Alfa Romeo Giulia Quadrifoglio: has Alfa rediscovered its sporting heritage?

Previous new Alfas have disappointed, but the Giulia itself has proven to be much more impressive. 
1/6
Rob Adams27 March 2017

The Alfa Romeo name is still special, remains evocative, is likely to impress even those who know little about cars in a way a BMW cannot. For enthusiasts, an even more special Alfa is a Quadrifoglio version – the ones carrying the iconic green four-leaf clover. Making the all-new Giulia Quadrifoglio a particularly promising new arrival.

The Quadrifoglio adds a titillating 503bhp 2.9-litre turbo V6 that serves up 0-62mph in just 3.9sec and a 191mph top speed. Seriously, what’s not to like there? It’s Alfa’s tuned-up alternative to a BMW M3 or Mercedes-AMG C63, and it has appeal in abundance.

The engine is gorgeous. It’s lag-free and easily faster than its German rivals. The eight-speed automatic is racecar-fast and it sounds glorious in Race driving mode too; also choose from progressively more relaxed Dynamic, Natural and Advanced Efficiency.

Brakes are a bit vague but you can’t say that about the handling. It’s roll-free and becomes even stiffer at the push of a button. The rear-wheel drive setup is adjustable, steering is fast and grip seems never-ending. It’s enormous fun.

A nice and low driving position puts you in the right mood for this, particularly if you option up Alfa’s exceptional carbon fibre sports seats. The richer, leather-clad interior of this range-topping model feels more plush than the standard cars, and more charismatic than its rivals. It’s thus a pity some of the switchgear seems cheap, while the infotainment is a bit below par too.

Passengers fare well for such a driver-focused car. Adults will fit in the rear and find somewhere to put their feet, while the boot is competitive with its rivals as well. The one strange omission is the lack of a 60:40 split-fold rear seat – you can’t even add this functionality as an option.

Given such extreme performance, you won’t be surprised to hear the Alfa commands a high-performance price tag, too – it’s actually more expensive than a BMW M3, in fact, although still cheaper than a Mercedes-AMG C63. The standard equipment list reflects this top-line price tag: big wheels, leather and Alcantara seats, sat nav and xenon headlights are all standard.

It’s thirsty, of course, and CO2 is high, but it’s no worse than its rivals here. It’s no better than them in terms of servicing and running costs either, sadly: this high-performance car costs a pretty penny to keep on the road. Retained values won’t be as good as the Germans either, although a five-star Euro NCAP safety score suggests it’ll be as safe as them. Needless to say, reliability is more questionable.

But not even a few ownership question marks can dim the appeal of Alfa Romeo’s extraordinary new Giulia Quadrifoglio. It’s a superb high-performance four-door with racy handling, a surprisingly decent ride and the most amazing engine you can imagine. Be in no doubt, it’s an Alfa that really delivers: it’s an evocative car that’s very special indeed.

Follow Evening Standard Motors on Twitter and Facebook.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in

MORE ABOUT