Cars

Alfa Romeo Giulia Quadrifoglio: Going green, very quickly

The big engineering brains who ensured that Alfa Romeo's wonderful Giulia Quadrifoglio was brilliant straight out of the box can't have been too impressed when their colleagues from the marketing department paid them a visit recently

Alfa Romeo Giulia Quadrifoglio
Alfa Romeo Giulia Quadrifoglio Alfa Romeo Giulia Quadrifoglio
Alfa Romeo Giulia Quadrifoglio
Alfa Romeo Giulia Quadrifoglio Alfa Romeo Giulia Quadrifoglio

THE big engineering brains who ensured that Alfa Romeo's wonderful Giulia Quadrifoglio was brilliant straight out of the box can't have been too impressed when their colleagues from the marketing department paid them a visit recently, writes William Scholes.

"Erm, the Quadrifoglio has been around for a few years now, so maybe you could - if you're not too busy, of course - give it an update or two..." said the marketing folk.

And here's the reply: a new paint colour. It's green - very green, in fact - and echoes a colour available on Alfa's big Montreal coupe 50 years ago.

OK, there's some new bits and pieces inside the car, like a bigger touchscreen, and there's more safety and assistance aids.

These tweaks have already landed on lesser Giulia models, and give the car so-called level two autonomous driving capability. This means the car can control accelerator, brakes and steering under certain conditions.

It's a bit pointless though, because you will want to drive the Quadrifoglio yourself.

I like to think of it as being the closest thing to a four-door family saloon made by Ferrari. There's a twin-turbo 2.9-litre V6 engine, good for more than 500bhp, and a stonking 443lb.ft wedge of torque.

The Giulia now has so-called level two autonomous driving capability. This means the car can control accelerator, brakes and steering under certain conditions. It's a bit pointless though, because you will want to drive the Quadrifoglio yourself

This makes the Alfa Romeo a very, very quick car indeed. But it is the suppleness of its suspension that has always made it stand apart, in this writer's view, from its German rivals; the Alfa positively floats and glides over Northern Ireland roads where a BMW or Mercedes-Benz bounces and thumps.

As well as the vivid green paintwork, there are a couple of other 'classic' shades - '6C Villa d'Este Red' and 'GT Junior Ocra', no less - and some new lamps.

You can specify a titanium exhaust, too, courtesy of pipe wizards Akrapovic. It should sound very pleasant, and even comes with carbon fibre tailpipes; I dread to think how much it costs...

It's subtle stuff - but then that's OK, because the car was absolutely brilliant to begin with.

And if you prefer your Quadrifoglio thrills in an SUV-shaped package, then you'll be glad to hear that Alfa Romeo has given the Stelvio the same treatment.

No prices have been announced yet, but expect a Giulia Quadrifoglio to nudge £70k and the Stelvio version to be closer to £75k.

Alfa Romeo Giulia Quadrifoglio
Alfa Romeo Giulia Quadrifoglio Alfa Romeo Giulia Quadrifoglio
Alfa Romeo Giulia Quadrifoglio
Alfa Romeo Giulia Quadrifoglio Alfa Romeo Giulia Quadrifoglio
Alfa Romeo Stelvio Quadrifoglio
Alfa Romeo Stelvio Quadrifoglio Alfa Romeo Stelvio Quadrifoglio