Alfa Romeo Giulia Quadrifoglio review

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#1
For:
Terrific looks and Alfa badge, engaging ride and handling, Ferrari-fettled performance


Our Rating:
4














Against:
High running costs, some flimsy interior trim, scarcity of Alfa Romeo dealers



2017


Alfa Romeo bursts back onto the performance scene with a genuinely convincing Mercedes-AMG and BMW M rival
The Alfa Romeo Giulia Quadrifoglio may be a follow-up to the 4C sports car, but it does a much more convincing job as a halo model for the brand. With more than 500bhp on tap, and handling that?s a match for class rivals like the BMW M3 or Mercedes-AMG C 63, the Quadrifoglio is the car that Alfa enthusiasts have been hankering after for years.
Yes, it?s going to cost an arm and a leg to run, but with great looks and solid build quality to back up its stonking performance, there?s not really a lot to say against the Alfa if you?re in the market for a mid-size super saloon. The dealer network may have a little catching up to do if it?s going to match the ?brand standards? of BMW and Mercedes, but that?s unlikely to matter to Alfa Romeo customers.



8 Aug, 2017 4.3














The Alfa Romeo Giulia is a highly significant car for the Italian marque. Not only for its return to a rear-wheel drive configuration, but because it?s the first iteration of new chassis platform technology that also underpins the Alfa Romeo Stelvio SUV. In Giulia guise the platform is topped with a svelte four-door saloon body, and but an estate isn?t likely to be high on Alfa?s development list ? despite the Germans have done well in the past with estate versions of their high performance saloons.*
The QV certainly looks a cut above the standard saloon models, thanks to its aggressive spoilers, air intakes and wing vents. There are four wheel design options, and the basic Alfa Red solid paint is supplemented by four metallics and a pair of tri-coat (pearlescent) options. You can even choose red, yellow or black brake callipers.*
Inside you can have a variety of two-tone dash options with red, white and grey leather and stitching options. There are exotic-looking carbon shell sports seats on the option list too.*
Like the standard Giulia, the QV?s fit and finish is good, but some of the detail touches ? occasionally flimsy switchgear, for example ? can?t quite match the rock-solid feel the brand?s German rivals are so good at.
[h=3]Sat-nav, stereo and infotainment[/h] Alfa?s rotary-controlled infotainment system Connect 3D Nav, which is optional in the Guilia QV, has a big 8.8-inch screen and all the bells and whistles. It lacks some of the connectivity and customisation features of the BMW iDrive system, but the sat-nav uses TomTom technology so is very user friendly.
Sounds are taken care of with an optional 900-watt Harman Kardon system with 14 speakers, which is a suitably impressive set-up.
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Image 12 of 20





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The standard Giulia delivers impressive road manners, and as you?d expect, the Quadrifoglio model significantly ups the ante. Like most of its premium executive rivals, the latest Alfa has returned to a rear-wheel drive chassis configuration. Alfa enthusiasts will know the marque spent years in the wilderness making relatively uninspired front-wheel-driver cars, but coupled with perfect 50:50 weight distribution the new car is extremely well balanced. It is impressively accurate and the quick steering makes threading corners together on the average British B-road a thoroughly rewarding experience.*
Generally speaking, the double wishbone suspension at the front end and big sticky tyres guarantee phenomenal grip going into a corner, while the multilink rear set-up means traction on the way out is highly effective too. Use the rotary dial to select Race mode and the traction and stability control systems are reined-in to allow expert drivers a satisfying degree of playfulness. If you?re pressing on, even in more sensible road-going settings, it?s possible to feel the line of the car adjusting in response to throttle and steering. The torque vectoring clearly plays its part here too, of course, and overall we think the Alfa?s chassis feel is a bit more ?natural? than the BMW M3?s.*
? Best performance cars on sale
Ride quality is impressive too, as even with the standard adaptive dampers set to Race mode you won?t rattle out your fillings. The Natural setting is our favourite though, as it imparts the Giulia QV with a fluidity and suppleness that seems to have been tuned with our scrappy road surfaces in mind.
The optional carbon ceramic brakes are mighty, but we found them a little grabby in day-to-day use. Purists may also resent the fact that ?Europeans? can buy the Giulia QV with a traditional manual gearbox when UK customers can?t, although there?s little to criticise the smooth-shifting eight-speed auto.
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Image 3 of 20


[h=3]Engines[/h] You can only have the Giulia QV with a single engine option, but it?s a great one. As mentioned before it?s a close relation of Ferrari?s all-aluminium V8, and Alfa?s 2.9-litre V6 version it delivers all of 503bhp and 600Nm of torque ? the latter between 2,500 and 5,000 rpm, although the unit revs pleasingly up to 7,000rpm if you want to listen to those quad tailpipes howling. The result of this Ferrari-inspired goodness is a claimed 0-62mph time of just 3.9 seconds and maximum speed of 191mph.



