Item: Alfa Romeo Giulia Quadrifoglio
Rating: 4
Author: What Car? Team

This twin-turbo V6 performance model pumps out a ridiculous 503bhp and is a rival to the Mercedes C63 AMG. 0-62mph takes just 3.9 seconds and it makes a glorious noise while doing it. There’s virtually no turbo lag, so our only real complaint is that it likes to drink. A lot.


2.9 V6 BiTurbo

Saloon

Alfa Romeo now has one of its strongest-ever model line-ups, after years of living off past glories.

The BMW 3 Series-rivalling Giulia executive saloon is one of the best cars in its class to drive and has performed very well in the annual What Car? Reliability Survey, while the closely related Stelvio competes in the booming SUV class.

Smaller and larger SUVs are planned, as is a two-door coupé version of the Giulia that will take on the Audi A5, BMW 4 Series and Mercedes-Benz C-Class Coupé.

It’s all a long way from the days when Alfa Romeo just had a couple of dated hatchbacks (the Mito and Giulietta) and the niche 4C sports car in its range.

ALFA ROMEO

GIULIA

The Quadrifoglio gets 19in wheels and bi-xenon headlights as standard, as well as LED rear lights, electrically adjustable leather/Alcantara sports seats, sport suspension with adaptive dampers, uprated brakes, a torque vectoring active rear differential and a fully switchable stability control system. Carbonfibre backed seats and carbon ceramic brakes are optional.


Quadrifoglio

2.9 V6 BiTurbo Quadrifoglio 4dr Auto [ACC]

29-v6-biturbo-quadrifoglio-4dr-auto-acc

Alfa Romeo Giulia Quadrifoglio

Audi RS4 Avant

Audi RS6 Avant

Audi RS7 Sportback

Audi S4

Audi S6

Audi S7

BMW M3

BMW M4

Mercedes CLA 35 AMG

Mercedes CLA 45 AMG

Mercedes-AMG C63 S

Mercedes-AMG GT 4-door

<h2>What we're looking for:</h2><ul><li>Entertainingly agile handling</li> <li>Eye-widening acceleration</li> <li>Fruity exhaust note</li> <li>Punchy and characterful engine</li> <li>Great driving position</li> <li>Everyday usability</li></ul>

The best performance cars combine sports car-rivalling acceleration with&nbsp;engaging handling. However, they also retain the&nbsp;impressive everyday usability of the conventional saloons and estates on which they're based.

The Alfa Romeo Giulia Quadrifoglio currently sets the standard. However, the models from BMW's M division and Mercedes-AMG also tend to impress.

Performance car

Introduction

Performance & drive

Interior

Passenger & boot space

Costs & verdict

Few enter into ownership of a performance saloon under the impression it'll be a cheap experience, and nobody wants to be caught throwing money away. The Giulia Quadrifoglio costs less than a <a href="https://www.whatcar.com/mercedes-benz/c-class/saloon/review/n17218">Mercedes-AMG C63</a>, and its standard equipment level is right up there. Indeed, there’s no need to go crazy on the options list; 19in alloy wheels, adaptive dampers, xenon headlights, electrically adjustable leather and Alcantara suede seats and cruise control are some of the luxuries included.

Expect high servicing costs and frightening fuel economy, though – the Quadrifoglio averaged just 23.5mpg in our real-world <a href="https://www.whatcar.com/news/true-mpg-most-and-least-efficient-cars-revealed/n14356">True MPG</a> tests. In our experience the larger-engined C63 is actually more fuel efficient.

Looking further down the line, the Giulia Quadrifoglio should <a href="https://www.whatcar.com/advice/buying/depreciation-what-is-it-and-how-do-i-avoid-it/n1122">depreciate</a> more slowly than the C63, which helps keep <a href="https://www.whatcar.com/advice/buying/personal-contract-purchase-pcp-explained-car-finance-guide/n19714">PCP finance</a> rates competitive. Keep an eye out for deposit contributions, too, these make the Giulia’s monthly payments far lower than the C63s. While the Giulia is in the 37% tax bracket for <a href="https://www.whatcar.com/advice/owning/company-car-tax-bands/n1255">company car tax</a>, so are its key rivals while its relatively low purchase price helps make benefit in kind payments a little more bearable.

