“I am Quadrifoglio! I need turbos for my six-hole!” We like to imagine an anthropomorphic Giulia, a Metallica T-shirt pulled up over its cabin, front wheel-arms pointing skyward, reared up on its haunches like some great Rothian beast. The highest-performing variant of Alfa Romeo’s new sedan is a hot rod of sorts, after all, even if there’s not some great Roots-blown Hemi poking impossibly skyward through its hood. And while most of the noise over the past five months has been about the cloverleaf-badged machine, Alfa has dropped a little knowledge about the lesser Giulias prior to the cars’ U.S.-spec reveal at the L.A. auto show as well. Not every BMW customer buys an M3. Not every Porsche customer wants a Cayman GT4. The bottom line demands a competitive product for those who don’t require maximum performance.
As such, Alfa has joined the other players in the segment in the four-pot 2.0-liter turbo club. The FCA unit boasts that its MultiAir2-equipped engine “will deliver a class-leading 276 horsepower and world-class levels of performance, efficiency, and refinement.” In the competitive set, BMW’s four-cylinder makes 240, Benz’s 241, Audi’s 252, and Cadillac’s 272. A prerequisite for participation these days is the availability of all-wheel drive. Alfa would like you to know that it will be available. Otherwise, they’d like to go back to talking about the Quadrifoglio.
The beefcake Giulia carries a 505-hp, 2.9-liter, direct-injected, 90-degree V-6 derived from the Ferrari 488GTB’s engine—and teamed with an available six-speed manual transmission sourced from Getrag. Whereas the mid-engined V-8 ripper from Maranello makes 661 horsepower, the Alfa squeezes roughly 1 more horsepower from each cylinder than the Ferrari does, utilizing 35 psi of peak boost. The result of all that huffing, sucking, squeezing, banging, and blowing? A claimed 3.8-second zero-to-60-mph time, a 191-mph top speed, and a Nordschleife lap time of 7:39, which makes it as quick around the ’Ring as the 488’s recent ancestor, the 430 Scuderia.
But serious Nürburgring lap times are not set by power alone. If that were the case, Tony Schumacher would own the joint. Alfa claims the speed comes courtesy of its emphasis on reducing mass. As such, the Quadrifoglio gets a roof, hood, driveshaft, and front and rear aero bits crafted from carbon fiber. Underneath, aluminum shock towers and subframes help avoid mass accumulation. For good measure, the doors, fenders, Brembo monoblock brake calipers, and other unnamed suspension components are made of the stuff. And if a buyer reallyhates unsprung weight, Alfa is offering carbon-ceramic rotors that weigh half what the standard cast-iron units do.
The result is a claimed 50/50 front-to-rear weight distribution. An active suspension manages the heft, its firmness and behavior managed by Alfa’s four-mode DNA Pro selector. Pirelli P Zero Corsa tires, size 245/35R-19, find themselves spooning 19-by-8.5-inch forged-aluminum wheels in the front, while 285/30R-19s are wrapped around 19-by-10s at the back. Sending torque to those wide tires is a twin-clutch torque-vectoring differential.
Opt for the carbon-ceramic brakes and the front calipers gain two pistons over the standard four-pot units. The result is a claimed 102-foot stopping distance from 60 mph. Alfa also credits its new integrated braking system, which dispenses with separate units for the brake booster and stability control. The electromechanical system increases pressure more quickly and makes it possible to vary brake pressure depending on the selected drive mode.
On the safety/convenience front, the Quadrifoglio comes standard with forward-collision warning and autonomous braking, adaptive cruise control, lane-departure warning, blind-spot monitoring, rear cross-traffic detection, and front/rear parking sensors. The airbag complement includes driver/front passenger forward, knee and seat-mounted side units, as well as front and rear side curtains.
In the zazz department, seven exterior colors will be available at launch: Rosso Alfa, Vulcano Black Metallic, Silverstone Gray Metallic, Montecarlo Blue Metallic, Vesuvio Gray Metallic, Trofeo White Tri-Coat, and Rosso Competizione Tri-Coat. Inside, five different leather-and-suede combos are available, all based around black: black/red with red stitching; all black with black, white, red, or green stitching; and finally black with “Ice” featuring green and white Quadrifoglio accent stitching. Two wheel designs are available: Alfa’s signature five-hole rolling stock and lightweight forged “Technico” wheels. Either set is available in silver or dark gray.
While we’ll have to wait until closer to the Giulia’s mid-2016 on-sale date for full pricing and specs on the lesser Giulia models, Alfa says the Quadrifoglio will start around $70,000. Given that BMW, Cadillac, and Mercedes-Benz all start their supersedan entries in the segment at well under $70K, the Alfa won’t just be able to compete on its impressive numbers and its not-an-M3ness. It’ll have to be legitimately great, lest it be written off as, well, um, Beavis.
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