2022 Alfa Romeo Giulia Quadrifoglio review

In a jaded world, where automative design is oft criticised for being bland and derivative, beauty like that portrayed by the 2022 Alfa Romeo Giulia Quadrifoglio stands out. From any angle, the Giulia is a stunning car – sedan or otherwise.

That it has to compete with the likes of the Mercedes-AMG C63, BMW M3 and Audi RS4 means it's a difficult row to hoe, but no other sedan does it with the style and panache of the Giulia.

Sure, it's trite to talk about Italian design flair, but the Giulia backs up the looks with fearsome outputs and performance potential. There's substance to the way the Giulia – in Quadrifoglio guise – goes about its work.

Our tester is painted in stunning Competizione Red, perfect for the fans of the marque or Alfisti as they have become known. This is the colour to have. Yes, the green looks amazing, but red evokes memories of glories past.

Starting from $143,500 before on-road costs, the paint adds $3650 and the wheels another $1300 for a starting price of $148,450 before on-road costs. That sits the Giulia Quadrifoglio neatly in the gunsights of its main competition and what the buyer of this type of car would expect.

Standard equipment steps up from Giulia Sport and includes the most obvious visual additions outside the car. The carbon-fibre bonnet, roof (both painted and hidden from view) plus rear spoiler and side skirts get things rolling. There is plenty of carbon fibre throughout the cabin as well.

The standard seats get leather and Alcantara trim, as does the steering wheel, while the quad exhaust tips and Pirelli P Zero Corsa rubber are also standard.

You also get heated front seats with power bolsters, leather gearshifter, proximity key, adaptive cruise control, dual-zone climate control, and aluminium pedals. There's adaptive suspension, a limited-slip differential, active cornering lights, ambient cabin lighting, and even heated rear outboard seats.

We know the Giulia is beautiful. We know it features plenty of standard equipment, and we know that it's fast around a track. Let's find out how it tackles the daily grind.

The word that springs to mind most obviously following the update to this car is mature. We didn't dislike the old Giulia, but the updated version feels more premium, more high quality, and more insulated, and most of that is evident inside the cabin.

Our tester has standard sports seats, which don't for one moment leave you wishing you had opted for the more expensive carbon-fibre seats. Those Sparcos might be better suited to track work, but we'll take the comfort of the stock seats in this car for day-to-day drives.

You sit nicely down into the cabin, and visibility is excellent from behind the wheel. Extra-tall drivers might like a bit more rearward seat movement, and the second row is out of play with a tall driver up front, but for most drivers there's adequate adjustment and space. The steering wheel looks beautiful, straight ahead, and there's an elegance and class to the cabin in general.

Second-row space is tight with tall occupants up front, but there's room in there for adults so long as the front occupants aren't giants. Limited headroom is also a factor for tall passengers. Second-row passengers get air vents, USB ports, heated outer seats and decent visibility, but a little bit more space would be welcome.

Cargo space measures 480L in the boot, which is about right for the segment, and you can fold the seat backs down if you need to access space for longer items.

If you're a traditionalist, you'll love the fact that Alfa has stayed with a set of almost retro style, classic dials for the driver. Clear and classy, they evoke memories of Alfas past and offer a modern take on the old world.

I love the way they are set into deep hoods, and they tell you exactly what you need to know as the driver. No fancy, tech-heavy adaptive dials here. After all, when you're flat out on your favourite road, you don't need to be worrying about interactive displays. There is a digital display between the gauges, though, of course.

Gone is the previous infotainment screen, replaced by the updated 8.8-inch offering, which is vastly superior in both look and usage to the old model. It's much easier to use, has smartphone connectivity that works, and is clear. It's perhaps still not up with the best in the segment, but the improvements made over the previous system are worthwhile.

Along with touchscreen functionality, infotainment controls sit behind the shifter and include a traditional rotary dial for volume, as well as the larger dial to control the more in-depth functionality on the go. It's easy to use once you work it out, but the dial itself doesn't feel as meaty as some of the Giulia's premium rivals.

Likewise the proprietary satellite navigation, which works well enough, but isn't as up-to-date as the best on offer. If you're like me, you'll be preferencing your smartphone in any case with wired Apple CarPlay and Android Auto.

Alfa has also integrated wireless smartphone charging, which locates the phone in an easy to reach, secure location out of sight. I don't like wireless charging personally, in that my phone gets way too hot for my liking, but the location of the charger is clever.

Tested back in 2016 by Euro NCAP, the Giulia gets a full, five-star ANCAP safety rating for Australia from February 2017 on.

Along with a suite of six airbags as you'd expect, the Giulia also gets adaptive cruise control with traffic jam assist, lane-keep assist, autonomous emergency braking with pedestrian detection, active blind-spot monitoring with rear cross-traffic alert, traffic sign recognition and driver attention monitoring.

There's also a rear-view camera (but no 360-degree camera), automatic high beams, bi-xenon headlights with adaptive front lighting, rear parking sensors and rain-sensing wipers.

Given the breadth of the performance envelope, the Giulia Quadrifoglio is actually impressively frugal in the real world. Acceleration from 0–100km/h in just 3.9 seconds and on to a top speed of 307km/h hardly suggests fuel use has been a focal point for the engineering team. And yet, it is relatively frugal.

