Alfa Romeo Giulia Quadrifoglio: Future classic in the making

The high performance version of Alfa Romeo’s resurrected Giulia sports saloon model line, the Quadrifoglio is the curviest and most viscerally desirable car in the super saloon segment. Readopting a sportier rear-drive configuration, like athletic variants of its 1960s Giulia forerunner, the Quadrifoglio meanwhile packs significantly more punch than its more recent 2001 front-drive 156 GTA predecessor. Combining supercar performance and intuitive agility, the Giulia Quadrifoglio takes direct aim at mainly German compact executive super saloon rivals with a package that oozes charisma, glamour and desirability.

Introduced in 2015, the lusty Quadrifoglio cuts an urgently athletic figure among rivals’ outright aggressive aesthetics. Sleek and slinky with a flowing roofline, pert boot, slim browed headlights, short front overhang and broad hips, the focal point of its seductive design is the Italian manufacturer’s hallmark shield-like grille. Distinctly sporting, the Quadrifoglio also bears Alfa Romeo’s traditional four leaf clover good luck insignia, and features large mesh intakes, subtle side gills, prominent side sills and vents, quad tailpipes, a functional rear air diffuser, and active front air splitter.

Swift seduction

A surefire future classic as electric successors loom on the horizon, a mildly updated Giulia Quadrifoglio has only recently been announced, with subtle headlight element and grille mesh changes. Expected to soon reach Middle East markets with an additional 10BHP from the Quadrifoglio’s Ferrari-developed 2.9-litre twin-turbocharged direct injection V6 in revised guise, the currently iteration is however no slouch. Developing a mighty 503BHP at 6,500rpm and 443lb/ft torque throughout a wide, accessible and versatile 2,500-5,500rpm, it effectively puts power down to tarmac through its driven rear wheels.

Growling, snarling and eager to its 7,400rpm rev limit, the supercar swift Quadrifoglio is seamlessly swift reaching for its viciously urgent top-end, and propels it comparatively moderate 1,580kg mass through 0-100km/h in just 3.9-seconds, and onto 307km/h. With turbos positioned between two cylinder banks for short gas flow paths, the Quadrifoglio delivers almost lag-free responses from standstill, and flexible and eager mid-range muscle. Consistent and progressive in delivery, the Quadrifoglio’s engine also provides good throttle response for an aggressively boosted turbocharged car, and responsively winds down on throttle lift-off.

Fast fluency

With it engine located deep under the bonnet for almost perfect front-to-rear weighting, the Quadrifoglio is balanced through bends and buttoned down at speed. Its handling is intuitive and seemingly adjustable, yet, reassuring, committed and precise. Meanwhile, light, exact, quick and well-weighted steering with good in-segment road feel, provides crisp and tidy turn-in, with committed front grip. Brimming with a delicacy often elusive in modern high performance cars, the Quadrifoglio is eager and agile through corners and obstacles, while its nuanced chassis and settled stability lends it a confident fluency.

The Quadrifoglio’s taut suspension, meanwhile, provides terrific lateral body control through sudden maneuvers, switchbacks, fast bends and tight turns. Driven with dampers, throttle, steering and gearbox in second sportiest Dynamic mode at high speed during test drive on track, the Quadrifoglio’s weight, handling and direction seemed intuitively adjustable, and even more so when Race mode’s less interventionist stability control setting is engaged.

The Quadrifoglio responds progressively and intuitively well to input and intention, even when shifting weight out. Highly effective six-piston front and four-piston rear brakes meanwhile also provide good pedal feel.

Committed comfort

Offered with either a 6-speed manual or an 8-speed automatic gearbox with satisfyingly swift, slick and succinct shifts, the Quadrifoglio drives its rear wheels through an electronically-controlled limited-slip differential, to divert power to the wheel best able to use it for agility, stability and to tighten cornering lines. Large staggered 245/35ZR19 front and 285/30ZR19 rear tyres also provided both steering precision and committed rear cornering grip. Stable and settled at speed, the Quadrifoglio’s active air splitter, meanwhile, alternatively helps generate up to 100kg down force, or low CD0.32 aerodynamic drag.

Vertically settled when recovering from sudden dips and crests the Quadrifoglio also proved smoother and more comfortable for such a sporting car, and was more forgiving over rough tarmac tan expected. Refined inside, the Quadrifoglio is finished with black leather and carbon fibre, and is well-appointed and equipped — yet distinctly sporting — with thick and well-adjustable steering wheel, and driver-focused instruments, controls and infotainment screen. Its carbon-fibre spine seats are supportive, ergonomic and comfortable, with an alert driving position and good front visibility. Cabin and boot space is ,meanwhile, decent.

SPECIFICATIONS

• Engine: 2.9-litre, twin-turbocharged, in-line V6-cylinders
• Bore x stroke: 86.5 x 82mm
• Compression ratio: 9.3:1
• Valve-train: 24-valve, DOHC, direct injection
• Rev limit: 7,400rpm
• Gearbox: 8-speed automatic, rear-wheel-drive, electronic limited-slip differential
• Ratios: 1st 5.0; 2nd 3.2; 3rd 2.143; 4th 1.72; 5th 1.314; 6th 1.0; 7th 0.822; 8th 0.64
• Reverse / final drive: 3.478 / 3.09
• Power, BHP (PS) [kW]: 503 (510) [375] @6,500rpm
• Specific power: 174BHP/litre
• Torque, lb/ft (Nm): 443 (600) @2,500-5,500rpm
• Specific torque: 207.5Nm/litre
• 0-100km/h: 3.9-seconds
• Top speed: 307km/h
• Fuel consumption, urban / extra-urban / combined: 12.4- / 5.7- / 8.2-litres/100km
• Fuel capacity: 58-litres
• Length: 4,639mm
• Width: 1,860mm
• Height: 1,426mm
• Wheelbase: 2,820mm
• Track, F/R: 1,555 / 1,607mm
• Overhangs, F/R: 795 / 1,024mm
• Aerodynamic drag co-efficient: 0.32
• Headroom, F/R: 980/955mm
• Legroom, F/R: 1,077/891mm
• Shoulder width, F/R: 1,425 / 1,361mm
• Weight: 1,580kg
• Weight distribution, F/R: 50/50%
• Steering: Electric-assisted rack & pinion
• Steering ratio: 11.8:1
• Suspension, F/R: Double wishbone / multi-link, active dampers
• Brakes, F/R: Ventilated discs, 360 x 32mm / 350 x 28mm
• Brake calipers, F/R: 6- / 4-piston
• Tyres, F/R: 245/35ZR19 / 285/30ZR19