Alfa Romeo Giulia Quadrifoglio Review & Prices

If you’re looking for a high-performance car that’s also comfortable and practical enough to serve you on the school run and weekly shop duties, the Alfa Romeo Giulia Quadrifoglio is the pick of the bunch.

You could also consider fantastic alternatives such as the BMW M3, Mercedes-AMG C63 S and Audi RS4 Avant, but none has quite the intoxicating combination of fun and practicality with such little compromise as the Giulia Quadrifoglio.

It’s a bit like someone who’s beautiful, charming and incredibly intelligent. The Alfa has it all – and a few updates for 2024 mean it’s even better than before.

Well, almost. Let’s get the negatives out of the way, because it won’t take long. The interior is a bit disappointing considering the price, with an infotainment system that’s laggier than an ancient iPad. The BMW, Mercedes and Audi feel considerably more special inside and it’s all that stands in the way of this being a 10/10 car.

You soon forget about all that once you head out onto the road. The petrol engine’s power output has increased from 503hp to 520hp, and while that’s not really noticeable, when you put your foot down it charges through the revs with giddying enthusiasm, accompanied by a sound that’s more like Pavarotti at full tilt than the synthetic techno of its German alternatives. Adding the optional Akrapovic exhaust is like turning the opera up to 11.

On a twisty road it feels more like a purpose-built sports car than a spicy family saloon. The suspension soaks up bumps nicely even in its sportier settings, so you don’t feel like you’re being rattled around like you do in the BMW M3. There’s loads of grip, and a new-for-2024 mechanical limited-slip differential at the rear helps put that power into the road. It means you can accelerate out of corners with more confidence, rather than feeling like you’re barely holding onto a rollercoaster ride, as can sometimes be the case in the BMW.

And when you want to take it easy, that suspension means you don’t feel like you’ve compromised everyday comfort to access that exhilarating cornering ability. It’s largely quiet and refined inside too, though there’s a touch more road noise on the motorway than in the regular model and an annoying ruffle of wind around the wing mirrors.

Practicality is decent, with the 480-litre boot identical to that in the M3, and considerably more than the Mercedes-AMG C63 S. If you do need more space, the Audi RS4 Avant and M3 Touring are an option, with their estate body shapes.

As a result, there are few compromises to this practical performance car. It’s a bit noisy on the motorway and the infotainment system will get on your nerves, but if you want the best all-round driver’s car it’s tough to beat. It’s even reasonably priced compared with alternatives.

If you like what you’ve read so far, find out how much you could save by checking out the latest Alfa Romeo Giulia Quadrifoglio deals on Carwow. You can also browse used Giulia Quadrifoglios as well as other used Alfa Romeo models. When it’s time to sell your current car, Carwow can help there too.

The Alfa Romeo Giulia Quadrofoglio starts at just under £80,000 – and although that makes it nearly twice the price of the basic, non-Quadrifoglio Giulia, it looks like pretty good value compared with alternatives. The BMW M3 is a bit pricier at just over £80,000, though you can go mad with extras to take it over £100,000. That takes you to the region of the Mercedes-AMG C63 S’s £98,000 starting price, too. The Audi RS4 Avant is a bit more affordable, starting at just over £70,000, but again, it’s easy to increase this considerably.

Standard kit includes that new mechanical limited-slip differential and an upgraded 12.3-inch instrument display for 2024. You also get a Harmon Kardon sound system and plenty of lightweight carbon-fibre. The Akrapovic exhaust isn’t a cheap upgrade though, at £3,500.

An absolute joy to pilot down some twisty roads, but it’s a bit noisy on the motorway

In town

The Giulia Quadrifoglio’s family saloon roots mean that it’s largely very easy to drive around town. While the regular car is a bit jiggly over bumps, there’s not a huge difference to this hot version, so compared with alternatives it’s actually pretty comfortable. Visibility is decent too, though if you like a high driving position the Stelvio Quadrifoglio might be more your cup of espresso.

The fabulous 19-inch alloy wheels are a bit of a menace in town though, because you will wince at every pothole and your heart rate might triple at the prospect of kerbside parallel parking manoeuvres. You do at least get front and rear parking sensors, as well as a rear-view camera as standard, which help reduce your stress levels.

On the motorway

It’s on the motorway where it’s easiest to find fault with the Giulia Quadrofgolio. Those big alloy wheels and sporty tyres mean there’s a bit more tyre roar than in the standard car, and there’s some buffeting around the wing mirrors that’s just noticeable enough to be annoying. It sounds a bit like a window has been left open a crack.

Aside from this, it’s a comfortable car to eat up miles in, and the excellent driving position means you should get to your destination well-rested. Adaptive cruise control, which maintains your distance to the car in front, is standard-fit, and you can upgrade to a system that also nudges the wheel to keep you centred in your lane.

On a twisty road

Twisty roads are the Giulia Quadrifoglio’s natural habitat. Any other minor niggles and complaints go immediately out of the window when you start attacking corners, because everything is perfectly judged for this type of driving.

The steering is a great weight so it’s easy to judge your inputs and position on the road, the brakes are strong, and there’s bundles of grip. The new mechanical limited-slip differential means you can put your foot down hard when exiting a corner and feel the tyres biting into the road to catapult you out the other side. The engine is incredibly responsive and sounds glorious, too.

Where it really impresses is the suspension, though. The BMW M3 is a fantastic thing, but it feels like it’s set up for a smooth race track, so on the UK’s lunar surface-esque road network it can feel like it's punching and fighting its way down the road. It’s often a bit of a workout, whereas the Giulia Quadrifoglio feels much more composed and able to smooth out imperfections, so you can relax into a flow and really enjoy the performance. Handy drivers might get more out of the BMW, but the Alfa Romeo feels more approachable more of the time, with a wild side ready to break out if you’re in the mood.

