Alfa Romeo Giulia Quadrifoglio review

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 Mercedes-AMG C63, 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 True MPG tests. In our experience the larger-engined C63 is actually more fuel efficient.

Looking further down the line, the Giulia Quadrifoglio should depreciate more slowly than the C63, which helps keep PCP finance 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 company car tax, 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 automatic city braking technology (AEB) 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.  

Euro NCAP 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 Audi A4 and Mercedes C-Class 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. 

Although we don’t have data for the Quadifoglio specifically, the Giulia as a whole was average for reliability in the 2020 What Car? Reliability Survey, 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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