Journal: Alfa Romeo Will Turn Your Sad Stack Of $70k Into 505 Glorious Horsepower

Alfa Romeo Will Turn Your Sad Stack Of $70k Into 505 Glorious Horsepower

By Michael Banovsky
November 18, 2015

Photography by Afshin Behnia

The world has been fooled in the past, like that one time Alfa Romeo and Nissan went steady, but it’d difficult not to be excited at the prospect of a new entrant into the stale world of Mercedes-Benz vs. Audi vs. BMW vs. The World comparison tests.

The new, rude-sounding, priced-around-$70,000 Alfa Romeo Giulia Quadrifoglio seems like it’ll be a welcome deviation from what we’ve grown accustomed to here in North America. More than five hundred horsepower, a manual transmission, active aerodynamics, and a Nürburgring time reportedly 13 seconds faster than a BMW M4 should give the car a fighting chance against the norm when it arrives at dealerships.

Equally interesting is the base model Giulia, with a 276 horsepower turbocharged 4-cylinder engine and a $40,000 price tag, targeted to hit the heart of the premium sedan market. The Quadrifogio may be what we yearn for, but the car will ultimately live or die based on sales of more humble variants.

But we’ve got some time to watch it all unfold. For now, after years of pleading for Alfa Romeo to return to the U.S., the brand will offer both a mid-engine sports car and fire-breathing AMG-eating sedan. Can’t complain about that.

I guess all that’s left to do now is take one for a test drive. 

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stradale
stradale
5 years ago

All the yelling I’ve been doing must have paid off. Manual transmission! But I would have gone for a V6 twin turbo or V6/electric. Also the headlights should remain as always…Round. I hope the tail lights remain classic as well.

Paco HC
Paco HC
9 years ago

I have absolutely no problem with this car. I have been an Alfa enthusiast for years, perhaps the same number of years I waited for this kind of car to come from Alfa. So I am just basically waiting for it to come to a dealer next to my home. I sort of fell in love with Giulia before I met her…

Benjamin Shahrabani
Benjamin Shahrabani
9 years ago

my favorite introduction of the show!

Matthew Lange
Matthew Lange
9 years ago

My biggest problem with this car is the styling looks a bit dated, like Alfa benchmarked the E90 generation of 3 series. Having said that the thought of $70,000 (or probably £50k when it reaches the UK) for a car with a Ferrari designed engine has its appeal. I assume that the core of this engine at least will for the basis of the engine that will power the much talked about new Ferrari ‘Dino’.

Christopher Gay
Christopher Gay
9 years ago

I love your photo of the “photographers”.
What a riot!
😀

Dennis White
Dennis White
9 years ago

What car? The girls were amazing!

Nicolas Moss
Nicolas Moss
9 years ago
Reply to  Dennis White

Ah, but an the heel-toe in those boots?

Guitar Slinger
Guitar Slinger
9 years ago

Mr B . As for the AMG eating quip . I have but one thing to say …

Seriously Banovsky ??? In other words … y’all keep believing the hype . Just don’t go crying in your 10W40 when a pedestrian AMG C-Class , M3/4 or even a Lexus RC-F blows your supposed 505 ‘ Italian ‘ horsepower [ take that at face value Mr B … Italian .. horsepower … hint hint ] off the road …. that is … assuming this or any other promised Alfa ever makes it over here 😉

Guitar Slinger
Guitar Slinger
9 years ago

” Money can’t buy happiness . Oh wait . Yes it can ”

No grasshopper . Trust me . It really cannot !

Nor can all the money in the world buy you a new Alfa Romeo that in fact IS an Alfa Romeo either .. never mind an Alfa Romeo that at least sort of resembles an Alfa Romeo .

Trust me … from one who knows …. about money and Alfa Romeos ..

By the way Mr B. Don’t get your shorts too tied up in a knot over this or any other promised Alfa Romeo for the US . In case y’all hasn’t been keeping up with the automotive business news of late .. everything’s been delayed … again … including the Dodge DART HellCat posing as an Alfa Romeo .

luken
luken
9 years ago
Reply to  Guitar Slinger

I don’t need all the money in the world to buy an Alfa Romeo, GS. In fact, $70K will get me the one pictured. An actual Alfa Romeo. Fancy that.

Seems you might be confused about both money and Alfa Romeos.

*cue your incessant self-stroking sermon*

I could have sworn at one point you announced that you were leaving this website… perhaps just wishful thinking.

JB21
JB21
9 years ago

I have a few problems with this car. One of the major one is that the looks don’t really look like or feel all that much like Alfa – though I haven’t of course seen it in person, for once, it doesn’t have THAT little touch that always made Alfa so strange but pretty. And another big one is that it seems to be so firmly pitched at M3/4 that it looks so much like one. And finally, the price…that goes for a lot of cars, but at $70k, I know I’d rather have something else and keep the (big chunk of ) change. Still, I hope it’s as good as they say it is.

Guitar Slinger
Guitar Slinger
9 years ago
Reply to  JB21

Yup ! On all counts !

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