Optional extras? Go for the Akrapovic exhaust if you really want to maximise the soundtrack to your hooliganism, even if it is a bit pricey. Carbon ceramic brakes might be useful if you intend on doing a lot of track driving, but they’re a £6,000 option and the standard brakes are more than good enough for fast road driving.

Usefully spacious and practical, but it’s not the easiest car to get in and out of

As is always important for a performance car, the Giulia’s driving position is excellent. You sit quite low but there’s a lot of adjustability in the steering wheel and seat so you can get comfortable even if you’re quite tall. The only annoying thing is that the thick seat bolsters can get in the way of your elbows when turning, so you might have to push the wheel a bit further away from you than is ideal.

Visibility is good forwards and to the side, though the rear window is quite narrow, and while that low driving position is good when you’re having fun on a country road, you might prefer the higher driving position of an SUV when driving around town, so you can see further ahead.

Storage is fine, with a cubby hole beneath the armrest and a pair of cupholders in front of the gear lever, with another storage area sitting ahead of this. The door bins are on the small side, though.

Space in the back seats

Rear seat space is good enough, with decent leg and headroom once you’re in. However, the car sits quite low to the ground, so it’s not the easiest thing to get in and out of. A BMW M3 is a bit more spacious, but not much.

Practicality isn’t brilliant in the back, again thanks to door bins that aren’t particularly big, though you do at least get two USB slots to avoid potential iPad charging arguments on a long trip.

There are ISOFIX mounting points in the outer seats that are easy enough to get to, and the rear doors open wide so it’s not too tricky to get inside. Again, though, being low to the ground means it’s trickier bending down to fetch a child from the seat than it would be in an SUV.

Boot space

The Giulia’s boot is a good size – at 480 litres it’s actually identical to the one in a BMW M3. It’s considerably more spacious than the boot in the Mercedes-AMG C63 S, which is just 315 litres because the hybrid batteries eat into space. If you really want a performance car with maximum boot, the Audi RS4 Avant is an estate and gets 495 litres of capacity.

Where the estate also wins is ease of access, because the Giulia’s saloon shape means the opening isn’t very big and the boot roof is quite low, so you can’t get carried away on a trip to IKEA and expect to get everything home.

The interior has some suitably sporty touches, but the design lacks sparkle and the infotainment system is sluggish

Nothing is perfect, and for all the Alfa Romeo Giulia Quadrifoglio’s exterior design flair and fantastic driving experience, it has a rather underwhelming interior. It’s ergonomically excellent for the most part, with a great driving position and everything you regularly use within close reach. The gear shifting paddles behind the wheel are satisfying to use, though they don’t make it easy to use the indicator stalk.

Then there’s the design itself, which is fine in its simplicity but is also completely at odds with the head-turning character of the exterior styling. The Quadrifoglio model does stand out thanks to its carbon fibre trim pieces, though it doesn’t have a shiny coating so you can feel the roughness of the weave. This is cool in theory but feels unfinished in practice.

The real fly in the ointment is the infotainment system, which is sluggish and feels totally outdated. On-board car tech has really turned a corner and is now almost up there with the best tablets for speed and user-friendliness, leaving the Giulia’s system far behind. At least you get Apple CarPlay and Android Auto connectivity, so you can largely avoid the built-in system.

Ultimately, interior sparkle and quality is a bit disappointing, and there’s no denying that all of its competitors provide a better experience here with multiple large screens and poshness worthy of the price tag. Whether this matters will be a personal choice.

The Alfa Romeo Giulia Quadrifoglio has a 2.9-litre petrol V6 engine making 520hp, an increase from the previous model’s 503hp. Power is sent to the rear wheels and contributes to a 0-62mph time of just 3.9 seconds and a top speed of 191mph.

These performance figures are roughly on par with the BMW M3 and Audi RS4 Avant, though the Alfa Romeo really runs away for top speed, even if you remove those cars’ 155mph limits. The Mercedes-AMG C63 S beats all on paper though, with its hybrid engine making 680hp and its 3.4-second 0-62mph time.

Official fuel economy figures register 28.0mpg on the combined cycle, but you’ll be lucky to get much above 20mpg unless you drive like a saint. (Though to be fair, this is again similar to the M3 et al.) Meanwhile CO2 emissions of 229g/km mean first-year Vehicle Excise Duty falls into the second-highest band, and there’s extra to pay in years two to six because the list price is above £40,000. Company car drivers will face the maximum benefit-in-kind rate of 37%, too.

The Alfa Romeo Giulia Quadrofoglio has not been safety tested by Euro NCAP specifically, but the regular Giulia model scored five stars out of five when it was tested back in 2016. That rating has now expired because the test has become stricter since then, but regardless, the 98% score for adult occupant protection is good to know.

Standard assistance kit includes all of the basics, such as blind spot monitoring, lane-keeping assistance and adaptive cruise control. A driving assistance pack is available for £1,100, which adds the function to automatically stop and start in slow-moving traffic, and a system that maintains your speed and position in lane on the motorway, providing you keep your hands on the wheel.

You’ve probably already heard jokes about how unreliable Alfa Romeo’s cars are, and unfortunately in this case, there’s no smoke without fire. The brand regularly performs quite poorly in reliability surveys, and the Giulia itself continues this trend. Although it seems interior build quality and engines are positives, a relatively high number of owners report other minor problems that need to be sorted.

If you’re buying new, you do at least get the peace of mind of an unlimited mileage warranty for the first three years. This is similar to what most alternatives offer.