As well as featuring <a href="https://www.whatcar.com/news/what-is-aeb-and-how-does-it-work/n3283">automatic city braking technology (AEB)</a> with pedestrian detection, blind spot monitoring with rear cross-path detection, and lane-departure warning as standard, you can add a ‘Driver Assistance Plus Pack QV’ that brings lane keep assist, active cruise control (with traffic jam assist), traffic sign recognition, active blind spot assist and driver attention assist.&nbsp;&nbsp;

<a href="https://www.whatcar.com/news/euro-ncap-safety-ratings-2019-%E2%80%93-how-safe-is-your-car/n17044">Euro NCAP</a> awarded the standard Giulia, on which the Quadrifoglio is based, a full five-star safety rating, and on closer inspection of the scores shows that it outperformed the <a href="https://www.whatcar.com/audi/a4/saloon/review/n105">Audi A4</a> and <a href="https://www.whatcar.com/mercedes-benz/c-class/saloon/review/n70">Mercedes C-Class</a> in the adult occupant protection test, although there were a few issues noted that weakened the child occupant protection it offers – the likelihood of chest injuries, mainly.&nbsp;

Although we don’t have data for the Quadifoglio specifically, the Giulia as a whole was average for reliability in the <a href="https://www.whatcar.com/news/2019-what-car-reliability-survey-executive-cars/n20054">2020 What Car? Reliability Survey</a>, while the brand finished 11th out of 31 manufacturers featured. It also proved more dependable than the Mercedes C-Class range.

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An expensive performance saloon lives and dies by the way it drives and, in this regard, we’d argue that the Giulia Quadrifoglio is one of the best performance cars you can currently buy.

Its 2.9-litre V6 petrol engine is an undeniable highlight of the Quadrifoglio experience; it delivers a razor-sharp accelerator response with hardly any lag, despite being heavily turbocharged. In fact, if you floor the accelerator from standstill it’ll not only out-sprint a <a href="http://v/">Mercedes-AMG C63</a> to 62mph but it’ll also carry on to a higher top speed. The former is a fact backed up by our own independent tests, with the C63 managing a swift 0-60mph time of 4.1sec to the Quadrifoglio’s ludicrous 3.9sec.

Although the eight-speed automatic gearbox dithers and slurs a little at low speeds through town, it absolutely transforms once you start to press on, providing finger-click-fast manual changes when you use the tactile aluminium paddles that are mounted to the steering column. It’s certainly better than the sometimes hesitant nine-speed unit found in the C63.

The engine and gearbox are at their best when you’ve selected the sportiest Race driving mode; the Dynamic, Natural and Advanced Efficiency modes enable rather more relaxed accelerator response and gearchange settings. Race is also the mode in which the Giulia Quadrifoglio sounds its best, barking loudly as the revs rise and cracking violently when you change up through the gears. It sounds fantastic for sure but, many will argue, not as evocative as the C63’s thundering 4.0-litre V8. That’s especially true when you’re not hooning around, the Quadrifoglio sounds surprisingly like a three-cylinder city car when you’re tooling around gently in Natural mode.

If one aspect of the Quadrifoglio disappoints, it’s its brakes. There’s no problem with their stopping ability – the optional ceramic brakes in particular provide monumental retardation from high speed – but they could be richer in feel. Because the Giulia Quadrifoglio’s brakes are initiated via electronics rather than hydraulics, as you press the brake pedal the initial response is a tad vague unlike the C63’s more reassuring pedal.

There’s nothing wrong with the way the car handles, though. It feels light, poised and nimble when you turn in to a bend, and the quick steering is alert but never nervous. Its adaptive suspension can be made softer or stiffer to suit the bumpiness of the road independently of the drive mode selected, and its firmest setting all but eliminates body roll when cornering at speed. If you want the ultimate thrills, a C63 provides more detailed feedback through its steering wheel and is even more agile in the bends.

The Giulia Quadrifoglio also has a clever differential on its rear axle that helps prevent power being wasted through wheelspin. Of course, if you want to break traction at the rear and steer using the accelerator, that’s possible too – in doing so you’ll discover that, despite its enormous power output, the car’s chassis is forgiving once you get past an occasional hesitancy for the differential to lock up in low gears. This is no issue in the C63.

