Growing up as an Alfa Romeo fan in the 2000s and 2010s was an odd experience. On the one hand, there was Jeremy Clarkson, telling us every other week that ‘you can’t be a proper petrolhead until you’ve owned an Alfa’.
On the other hand, every time I’d excitedly leaf through a car magazine for a review of the company’s latest offering, I’d always be met by words like ‘mediocre,’ ‘underwhelming’, and ‘disappointing’. I think my first real heartbreak came as I read various first drives of the gorgeous carbon-tubbed 4C.
Clearly, this was a company capable of greatness, but never quite in a position to deliver it during my nascent enthusiast days. (This didn’t stop me from buying a 159 many, many years later. Which went well.)
Alfa Romeo Giulia Quadrifoglio – front, static
In 2015, though, something changed. I still vividly remember the day, a full decade ago, when the first pictures and accompanying specs of the Giulia Quadrifoglio were unveiled. A brand new rear-wheel drive chassis after so many years of front-drive disappointment. A 2.9-litre, twin-turbo V6, which may or may not have been a Ferrari V8 with two cylinders lopped off, sending a corking 503bhp to the rear wheels. This, after so many years of mediocrity, seemed like the car Alfa was crying out for.
But this was Alfa – surely it’d still find a way to muck it up? Nope. When the first reviews came in, I braced myself for more disappointment, but instead, the Giulia Quadrifoglio was a triumph. Here, finally, was something that paired that unexplainable Alfa-ness with genuine performance and a proper M3-equalling driving experience.
Alfa Romeo Giulia Quadrifoglio – rear, static
As the years have rolled on and the Giulia’s chief rivals have become heavier and more complex, or vanished altogether, its recipe has only become more appealing. But now, having comfortably outlasted the average automotive lifespan, time’s finally running out for the current Giulia Quadrifoglio.
So hopefully, you’ll excuse me a bit of self-indulgence here. I’ve been dreaming about this car for 10 years, and managed to worm my way into a job that’ll allow me to drive one just before it disappears. Time, then, to get properly acquainted with the Giulia Quadrifoglio.
Alfa Romeo Giulia Quadrifoglio – interior
In many ways, the years haven’t been particularly kind to the Quad. Its interior, never really up to the standard of rivals at launch, now feels a good generation or two behind. More pertinently, though, the once-vicious bark of its V6 has been gagged by ever-tighter noise regulations, to the point that when you fire up the 2025 car, you may as well be driving an EV.
Other things have only gotten better, though. A 2023 update brought that SZ-referencing six-eyed headlight arrangement, but more importantly, an uplift to 523bhp and a proper mechanical limited-slip diff to replace the old electric one that occasionally liked to cook itself during heavy track use.
Alfa Romeo Giulia Quadrifoglio – front detail
Despite the subtle updates, though, the Quadrifoglio looks as good now as it did a decade ago. Gorgeous curves ripple with subtle, bulging menace. Only the little details – a vent here, a carbon fibre lip there – give away the explosive performance beneath.
The illusion of civility continues when you move off. It’s exceptional at slinking around town – calm, quiet, and riding with a grace and suppleness that shows just how much love and effort’s been poured into the chassis.
Alfa Romeo Giulia Quadrifoglio – side detail, driving
But once you’ve twisted the little DNA dial into ‘D’ for Dynamic, its real character makes itself known. The engine wakes up and finally reveals a little of that character, unleashing its ferocious power with minimal lag and a still-distant but unmistakably ferocious rasp.
The speed is impressive, but lots of cars are fast these days. What really makes the Giulia stand out is the way it blends that pace with other things. There’s the ferocity of the brakes, with very little of the odd squidginess and vagueness found in lesser Giulias, despite it using the same brake-by-wire system.
Alfa Romeo Giulia Quadrifoglio – rear, driving
There’s the steering, ultra-quick and delicate and not to everyone’s taste for that reason, but with more feedback than plenty of modern systems, and so wonderful to dial in down a particularly windy road. And there’s the superb damping, as fluid, composed and comfortable with ruts and bumps out in the countryside as it is around town.
But most of all, there’s the Quadrifoglio’s wild streak. The default super saloon recipe in 2025 calls for all-wheel drive, but with the Quad still sending all 523 of its horses solely to the rear, it’s a car that deserves respect. With all the systems set to Dynamic, it becomes frisky and feral, whacking you in the back on upshifts and treating you to little shimmies out of junctions and tight bends. Wet weather is not something to be taken lightly.
Alfa Romeo Giulia Quadrifoglio – engine bay
It’s a little intimidating, but mostly it’s utterly beguiling, an anachronistic reminder of a time when more cars were built to thrill above all else. It feels like the product of a company that, just for one moment in the mid-2010s, remembered what it was that made people love it, and had the means and the motivation to bring that back.
Since the Giulia and Stelvio Quadrifoglio launched, there’s been very little to tantalise enthusiasts. The Junior Veloce is lots of fun, but as an electric performance crossover, it will surely only find a limited audience. Not as limited as the 33 Stradale supercar, though, which is so rare it may as well have been a concept car for all the real world relevance it has.
Alfa Romeo Giulia Quadrifoglio – detail
It’ll fall to the next generation of Giulia Quadrifoglio to change that, and while I’m cautiously optimistic, it’s got an awfully tough act to follow. The outgoing car feels like the last of a dying breed – the feisty, stylish and slightly unhinged super saloon. The fact that it came from a brand that means so much to so many, and that had spent so long mired in mediocrity, only underscores how magical it is.
I truly hope the Giulia Quadrifoglio wasn’t a flash in the pan for Alfa, but if it was, it’ll forever serve as a reminder that this perennial underdog company can occasionally deliver something truly magnificent. One thing’s for sure, though: there’ll never be another car quite like it.
#Goodbye #Alfa #Romeo #Giulia #Quadrifoglio
