It’s a mouthful, that’s for sure, but the Alfa Romeo Giulia Quadrifoglio is just one of those
cars that will take your breath away.
Whether that’s struggling to get in and out of the low-slung machine, or being slammed
back in the seat as it bellows its way to 100hm/h.
The four-door, twin-turbo V6 sedan is a lover and a fighter, both a looker and a
consummate performer — a car without compromise.
Quadrifoglio is designed to go head-to-head with the likes of the BMW M3 and Mercedes-
AMG C63, both of which we’ve been lucky enough to drive.
STYLING
Quadrifoglio is distinguished by a different front design, with carbon-fibre splitter and larger
air intakes for the intercoolers as well as brakes.
Side skirts also feature carbon-fibre inserts and the bonnet has two cooling outlets for the
engine bay and there are gill-style outlets either side at the front to allow air to escape from
the wheel housings.
And let’s not forget the green-on-white, four-leaf clover badges and those gorgeous clover
leaf wheels.
The equally stylish cabin features an 8.8-inch touchscreen, integrated into the dash, with
interactive widgets, full-screen maps and performance management features.
Prices for Giulia start from $63,950 for the Sport, $71,450 for the Veloce, then almost
double by the time you get to Quadrifoglio at $138,950 — all before on-road costs.
Both the Sport and Veloce feature a 2.0-litre four-cylinder turbocharged engine, Sport with
140kW and Veloce with 206kW.
Quadrifoglio ups the ante with a 2.9-litre twin-turbo V6 that pumps out a thumping 375kW.
Even more mind-boggling is GTA and GTAm versions, both with 397kW of power — but
they’re silly money.
Options include Carbon Ceramic Brakes at $13,500, Sparco Carbon Fibre Seats $8250,
Tri-Colour Paint $3650 and so forth.
Black or yellow brake calipers are a mere $1000.
You also get 19-inch aluminium wheels with 245/285 Pirelli rubber (front/rear), a carbon
fibre active splitter, Monza exhaust with quad tips, carbon fibre bonnet, roof and rear
spoiler, red brake calipers, leather and Alcantara trim, heated front and rear seats, active
suspension and active cruise control.
INFOTAINMENT
8.8-inch Colour Multi-touch Display with Navigation, Harman Kardon 14 Speaker Sound
Theatre, Digital Audio Broadcast (DAB), with Apple Carplay and Android Auto — plus
wireless phone charging.
ENGINES / TRANSMISSIONS
The 2.9-litre Ferrari-developed twin-turbo V6 pumps out 375kW of power at 6500 revs and
600Nm of torque between 2500 and 5000 revs, with drive to the rear wheels through a
conventional 8-speed auto.
To put this in perspective, that’s significantly more power than the pinnacle of the HSV
range, the E Series GTS – which in its final iteration pumped out 325 killer wasps.
That’s impressive, even more so given the Alfa is smaller and lighter, with a carbon-fibre
roof, bonnet and rear spoiler to help trim the puppy fat.
SAFETY
Safety systems include Autonomous Emergency Braking (AEB) with pedestrian detection,
forward collision warning (FCW), rear view camera, front and rear parking sensors, traffic
sign recognition, auto high beam, intelligent speed control, active blind spot assist and
driver attention alert, blind spot monitoring with rear cross-path detection.
DRIVING
Firing up the Quad for the first time, the bark from the four tailpipes is pre-emptive.
It felt quick from the get go, even before I’d checked the specs to see what it actually
cranks out.
The Quadrifoglio set a new lap record for a sedan at the Nurburgring, with a time of 7 mins
39 seconds. That was the manual — the auto trimmed that figure to 7 mins and 32
seconds.
The all-aluminium engine was reportedly developed exclusively for the Quadrifoglio by
Ferrari. It’s related to Ferrari’s own twin-turbocharged F154 CB V8 engine, sharing the
California T’s bore and stroke.
The turbochargers are single-scroll units that have been integrated into the manifold, with
water-charge air coolers. It has side-mounted direct fuel injection, with maximum turbo
boost of 2.4 bar.
The car is fitted with a torque vectoring diff to help put power to ground and can send up to
100 per cent of torque to either rear wheel.