Then there’s the ride. If you think a performance car will be too firm, think again. Although you can feel how the Giulia Quadrifoglio's tyres follow road imperfections, that same adaptive suspension system that helps it stand bolt upright in corners can – at the flick of a switch – be made supple enough to take the sting out of sharp ridges and cushion you from rough sections of tarmac. In fact, the only thing to blot its copybook as a cruiser is a bit of wind and road noise at motorway speeds, but its rivals, particularly the C63, suffer from this rather more acutely while also proving less comfortable on long journeys.

OUR PICK

Fuel 

Gearbox

0-62 MPH

http://example.com

29-v6-biturbo

Few car manufacturers possess a name and performance motif as evocative as Alfa’s four-leaf clover. It’s affixed to only the firm’s most potent models, and the Alfa Romeo Giulia Quadrifoglio (Quadrifoglio being the Italian for four-leaf clover, in case you were wondering) more than proves the value of its historic name.

It’s built on the same lightweight, rear-wheel-drive underpinnings as the regular <a href="https://www.whatcar.com/alfa-romeo/giulia/saloon/review/n159">Giulia executive saloon</a>, but the Quadrifoglio version comes fitted with a staggeringly powerful 503bhp turbocharged 2.9-litre V6 petrol engine. That means it’s good for 0-62mph in just 3.9sec and a downright crazy top speed of 190mph. To put all that power to good use, it gets bespoke suspension and quicker steering, as well as larger brakes to make sure it stops as well as it goes.

Oh, and did we mention that the Quadrifoglio was tuned by none other than one Roberto Fedeli, whose CV includes such exotica as Ferrari's 599, F12 and 458 Speciale? As Ferrari’s former chief engineer, he ought to know a thing or two about setting a sporty car up.&nbsp;&nbsp;

That said, the Quadrifoglio faces some stiff competition from some extremely well rounded and established performance cars, including the <a href="https://www.whatcar.com/audi/rs4/estate/review/n189">Audi RS4 Avant</a> and <a href="https://www.whatcar.com/mercedes-benz/c-class/saloon/review/n17218">Mercedes-AMG C63</a>. These offer similar power to the Quadrifoglio, promise an equally thrilling driving experience and benefit from wider, more purposeful bodies than the executive models on which they’re based. And better yet, both of those come in estate form, so you can take your dog along for the ride, too – if you want a similar level of practicality in Alfa form, you’ll need to take a look at our <a href="https://www.whatcar.com/alfa-romeo/stelvio/estate/review/n18177">Stelvio Quadrifoglio</a> review.&nbsp;

So, does the Giulia possess the performance and handling to take its rivals on and beat them? Read on to find out. And, whichever performance car you settle on, make sure to check out our <a href="https://www.whatcar.com/new-car-deals">New Car Buying</a> service for huge savings on hundreds of new cars.

The Giulia Quadrifoglio’s standard-fit electrically adjustable driver’s seat is set low in front of well-positioned pedals and allows you to adopt a sporty hunkered-down position. The broadly adjustable steering wheel, with its pleasingly slim rim, complements this and with pedals, wheel and seat more in-line than the slightly wonky C63, it’s a better driving position. For a hefty premium, Alfa Romeo will fit carbonfibre sports seats. These are brilliantly supportive and worth the extra if you can find it.

There’s quite a marked difference in material richness between entry-level <a href="https://www.whatcar.com/alfa-romeo/giulia/saloon/review/n159">Giulias</a> and the range-topping Quadrifoglio, which gets a leather-wrapped dashboard and carbonfibre trims that helps lift the interior into line with similarly racy rivals such as the <a href="https://www.whatcar.com/audi/rs4/estate/review/n189">Audi RS4</a> and <a href="https://www.whatcar.com/mercedes-benz/c-class/saloon/review/n17218">Mercedes-AMG C63</a>. The aluminium gear selection paddles feel superb, too.

A facelift in 2020 enhanced the interior further, bringing even more generous lashings of carbonfibre, a higher-quality flat bottomed steering wheel and a matching leather wrapped gear selector; as well as detail touches like an Italian flag motif at the base of the gear shifter to remind you of the reputation for luxurious craftsmanship that Alfa Romeo’s home nation has always enjoyed – if not always where building saloon cars is concerned. Best of all, though, the ergonomic and quality quibbles that blighted earlier Giulias were addressed. For example, the rotary infotainment controller, which used to feel a little loose, now has a solid click to it.&nbsp;

That said, even with these updates, there are still some areas where the Giulia can’t quite match the quality of its German rivals; its air conditioning controls are a little flimsy, and the drive mode selector feels a bit cheap. Some of the plastics low down are surprisingly cheap in feel, too; the C63 is by no means perfect in this regard, but its interior still feels of a higher quality.