3.5














Safety is well considered on Alfa?s Giulia Quadrifoglio, with much of the available safety tech applied to this flagship model as standard. That means the QV comes with Autonomous Emergency Braking with pedestrian detection, Blind Spot Monitoring, Forward Collision Warning and Lane Departure Warning ? in fact, all the assets you?d expect on a newly engineered technical platform.
The standard Giulia performed very well in the Euro NCAP crash tests, garnering a full five-star rating. It scored 98 per cent for adult occupants, 81 per cent for children and 69 per cent for pedestrians. Safety assistance features scored 60 per cent.*
With so much new technology, engineering and an all-new engine, we might have to wait a little while for a definitive verdict on reliability. However, the Alfa certainly has a high quality feel, even if in places it?s not quite up to the ?carved from rock? feel of some of the Germans.
[h=3]Warranty[/h] The Alfa Giulia QV comes with the brand?s standard three-year/unlimited mileage warranty ?*two years are factory backed, and the final 12 months are honuored by the dealer. You also get 24-hour breakdown recovery thrown in.*
[h=3]Servicing[/h] The Quadrifoglio is included on Alfa?s EasyCare Service Plan and you can get three years inclusive ? if paid up front ?*for ?799. That includes three 9,000-mile services.



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With only the one body style, Alfa doesn?t present QV buyers with too many challenges, and fortunately the packaging of the Giulia means its accommodation is on a par with the BMW 3 Series. There?s a great driving position, and the sports seats are comfortable with plenty of adjustment, plus you get all the regular practicality features of the mainstream saloon.*
Like all the high performance versions of compact executive models you?ll need to drive with a bit more care and attention to avoid kerbing those beautiful alloys or knocking chunks out of the front splitter on parking bay kerbs, but otherwise the practicality is largely on a par with regular Giulia models.
[h=3]Size[/h] There?s not much between all the compact executive models for size, so don?t look for advantages or otherwise here. The Alfa?s elegant profile is quite swoopy, although not as rakish as some, and of course the QV version rides a little lower to the ground than standard models.
[h=3]Leg room, head room & passenger space[/h] The Giulia has one of the longer wheelbases in its class, which means it?s pretty good for rear legroom. However, those svelte body lines mean headroom isn?t optimal for taller rear passengers ? although it?s marginally less claustrophobic in the back than a Jaguar XE. The rear-drive format means there?s a wide transmission tunnel which reduces space for a middle seat occupant, and if you want to spec the fancy carbon shell front seats, watch out they don?t eat up too much knee-room for the passengers in the back.
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Image 19 of 20


[h=3]Boot[/h] The BMW 3 Series was the obvious benchmark here, and Alfa engineers matched it exactly with the Giulia ? so you get a decent 480-litre capacity. It?s not quite as handy as the BMW?s though, as the opening is smaller and the lip higher.



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The chances are anyone considering a Giulia QV ? or its 500bhp+ rivals from BMW or Mercedes ?*won?t be too bothered about the MPG figures. Let?s face it, the car is likely to cost you as much in depreciation as it does in fuel over two or three years.*
That said, the fuel economy on official test measures comes out at a reasonable sounding 34.4mpg ?combined?, which isn?t too off-putting. It?s probably even achievable if you drive like a short-sighted nun, but driving with your toe pinned to the floorboards will significantly increase thirst ? potentially to the point of penury. You do get Start&Stop of course, but you should still be expecting to make regular stops to fill the 58-litre fuel tank.
Thanks to the Giulia?s high purchase price and 189g/km CO2 emissions, you?ll also be lumbered with an ?800 first year car tax rate, and ?450 annual VED charges after that. If you?re thinking of running one as a company car, watch out for a 37 per cent Benefit in Kind rate up to 2020.
[h=3]Insurance groups[/h] One of the consequences of running a high performance executive saloon with Porsche 911-rivalling performance is the hit you?ll have to take on insurance. The Alfa Giulia QV comes in at a very high group 46, but that?s only one group higher than the BMW M3 so differences in quotes should be marginal.
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Image 4 of 20


[h=3]Depreciation[/h] Like the models it competes with, depreciation is going to be a significant factor in the overall running costs for the Alfa Giulia QV. Drive just 10,000 miles a year for three years, and we?ve seen one estimate suggesting your pride and joy will be worth a little more than ?23,000 when you come to sell it. The BMW M3 costs around ?1,000 more to buy, but could sell for closer to ?28,000 due to the German marque?s broader desirability.





Text Source: Auto Express
 


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