ride from Comfort or Electric into something far more rigid and responsive.

The dynamic breadth of ability in this car is a reminder of what premium money like this can buy. On the one hand you have the luxury of an economical comfort saloon, and on the other you have at least an inkling of semi-electrified performance at the flick of a switch.

Just remember to plug it in when you get home, or you're lugging around a lot of battery for no good reason.

Mercedes’ impressive safety equipment is all present here in the E-Class. Active tech includes freeway-speed auto emergency braking with pedestrian and cyclist detection, lane-keep assist with lane departure warning, blind-spot monitoring with rear cross-traffic alert, traffic sign assist, and adaptive cruise control with stop and go function.

The E 300 e grade also scores the higher spec ‘Multibeam’ LED light clusters, which have auto high-beams capable of dipping around oncoming traffic without turning down completely.

It's an impressive suite backed by other Germanic upgrades like pre-crash cabin conditioning and seven airbags alongside the regular suite of electronic traction, brake, and stability controls.

The E-Class officially wears a maximum five-star ANCAP safety rating it carries across from the pre-facelift model in 2016, however this notably doesn't apply to MHEV or PHEV variants, which remain un-tested.

Some things worth noting in particular about this system: The full Mercedes adaptive cruise suite is one of the most impressive on the market, with its active steering and distance control being the closest to Tesla's ‘autonomous’ driving modes you can get.

Also, our car committed to a full AEB stop in the middle of a deserted suburban street in the middle of the night. There weren't even any parked cars nearby. Puzzling, but a reminder that these technologies aren't bulletproof.