There’s Something About Giulia
My friends at Winger Alfa Romeo were kind enough to offer me their Giulia Quadrifoglio for the weekend, but that, in turn, invoked a fair amount of inner turmoil.
Although I had been chomping at the bit to drive the Giulia again, as most Alfa owners would probably attest, the Romeos of old have a bit of a reputation. They are beautifully designed and wonderfully entertaining vehicles, but have a tendency to be a little, let’s just say, temperamental.
To add to my nail biting, the Auckland weather bureau had forecast torrential rain. Now I’m not sure about you, but having access to an Italian sports car with 375kWs of power, 600Nm of torques is great, but driving it on sodden and slippery tarmac is a challenge to the confidence.
Anyway, with the keys in my hand, and the strictest of orders not to drive in Race mode, I headed north out of Newmarket.
Being stuck in highway traffic gave me plenty of time to check out Giulia’s cabin. The leather and Alcantara upholstered seats are form fitting (even mine), firm and yet not painfully so. The QV leather steering wheel with red starter button really means business, as do the fixed, mounted and very large gear paddles (which I used a lot). She has carbon fibre trim throughout her interior, which adds to the racy theme, but also comes loaded with driver and safety aids such as rear camera, front and rear parking sensors, active cruise control, lane departure warning and blind spot monitoring (with rear cross path detection). Oh, and let’s not forget the 8.8-inch colour display screen that offers navigation and a Harman/Kardon sound theatre that isn’t the loudest or most powerful, but, like me, I doubt you’ll care.
Heading through the tunnel gave me a chance to listen to the sound of Giulia’s voice, a tap down of several gears let the rev needle spin quickly clockwise and, in turn, released the glory of the 2.9L V6 bi-turbo through the open baffled Monza exhaust, all while staying well within the legal speed limits.
With traffic easing and some country roads to play with, it was time to turn that dial. Giulia’s DNA (+race) is controlled via an attractive dial near the gear lever. It changes the car’s driving modes to suit different driving conditions. The A is for all-weather, ideal for the conditions I was facing. It turns all the traction settings to their peak and tames the horses the V6 powerhouse produces. N is for neutral, it’s for that everyday drive. Then there’s D for dynamic, a frisky drive that increases the pulse rate. (We’re not to speak of gloves-off mode, Race). As I stated earlier, I actually thought that driving in D mode in the rain would have been too much, but it was not the case. Giulia’s active suspension, torque vectoring and tidy traction control allowed a very spirited and yet very confident drive, with a little wiggle here and there to keep me focused.
As the weather eased a little, I took the opportunity to park up and admire the Giulia’s shape and form. Dressed in Vulcano black, this is a four-door, four-seat, executive vehicle, but from its 19-inch forged alloys, near ground-level carbon-fibre active aero splitter, carbon-fibre bonnet, roof and rear spoiler and red brake callipers, it’s every bit the performance sports car.
The Giulia heralds a new chapter for Alfa, one that includes stringent and multiple quality control checks and balances and I have to say, she didn’t miss a beat in my care, sigh. Enough of all that, time to hit the road again.
The Alfa Romeo Giulia Quadrifoglio is at heart a driver’s car. It not only has the looks and pizazz the Alfas are renowned for, but also boasts reliability and confidence that has maybe been a little lacking in the past. I have no doubt that over time Giulia will inherit a few of her own foibles (after all, she has Alfa DNA), but I think in the end, that will just endear her to us further – because there really is, something about Giulia.