Maserati 430 4v

Maserati
430 4v
Production period:	1991-1994
Class :	Sports car
Body versions :	limousine
Engines:	Petrol engine : 2.8 liters (205 kW)
Length:	4400 mm
Width:	1730 mm
Height:	1360 mm
Wheelbase :	2600 mm
Empty weight :	1378 kg
Previous model	Maserati 430
successor	Maserati Quattroporte IV

The Maserati 430 4v is a four-door sedan from the Italian sports car manufacturer Maserati , which was offered from 1991 to 1994. The 430 4v is the last newly introduced four-door model that belongs directly to the Biturbo family . It was a further development of the 430 , from which it differed mainly in its more powerful engine. It corresponded to that of the two-door Coupé 222 4v .

History of origin

After Alejandro De Tomaso took over Maserati in 1975, he pursued the idea of ​​establishing the company, which had previously only produced high-quality, very expensive sports cars by hand, as a series manufacturer. For this, future models had to be significantly cheaper than the previous sports cars. De Tomaso's concept therefore envisaged a compact, automated vehicle that was powered by a comparatively small engine. With this, Maserati reacted to the Italian tax legislation, which imposed a sales tax of 38 percent instead of 19 percent on automobiles with a displacement of 2000 cc and more. On this basis, the Maserati Biturbo was born , which was presented to the public in December 1981 after three years of development. It had a nearly 2.0 liter six-cylinder engine that was equipped with two turbochargers to increase performance. However, from 1983 onwards, Maserati offered a version enlarged to 2.5 liters on export markets. In the same year, the Biturbo 425, the first four-door version of the model appeared. At first it was only sold with the 2.5-liter engine, which from 1986 was equipped with gasoline injection instead of the previous register carburetor and was then called the Biturbo 425 i. At the same time, there was a version called the Biturbo 420 for the Italian market since 1985 .

Positioning in the brand's program

In 1987 Maserati replaced the Biturbo 425 i with the 430, which outwardly completely corresponded to its predecessor, but was now equipped with the more powerful engine of the Coupé 228 i (Tipo AM 473). Contrary to what the new model name suggests, the engine's displacement was not 3.0 liters, but only 2.8 liters. This engine also appeared in the two-door coupes 222 E , 222 SE and 222 SR as well as in the Spyder, which together with the 430 represented Maseratis export program. While Maserati was already offering 2.0-liter engines with four valves per cylinder for the coupés ( 2.24 v and racing ) and sedans ( 4.24 v ) for the Italian market as early as 1989 , the larger engines of the export models were up to available from autumn 1991 with only three valves per cylinder. It wasn't until December 1991 that Maserati also introduced four-valve versions of the 2.8-liter engine. The coupés equipped with this Tipo AM 477 engine were called 222 4v; the 430 4v was the correspondingly motorized sedan, which was offered for a few months in 1992 parallel to the regular 430. In the fall, Maserati stopped manufacturing the 430; the 430 4v was then the only four-door sedan in Maserati's export program. It stayed on sale until 1994. Its successor was the Quattroporte IV , whose technology was still derived from the biturbo platform, but which was stylistically independent.

The Maserati 430 4v is considered to be the most sophisticated model in the biturbo family.

Model description

platform

Like the regular 430 and its predecessor, the Maserati 430 4v used the platform of the Biturbo Coupé introduced in 1981, the wheelbase of which had been extended by 85 mm to 2600 mm.

body

The body of the Maserati 430 4v corresponded to that of the 430 in its "New Look" form, presented in 1991. Basically, it was still the notchback body designed by Pierangelo Andreani in 1983 , which was conceptually based on the shape of the biturbo coupé from 1981. Formally and in terms of dimensions, the 430 was similar to the four-door version of the contemporary 3-series BMW . From the start, the 430 4v had a front section reminiscent of the Shamal , which was introduced at the same time on the regular 430 and justified the additional designation "New Look" there. Special features were a combination of angular and round front light units, a radiator grille painted in the vehicle color and a wind deflector above the front windshield wipers.

