The segment for luxury performance sedans has typically been dominated by the Germans, with BMW’s M3 and the Mercedes-AMG C63 becoming a familiar sight on Australia’s roads.
If you’re after something a little different, with a bit of Italian flair and styling, the new Alfa Romeo Giulia QV will arrive in February 2017 – and at $143,900 will sit squarely between BMW and Mercedes’ offerings.
But is the Giulia QV a true competitor to the German stalwarts? In theory, it’s a resounding yes. Under the bonnet, the Giulia QV has a powerful Ferrari-inspired twin-turbo V6 engine.
It can accelerate from standstill to 100km/h in just 3.9 seconds and tops out at a blistering 305km/h, thanks to its 2.9-litre 375kW engine.
Teamed with a quick-shifting 8-speed automatic transmission, as well as active aerodynamics (the front splitter lowers at speed) and torque vectoring, the Giulia QV is more than capable of taking the fight to the Germans.
The Giulia QV has also been given a generous serving of carbon fibre for weight reduction, and combined with its twin-turbo engine, the result is exceptional performance.
In fact, the Giulia QV is the current record holder for the fastest four-door production car to lap the Nurburgring, beating out both the BMW M3 and the Mercedes-AMG C63 S.
Unfortunately, the Giulia QV struggles a little compared to the likes of BMW and Mercedes when it comes to the interior fit and finish.
On paper you’ve got all the trappings of what you’d expect from a luxury performance sedan, including leather-wrapped surfaces throughout, a Harmon Kardon 14-speaker sound system, and a bespoke 8.8-inch multimedia screen housing the infotainment controls – but reports suggest that the level of finishing is not quite at the same level as its competitors, a criticism that Alfa Romeo has also faced in the past.
As a pure sports sedan the Giulia QV performs spectacularly well on a track, but we’ve yet to see how it will handle Aussie roads and if it can compete with its German rivals as a daily driver.
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