Alfa Romeo Giulia Quadrifoglio long-term test: a true enthusiast’s car

Verdict

Old-school it might be, but the Alfa proves there’s plenty of life in the combustion engine yet. It’s as thrilling to drive as it is to look at, while the lack of range anxiety compared with high-performance EVs is welcome, even at 23mpg. Another is a rear-drive chassis that doesn’t do everything perfectly but does the stuff that counts most, beautifully.

• Mileage: 12,519
• Efficiency: 22.7mpg

Car enthusiasts like you and me are spoiled for choice these days, but there’s one question right now that’s hard to answer: do I go EV and join the migration towards a powertrain that will eventually propel most of our cars, or do I stick with a good old-fashioned combustion engine for the time being?

I’m a fan of all good cars, full stop, and in a way I’m not fussed what they’re propelled by so long as they’re quick enough to entertain, sharp enough to excite, practical enough to be usable every day and look good. And to prove this point I’ve just done 6,000 miles in the electric Polestar 2 Performance Pack and, 
with a couple of surprisingly small caveats, enjoyed every minute of it.

But to satisfy my cravings for ‘one last gasp’ in a traditional petrol-engined super-saloon, I’m now going to do the next 6,000 miles in the Polestar’s polar opposite – a thirsty, not-very-clean, but in all other ways really rather delicious Alfa Romeo Giulia Quadrifoglio. The exact same 2024 model-year Alfa Giulia QV that we’ve already eulogised about in Auto Express and compared with the similarly tasty Hyundai Ioniq 5 N last summer.

So which will I enjoy the more – the smooth, fast, squeaky clean but still deceptively mean Polestar 2 PP or chest-thumping twin-turbo V6 Alfa? It’s a tough job, but having enjoyed the Polestar, I still worried about certain aspects such as its range (max 200 miles in the real world), the price of charging it via the public network and its shocking depreciation. I’m keen to see how life alters with the Alfa – beyond the obvious draws of its 513bhp twin-turbo V6, its recently revised cabin and much-improved rear-wheel-drive chassis.

After just a few weeks with the Alfa, I’m pleased to report that range anxiety is a distant memory: even at 22mpg the Giulia can still do 350 miles between fills, which is a joy I’d forgotten about. And here’s one early shocker; despite its apparent thirst, the Alfa is costing no more to fill than the Polestar did via the public charging network. Living in a city, I had no access to a home charger, which meant I was paying 55-85p per kWh to put 200 miles in the Polestar. The Alfa costs £65-70 for 350-370 miles – so broadly the same as the Polestar for the same mileage.

The flipside is that the Polestar’s tailpipe emissions were zero, whereas the Alfa chugs out a somewhat embarrassing 229g/km – but while it’s still legal, why not? It’s not like there are Alfa QVs on every street corner: these are rare cars, mainly because they cost (gulp) £78,195 before options, but also because they are not everyone’s cup of tea.

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However, after just under 1,000 miles, I’m fairly sure the QV is my kind of brew, even though it’s far from flawless. The ride quality is not as good as I hoped it might be, especially not on the lumpy town roads of Brighton and Hove; the DAB radio reception cuts out too often for my liking (more so than in other cars on the same roads); the rear seats are also not as roomy as they could be; and the fuel consumption is genuinely horrendous – worse than I feared it might be, even in eco mode. I’m seeing 23mpg at best and 17mpg at worst.

But when a car looks like this, goes like this, and sounds like this, why sweat over the small stuff? Okay, that’s not entirely rational. But then a car like this is never going to induce rational thoughts or behaviour. Right now I’m loving it to bits – and not missing my previous EV way of life a whole lot either. Not yet...

*Insurance quote from AA (0800 107 0680) for a 42-year-old in Banbury, Oxon, with three points.

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