The infotainment system was also treated to an overhaul in 2020, enabling it to be controlled either by touching the 8.8in screen or by using the rotary controller located on the centre console. Not only does this make inputting destinations easier when you’re at a standstill (although we generally find touchscreens quite distracting to use while driving), but you can also use the touchscreen to easily drag and drop widgets such as your sat-nav or radio, to create a fully customisable homepage.&nbsp;

It’s certainly more intuitive than the system in earlier Giulias, but its graphics still look rather mediocre, the display is a bit dim and muddy, and isn’t as graphically rich or packed with features as the C63’s. More positively, it features <a href="https://www.whatcar.com/advice/owning/what-is-apple-carplay/n1193">Apple CarPlay</a> and <a href="https://www.whatcar.com/advice/owning/what-is-android-auto/n1194">Android Auto</a> smartphone mirroring as standard, and we like its ‘Performance Pages’ feature, which shows things like turbo pressure, power output, a track timer and the temperatures of the main mechanical components in real time; the latter are especially important if you ever take the Quadrifoglio onto a track.

As good as performance cars get, if not quite as plush&nbsp;as its best rivals.

Alfa Romeo Quadrifoglio

Inside, the Quadrifoglio is just like <a href="https://www.whatcar.com/alfa-romeo/giulia/saloon/review/n159">any other Giulia</a> when it comes to space and practicality. It isn’t the easiest of saloons to climb into, having a fairly low roofline and low-set seats, but once you’re in, it caters for full-sized adults fairly well in both rows. The front sports seats are quite wide and both shoulder room and elbow room are good. There are plenty of cubbyholes to stow your odds and ends, including a sizeable space underneath the centre armrest and glovebox, and the latest version’s cup holders are located further back from the dashboard than in the original, allowing for a larger size of bottle.

In the back, there’s a reasonable amount of leg room – more than a <a href="https://www.whatcar.com/mercedes-benz/c-class/saloon/review/n17218">Mercedes-AMG C63</a> offers – and there’s room for feet under the front seats. Head room is decent but not outstanding, although again better than a C63. Of course, if you want a ballistic saloon that’s more spacious, there’s always the AMG versions of the <a href="https://www.whatcar.com/make/mercedes-benz">Mercedes E-Class</a>, as well as the <a href="https://www.whatcar.com/bmw/m5/saloon/review/n184">BMW M5</a>. Naturally these bigger machines are a lot more expensive, though.

During our testing we were able to fit six carry-on suitcases into the Giulia’s boot, a decent effort, if one that’s overshadowed by the C63 saloon’s seven cases with room to spare. Handily, you get a 40/20/40 split folding rear seat as standard with release levers in the boot. You’ll need to give the seats a bit of a shove to fold them, but it’s still less of a faff than walking around to the rear doors to reach the catch.

quadrifoglio

To drive, the Alfa Romeo Giulia Quadrifoglio is about as good as performance saloons get, even if it’s not quite as plush inside as its best rivals. It might not sound as brutish as, nor be as capable through corners as a Mercedes-AMG C63 AMG, but it's a fair bit cheaper and easier to live with day to day, too.

<h2>What we're looking for:</h2><ul><li>Ride comfort shouldn’t be sacrificed at the altar of handling sharpness</li> <li>Plenty of power from a melodic engine</li> <li>Handling that doesn’t come at the expense of a back-breaking ride​​​​​</li> <li> Practicality is not essential but nice to have </li></ul>

Driving fun is right at the top of any sports car buyer's priority list, and every one of our award candidates has backroad entertainment coded into its DNA.

The Mazda MX-5 embodies sports-car spirit without wearing an exotic price tag, and has deservedly gained a strong following over the years. Much newer to the scene is the mid-engined Alpine A110. It may carry a name from the past, but this potent, mid-engined sports car was designed with the very latest lightweight thinking.&nbsp;

Rounding off our shortlist, though, is a name that'll be familiar to even those to whom sports cars hold little interest. The Porsche 911 was born an icon in 1964, and the latest generation bridges the gap between sports car and supercar. Yet, somehow, it manages to preserve a distinctly civilised character.

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Alfa Romeo Giulia Quadrifoglio review

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