The combined claim as per the ADR testing regime is just 8.2L/100km, and on test we used an indicated 10.3L/100km. It does require premium fuel, and the tank is just 58L, but out on the open road in cruising mode, you'll cover plenty of ground between refills.

Servicing ain't cheap, but then you can't brag about your Ferrari-derived engine and expect it to cost the same to service as a Toyota Corolla. Keep an eye out for the four-year/60,000km service at $2095 for that one visit alone.

You'll pay $2465 over the first three years, and $5245 over the first five years to have the servicing carried out by Alfa Romeo. We'd love to see Alfa Romeo move to a five-year warranty in Australia, as per the main competitors, but for the moment it's the old-school three-year/unlimited-kilometre coverage.

The proof of any performance sedan is in the driving, and as expected, the Quadrifoglio delivers giant-killing performance. The 2.9-litre bi-turbo V6 is a fire-breathing monster hammering out 375kW and 600Nm. If you've seen the footage of the Giulia being punted round the Nurburgring for its lap time a few years back, you'll know it delivers under pressure too.

It's capable of a 3.9-second run to 100km/h, partnered with an excellent eight-speed ZF automatic, and on to a top speed of 307km/h. There's no doubt that this V6 is an exceptional execution of engineering, regardless of whether it has Ferrari input or not.

Tipping the scales just over the 1600kg mark, the Alfa feels sharp on any road. Torque delivery has been expertly coaxed to unload at points through the range, too, so that you don't get a full serve of tyre-disintegrating power in one hit. Clever. And it works.

Once you've pressed the race-inspired starter button and the V6 has cracked into life, it settles into a foreboding idle. There's a hint to what lies beneath, even at standstill.

Interestingly, in regular city mode, there's no droning or nastiness to the exhaust note. The V6 is, in fact, relatively sedate. The duality of character is well executed in the Quadrifoglio. The 19-inch wheels and slim sidewalls on our test car ride nicely over our rubbish urban road network too. Generally speaking, the Giulia is comfortable and composed.

Standing around eyeing off the Giulia's stunning lines, the Drive team opined that the wheels look primed for some gutter rash, though, so park well away from the kerb, lest you incur a hefty repair bill...

At city speeds, the Giulia is well behaved, with no snatchy throttle response or snarkiness to the steering. It cruises around town with ease and comfort.

A few of us noted that it takes some time to get used to the brake pedal feel, with Alfa Romeo using a brake-by-wire system – it's bitey from first touch, and you need to dial into it if you're jumping out of one car and into the Giulia quickly. If you drive one car all the time, though, that will quickly fade away.

Shift into Dynamic mode and the aforementioned duality of character comes to the fore. There's a nastier note to the exhaust symphony, the throttle and brake reactions sharpen up, and the dampers stiffen to a more attack-minded focus. On that note, the engine loves revs – in a 'give me more of them' kind of way.

It's a deep love that you'll soon explore as the V6 screams to redline. It's addictive. You'll keep doing it, looking for roads that allow you to explore the outer edges of the rev range safely. The harder the V6 revs, the more you feel the sting in the tail, and very quickly you're at racetrack-only speeds.

Book in a track day. You'll need to experience what the Quadrifoglio is capable of at least once.

On a dry road, the Giulia is blisteringly fast, and relatively easy to drive fast too. It's the most simple of automotive pleasures – front engine, excellent gearbox, rear-wheel drive, and a competent chassis. Too rare now, but once the domain of performance cars of old, the Giulia is a razor-sharp reminder that having front wheels that don't share the load of both driving and steering is an advantage you can measure by the smile on your face as you slice through another corner.

You'll work hard, and need to have your wits about you on a wet road or track if you want to hustle, but the truly great cars reward the committed and capable driver, and the Giulia is one such car. The electronic fun police are there to catch you if things go sideways, but they don't intrude on your fun too much, either. It's a near perfect balance, we think.

The front-engine, rear-wheel-drive characteristic is most notable in the feel of the steering through your hands. There's a precision and balance to the way the nose of the Giulia behaves, and does exactly what you ask of it, with a deft touch and lightness.

The truly engaging sports cars – no matter their body style – deliver this kind of engagement and feedback. And it makes the Giulia an enjoyable conveyance on any road. Race mode is a track-only affair the way we see it, with the electronic aids deactivated and sharpness that will bite if you get a little too enthusiastic.

The Giulia has always been, and remains, a stunning execution of Italian design nous and attention to detail. There are fast sedans, and then there's the Alfa Romeo Giulia Quadrifoglio.

It stands out in any company and can take pride of place in a parking lot full of supercars. It's just as at-home on a twisty road too. Every drive is engaging, and there's a sense of theatre to every interaction. This isn't just a beautiful sedan, though, it's also capable and brutally fast in the right hands.

It might be trite to write it, but the Giulia isn't perfect. Then again, no performance sedan is. With our harsh assessment hats on, we can find small faults in every competitor in the same way we can the Giulia. That's not the point, though, is it? Flawed genius is still genius.

The stylish sedan has always been a staple of European motoring design, and it's pleasing to see some brands persisting despite the ever-increasing onslaught of SUVs – performance or otherwise.

As pretty as a Stelvio is, if you're an Alfa Romeo fan, I'd be advising you to opt for the Giulia every time. Furthermore, if you can afford a Quadrifoglio, get one. You'll be rewarded every time you drive it.