Engine and drive

The four-valve variant of the 2.8-liter engine, called Tipo 477, differed from the conventional engine of the 430 in that it had a completely redesigned cylinder head. Each bank of cylinders now had two overhead camshafts. The camshafts on the exhaust side drove the camshafts on the intake side via timing chains. At 7.6: 1, the engine was slightly more compressed than the three-valve engine in the 222 E (7.4: 1). The engine output increased from 165 HP (121 kW) in the regular Maserati 430 to now 279 HP (205 kW), which occurred at 5500 revolutions per minute. This meant that the 430 4v (and its two-door sister model 222 4v) had the most powerful six-cylinder engine of all biturbo models, apart from racing , which was another 5 hp more powerful. The maximum speed was thus more than 255 km / h. A manual five-speed transmission from Getrag took over the power transmission . The 430 4v was only available with a catalytic converter .

landing gear

The 430 4v had Koni shock absorbers that were adjustable from the interior. the driver could choose between four preset settings. Unlike the Coupé 222 4v, which used wider tires at the rear than at the front, the tires on the 430 4v were the same size at the front and rear; they had the dimension 205/50 ZR 16.

inner space

The interior was perceived as luxurious. The seats were covered with leather as standard, the steering wheel rim, the gear stick and the inlays in the dashboard and the side panels were made of real wood.

production

In three years only 291 Maserati 430 4v were built. This makes it one of the rarest members of the Biturbo family.

literature

• Martin Buckley: Maserati. Italian luxury and flair . Heel Verlag, Königswinter 2012. ISBN 978-3-86852-633-2 .
• Gianni Cancellieri: Maserati. All the cars. Giorgio Nada Editore, Vimodrone 2015, ISBN 978-88-7911-609-1
• Hans-Karl Lange: Maserati. The other Italian sports car. Zsolnay, Vienna 1993, ISBN 3-552-05102-3 .
• Anthony Pritchard: Maserati. The history of racing , Delius Klasing, Bielefeld, 1st edition 2003, ISBN 978-3-7688-2513-9
• David Sparrow, Iain Ayre: Maserati Heritage . Osprey Classic Marques. Auckland 1995. ISBN 1-85532-441-5 .

Web links

Commons : Maserati Biturbo Sedans  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

• Sales brochure of the Maserati 430 4v (1991)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Hans-Karl Lange: Maserati. The other Italian sports car. Zsolnay, Vienna 1993, ISBN 3-552-05102-3 , p. 60.
2. ^ Gianni Cancellieri: Maserati. All the cars. Giorgio Nada Editore, Vimodrone 2015, ISBN 978-88-7911-609-1 , p. 235.
3. ^ Gianni Cancellieri: Maserati. All the cars . Giorgio Nada Editore, Vimodrone 2015, ISBN 978-88-7911-609-1 , p. 245.
4. ↑ Brief portrait of Pierangelo Andreanis (accessed on September 15, 2017).
5. ↑ Hans-Karl Lange: Maserati. The other Italian sports car. Zsolnay, Vienna 1993, ISBN 3-552-05102-3 , p. 66.
6. ^ Gianni Cancellieri: Maserati. All the cars. Giorgio Nada Editore, Vimodrone 2015, ISBN 978-88-7911-609-1 , p. 237.
7. ↑ Description of the Maserati Biturbo on the website www.maserati-alfieri.co.uk (accessed on September 15, 2017).
8. ^ Klaus Finkenburg: Maserati Biturbo model check . In: Motor Klassik Kaufratgeber Italienische Klassiker, 2017, p. 145.
9. ^ Martin Buckley: Maserati. Italian luxury and flair. Heel Verlag, Königswinter 2012. ISBN 978-3-86852-633-2 , p. 137.
10. ↑ ^{a b} Hans-Karl Lange: Maserati. The other Italian sports car. Zsolnay, Vienna 1993, ISBN 3-552-05102-3 , p. 65.
11. ^ Gianni Cancellieri: Maserati. All the cars. Giorgio Nada Editore, Vimodrone 2015, ISBN 978-88-7911-609-1 , p. 235.
12. ↑ Hans-Karl Lange: Maserati. The other Italian sports car. Zsolnay, Vienna 1993, ISBN 3-552-05102-3 , p. 67.