Video: 2017 Alfa Romeo Giulia Quadrifoglio Video Review

But first we need to talk about this thing. This is the 2017 Alfa Romeo Giulia. It's brand new for 2017. And it marks Alfa Romeo's return to the US market in volume. And if you're looking for a sports sedan this year, this thing has to be on your list because in a word it is magnifico. Let's start with the way it looks. You first up front, you have the alpha Romeo three sighted tree lobo grill. It's got the Alfa Romeo shield right in the middle and a very traditional look. On either side of it you've got standard by xenon headlamps on all models with led running lights and along the side, you see something interesting. This is the quadrifolio model. Now quadrifolio is Italian for four leaf clover and long story short, the reason alpha Romeo uses this is way back in 1923, one of their racing drivers, wasn't doing so hot, so he painted a four-leaf clover on the side of his car, and then he started winning races. And ever since then the quadrifolio model signifies either a racing Alpha Romeo or the top performance variant of that model. The quadrifolio model also designates a special powertrain. The base powertrain in the new Giulia is a 2L 280 horsepower turbocharged, four cylinder, but that's not the model you want. This is the model you want. The quadrifolio has a 505 horsepower twin turbo charged 2.9L V6. Now that is some serious power and it's a fantastic engine. Straight off the showroom floor, the quadrifolio model is a fantastic performer on the track. Alpha Romeo had a model just like this quadrifolio model and set a lap record at the Nurburgring. It's basically the fastest production sedan ever to go around the German Nurburgring. And that's faster than some dedicated two seat sports cars like the Lamborghini Gallardo Superleggera, that's pretty fantastic. When I took mine out onto the track, I see really what the hoopla is all about. The operative word here is balanced. It has a perfect 50 50 weight distribution, and that's thanks to a lot of carbon fiber parts, the hood, the roof, all carbon fiber. The drive shaft is carbon fiber, even on the lesser two-liter models, the doors are aluminum. So they're trying to make it really lightweight in order to preserve that balance. And it really does work. It feels like a lighter car than it actually is. And that balance translates to both track performance and street performance. Now most people aren't going to take their Alpha Romeo out onto the track, which is why the street performance is equally important. And on the Julia it's equally good. There's a little selector button inside called the DNA button. Now that sounds kind of gimmicky. Everybody else calls it a mode selector of some kind, but it actually does stand for DNA, dynamic, natural or advanced efficiency. And on the quadrifolio model, there's actually a fourth setting called race, which shuts off all the minders and can let you get into plenty of trouble. Don't use that one on the street, but selecting between natural and dynamic actually has quite an effect. Natural is totally docile. You can drive the car normally, even though it's got 500 horsepower and it feels perfectly fine, but if you switch it into dynamic mode, it really wakes things up. The throttle gets more responsive. The steering gets more responsive. It's a fantastic driving experience all around. This car really is best experienced from the front seat. But if you're going to be one of those people forced to sit in the back seat, well, your luck has run out. Upfront there's actually plenty of room. It's a little on the narrow side, but it's still very comfortable, as long as you don't get the sunroof, which eats out several inches from your headroom. The biggest problem is the backseat where I can't even sit behind myself because my feet don't fit into the foot well. There's just not enough room back there for most American sized people. So if you're not dead set on that new BMW three series, check out the new Alfa Romeo Giulia. The quadrifolio model is about $70,000 or so. And it's going to show up in show rooms, towards the end of 2016. The base model Giulia and Giulia TI are going to start around $40,000 and they're going to be here early next year.