Alfa Romeo Giulia Quadrifoglio: Should we differentiate?

Photo by Ben Grant on Unsplash

We all have our chosen favourites in life.

Whether it be lavish things in life, such as holiday destinations or jewellery, or down to the simple, everyday things we like or need to buy, for instance, the type or brand of pasta that we purchase.

Now, as this is a page for automotive journalism, you could make the assumption that I’m going to bring up cars next, and not keep talking about pasta. You would be correct.

The small saloon game is dominated by the big 3. Mercedes. BMW. Audi. This domination becomes even more apparent when referring to the high-performance variants of these models. The C63. The M3. The RS4.

If you’re in the market for a car like this, no thought is even required to land on the conclusion that one of the three models named above is the correct choice.

Or is it?

Where does Alfa Romeo fit?

Preference is subjective. One of life’s greatest mysteries unravelled by Prologue Menus. You’re welcome.

What I mean is the “correct choice” is the correct choice for whoever is buying the car.

But do people know what’s best for them? Sorry if that’s a bit profound.

The BMW M3 has been around for almost 40 years, an AMG badge on the back of a C Class since the 90s (and that’s not including the 190 E), and the first RS4 came out in 1999.

The choices have therefore been obvious. BMW is renowned for building some of the best driver’s cars to date, and when you build up almost 40 years of experience building on a model, it makes sense as to why people stick with this option. Same going for the Mercedes and Audi as well.

But this is not the only factor. Since these three brands started performing like 2019 Mane, Salah, and Firmino every year, it seems no other brand has ever really tried to break through.

Sure, we’ve had attempts from Lexus and Cadillac, but neither was able to solidify a place next to the main competition.

Up step Alfa Romeo. A brand that, between 2005 and 2015, was a rather unknown entity. The Busso engine had gone, as well as many famous models powered by it; in its place were a host of very pretty, rather interesting, but relatively slow models (barring the 8C and the 4C).

What approach Alfa Romeo was going to take to their lineup is like trying to predict the weather; it’s virtually impossible.

But it seems as if, at the end of this era, Alfa wanted to give one of the cliques a run for their money.

Alfa Romeo Giulia Quadrifoglio

Well, if you’re going to give it a go, you’re going to have to do it right.

The Giulia’s already elegant exterior was beefed up, larger bespoke alloys fitted, and seasoned with the finest carbon fibre.

Under the bonnet, a twin-turbocharged 2.9L V6, developing over 500 brake horsepower from launch, which at the time of release in 2016, was equal to the Benz, beating the M3 and the RS4.

Don’t for a second, however, think that the Quadrifoglio was just a big lump that could only do straight lines.

Like most sports saloons, the engine was at the front, and the power was sent to the rear wheels. It had an almost perfect 50/50 weight distribution, and as already mentioned, was made from a series of aluminium and carbon fibre parts to make the Giulia as light as possible.

And while Alfa Romeo throughout their history has dipped in and out of developing performance-oriented road cars, you never lose that ability. Alfa Romeo has the experience, just like the big 3 do in building performance cars, and that experience is more than evident in the Quadrifoglio.

The Quadrifoglio earned the right to feature alongside an M3 or a C63 when car journalists would compare them to tell you which is the best choice for you. While maybe less ‘everyday’ than its rivals, its level of ferocity and excitement was incomparable.

But, building a sports saloon in this market is more than just building a great sports saloon. (I apologise for all these deep contradictions).

You need to follow it up.

Almost a decade of the Giulia Quadrifoglio

The Giulia Quadrifoglio is almost the same car today (a few days off 2026 at the time of writing) as when released back in 2016.

Now there are two ways of looking at it. One, it is so good that it can sit there like a millionaire’s passive income stream and continue to rival the greatest sports saloons money can buy.

Two (and the more likely option) is that this is not ideal. BMW, Mercedes, and Audi, on average, turn over their new models every 5–6 years, meaning from the launch of the Giulia Quadrifoglio to now, all three have been able to create an even better version of the car Alfa Romeo was using as a reference point when building their version.

I’d like to make clear that this is not out of laziness. For Alfa Romeo to catch up to BMW, Mercedes, and Audi, they’d have to keep turning out similar models for decades, before their model is considered a staple of the industry, rather than just a ‘niche’ or ‘left-field’ option.

And considering that despite their incredible efforts, the Giulia Quadriofoglio did not meet the stratospheric numbers these three manufacturer churn out in sales for both their comparable models, as well as the entire company.

It therefore makes developing a new ‘Giulia Quadrifoglio’ a huge financial risk, especially considering the unknown of how quickly brands will shift to becoming fully electric.

It means then that even with almost 10 years on sale, the general public will view an M3, a C63, or an RS4 as their best option.

So while the Quadrifoglio was never able to fully establish itself among the giants, it did finally give people a worthy competitor to some of the best performance cars money can buy.

A true Alfa Romeo.