Houston Auto Show: This is the True Power of the 2017 Alfa Romeo Giulia Quadrifoglio

By Derek Shiekhi - January 29, 2016

The 2017 Alfa Romeo Giulia Quadrifoglio made me feel like a child again – and I haven’t even driven it yet.

On the evening of January 26, I attended the preview gala before the media day and official start of the 2016 Houston Auto Show on the 27th. Wearing my big boy suit and drinking something that only adults can legally consume, I noticed that not only was I drawn to the Italian M3-fighter, but others were as well. Perhaps it was its luscious red paint or the eye-catching yellow 4C Spider next to it.

Whatever it was, the Giulia’s popularity brought me back to my childhood, when any time I heard the word “Italian,” I pictured pretty girls, attractive clothing, and fancy shoes. To me, it was synonymous with “cool.” Obviously, the adults taking long looks at the Giulia’s striking bi-xenon projector headlamps, sculpted 19-inch wheels, upswept profile lines, and the elegant geometry of its LED taillights over the rims of their wine glasses felt the same.

So it came as no surprise the next morning at Alfa Romeo’s press conference to hear that the new Giulia was a popular exhibit. On the other hand, its stats did. I had known it was going to be poised as a rival to the 425-horsepower BMW M3, but I had no idea just how potent of one it would end up being, at least on paper. Under the Giulia Quadrifoglio’s carbon fiber hood is a direct-injected 2.9-liter twin-turbo V6 that produces 505 horsepower and 443 pound-feet of torque.

Those numbers get funneled through an available six-speed manual (another transmission option will be announced at a later date), the four-mode (Dynamic, Natural, Advanced Efficiency, and Race) Alfa DNA Pro drive mode selector’s electronic brain, a carbon fiber driveshaft, and torque-vectoring rear-wheel drive. When they’re shot out onto pavement, they add up to a 0-60 mph time of 3.8 seconds and, eventually, a top speed of 191 mph. (The Giulia’s German competitor can hit 60 in as little as 3.9 seconds and tops out at an electronically limited 156 mph.) In Germany, those impressive output figures and the Giulia’s extensive use of lightweight aluminum in areas such as the front and rear frames, doors, and fenders enabled the Giulia to lap the Nürburgring in 7:39.

Production of North-America-bound Giulia Quadrifoglios will begin late in the second quarter of this year in Frosinone, Italy. They’ll be available in seven exterior colors and with five leather and Alcantara interior combinations. Expect a starting price of around $70,000 – and me to revert back to my eight-year-old self if I get my hands on one to review for this site.