First Place: Alfa Romeo Giulia Quadrifoglio
THE BEST ALL-ROUNDER
To judge a brand-new car’s expected reliability by the reputation of a car produced 30 years ago is absurd, but bad reputations are tough to shake, especially one as well earned as Alfa Romeo’s. Alas every conversation we had about the Giulia Quadrifoglio included concerns of impending catastrophic breakdown. To our surprise, the Alfa showed no sign of weakness during this long, abusive test. Instead, it charmed us all and crippled the competition, claiming an easy victory.
Why so easy? The sheer breadth of its capabilities. The Giulia is a jack-of-all-trades and master of most. Whereas most cars do one thing well at the expense of everything else, the Giulia simply does everything well. For example, it rides so smoothly, is so quiet inside, and cruises down the highway with such relaxed confidence that we GPS-verified its speedometer to ensure it wasn’t optimistic by 15 mph.
But then, with the mode selector in Race mode, the Alfa forgets about luxury, transforming into a violent sports sedan with a bad boy attitude none of its three competitors can come close to matching. On track, the Alfa demonstrates athleticism nearing the Cadillac’s but manages an even quicker lap time. The Giulia’s torque-vectoring rear differential helps put every one of its 505 horsepower to good use. There’s no accidental tire smoke here. In fact, the Giulia doesn’t like to do powerslides; it just wants to be fast.
Speaking of fast, the Alfa’s steering uses an obscenely quick ratio, 11.8:1 with just 2.3 turns from lock to lock. The electrically assisted steering is as light as a Ferrari’s and almost as precise, giving its driver the impression that the Giulia is weightless. Aided by hyperaggressive 60-tread-wear Pirelli P Zero Corsa tires, cornering grip is yuge, which left us puzzled when the Alfa tied the BMW for the least skidpad grip of the group.
Ignore that number. In fact, ignore all numbers because whether driving in a straight line, in corners, or on a racetrack, the Alfa is incredible. Over broken, twisty tarmac, this sedan’s family lineage becomes clear. Ferrari’s former chief engineer Roberto Fedeli is now Alfa Romeo’s chief technical officer, and the Quadrifoglio’s dynamics bear his stamp. This five-seater possesses the same preternatural ability as the best recent Ferraris to follow your wishes no matter how absurd the request. It does things that seem impossible, feeling like it could change direction while airborne. It shrugs off jumps, bumps, surface changes, and camber swaps as if the laws of physics were rewritten especially for it. You know there must be electronic trickery happening, yet you feel none of it. And better, all of this capability is met with equal parts fun, and that’s something so often missing in very fast cars. The Giulia Quadrifoglio is the closest thing to a Ferrari sedan you can buy.
First Place: Alfa Romeo Giulia Quadrifoglio
THE BEST ALL-ROUNDER
To judge a brand-new car’s expected reliability by the reputation of a car produced 30 years ago is absurd, but bad reputations are tough to shake, especially one as well earned as Alfa Romeo’s. Alas every conversation we had about the Giulia Quadrifoglio included concerns of impending catastrophic breakdown. To our surprise, the Alfa showed no sign of weakness during this long, abusive test. Instead, it charmed us all and crippled the competition, claiming an easy victory.
Why so easy? The sheer breadth of its capabilities. The Giulia is a jack-of-all-trades and master of most. Whereas most cars do one thing well at the expense of everything else, the Giulia simply does everything well. For example, it rides so smoothly, is so quiet inside, and cruises down the highway with such relaxed confidence that we GPS-verified its speedometer to ensure it wasn’t optimistic by 15 mph.
But then, with the mode selector in Race mode, the Alfa forgets about luxury, transforming into a violent sports sedan with a bad boy attitude none of its three competitors can come close to matching. On track, the Alfa demonstrates athleticism nearing the Cadillac’s but manages an even quicker lap time. The Giulia’s torque-vectoring rear differential helps put every one of its 505 horsepower to good use. There’s no accidental tire smoke here. In fact, the Giulia doesn’t like to do powerslides; it just wants to be fast.
Speaking of fast, the Alfa’s steering uses an obscenely quick ratio, 11.8:1 with just 2.3 turns from lock to lock. The electrically assisted steering is as light as a Ferrari’s and almost as precise, giving its driver the impression that the Giulia is weightless. Aided by hyperaggressive 60-tread-wear Pirelli P Zero Corsa tires, cornering grip is yuge, which left us puzzled when the Alfa tied the BMW for the least skidpad grip of the group.
Ignore that number. In fact, ignore all numbers because whether driving in a straight line, in corners, or on a racetrack, the Alfa is incredible. Over broken, twisty tarmac, this sedan’s family lineage becomes clear. Ferrari’s former chief engineer Roberto Fedeli is now Alfa Romeo’s chief technical officer, and the Quadrifoglio’s dynamics bear his stamp. This five-seater possesses the same preternatural ability as the best recent Ferraris to follow your wishes no matter how absurd the request. It does things that seem impossible, feeling like it could change direction while airborne. It shrugs off jumps, bumps, surface changes, and camber swaps as if the laws of physics were rewritten especially for it. You know there must be electronic trickery happening, yet you feel none of it. And better, all of this capability is met with equal parts fun, and that’s something so often missing in very fast cars. The Giulia Quadrifoglio is the closest thing to a Ferrari sedan you can buy.