The Quad dispatches the dash from 0-100km/h in just 3.9 seconds, with a lofty top end of
307 km/h.
To help keep the fuel bill under control, the drivetrain also incorporates auto engine stop-
start and cylinder deactivation, the latter shutting down three of the six cylinders when not
required.
It drinks the good stuff and with a claimed fuel consumption of 8.2L/100km, we were
getting 10.5L after more than 530km of mixed driving.
One-piece aluminium paddle shifters are fixed to the steering column, while DNA Pro drive
adds a fourth, Race mode:
Dynamic: Delivers sharper brake and steering feel with more aggressive engine,
transmission and throttle tip-in calibrations.
Natural: Comfort setting for balanced daily driving,
Advanced Efficiency: Achieves lowest fuel consumption with cylinder deactivation,
Race: Harder suspension, different torque vectoring settings and the stability system fully
turned off.
Unless you’re going to track the car, however, Dynamic offers everything required and
most buyers will almost certainly choose this mode.
The ability to modulate the active suspension, between sport and a softer ride — bears
some scrutiny.
The funny thing is, though it feels too busy in the softer mode, too twitchy and unable to
settle — so which switched back to sport.
The throttle is, if anything, overly responsive, even jerky at times, while steering is super
direct and the brakes bite hard and fast (they need to).
Under hard acceleration the rear tyres manage to break traction despite the electronics,
even with fat 285 P zeros on the back.
Handling, meanwhile, is fantastic. You can barrel into corners almost as fast as you can
barrel out.
Stunning looks are matched by a stylish interior, trimmed in a combination of aluminium,
carbon fibre, natural leather and Alcantara.
The dash flows in a swoosh across the cabin, dominated by two bulging analogue
instrument dials for the driver and some might say old-fashioned inset infotainment screen.
Importantly, a small information panel between the two dials can display a digital speedo
and the current speed limit. Grazia mille.
At 8.8-inches the touchscreen is not exactly large, understandable perhaps in a
performance-focused machine — but that means a small rear-view camera (and to be
honest, I don’t trust it, or more specifically — I wouldn’t rely on it).
Sadly, we didn’t get to take the car to the track, but the driver of a VW Golf R Wolfsburg
edition got the shock of his short life when he lined us up at the lights. It wasn’t even close,
even though he got going first. Say no more.
SUMMING UP
Alfa Romeo Giulia Quadrifoglio is an impressive motor car. Stunning yet understated
looks, top shelf performance, and an engaging drive experience will keep you coming back
for more.
Unfortunately, this is offset by the mechanics of owning and looking after a vehicle which
doesn’t rate very highly in the practicality stakes.
If you can live with these things and can afford the three-figure price tag, then go for it —
you won’t be disappointed (trust me).
RATINGS:
Looks: 8.5/10
Performance: 8.5/10
Safety: 8/10
Thirst: 7/10
Practicality: 6/10
Comfort: 7/10
Tech: 8/10
Value: 8/10
Overall: 7.6/10
AT A GLANCE
MODEL RANGE
Alfa Romeo Giulia Quadrifoglio: $143,500
Note: This price does not include government or dealer delivery charges. Contact your
local Alfa Romeo dealer for drive-away prices.
SPECIFICATIONS (Alfa Romeo Giulia Quadrifoglio, 2.9L V6 BiTurbo, petrol, 8sp auto,
RWD)
PERFORMANCE:
Maximum Power: 375kW @ 6500 rpm
Maximum Torque: 600Nm from 2500-5000 rpm
Fuel Type: Petrol 98 RON
Combined Fuel Cycle (ADR 81/02): 8.2L/100km
CO2 Emissions: 189g/km
DRIVELINE: Eight-speed dual automatic, rear-wheel drive.
DIMENSIONS, WEIGHT AND CAPACITIES:
Length: 4639 mm
Wheelbase: 2820 mm
Width: 1873 mm
Height: 1426 mm
Turning Circle: 10.8 metres
Kerb Mass: 1620kg
Fuel Tank Capacity: 58 litres
BRAKES:
Front: Ventilated disc 360 x 32 mm
Rear: Ventilated disc 350 x 28 mm
STANDARD WARRANTY:
3 years/150,000km
