It’s the final days of the incredible 505-horsepower Alfa Romeo Giulia Quadrifoglio sports sedan, and it’s going out on a moody note with the Super Sport special edition. Only 72 of these $88,365 funeral-spec Giulia Quadrifoglio sedans will come to America, marking the end of the line for the model.
Sure, Nero Vulcano isn’t the only color on offer (the other two being Rosso Etna and Bianco Alfa), but it is telling that Alfa Romeo showed off this final-run model in black. There’s a somberness to it, a contrast to the jovial spirit of the car underneath the trim package.
The Giulia Quadrifoglio is sports sedan magic. Fast steering, a stiff chassis with spring rates and damping that are still capable of breathing with the road, a unique soundtrack, and massive aluminum column-mounted paddle shifters define it. We’re talking about a vehicle that’s agile, gorgeous, and properly fast when its driver is looking to pick up the pace. Sure, the brake-by-wire calibration is a bit frustrating around town, but compared to the F80 BMW M3 that was out when the hot Giulia launched, the Alfa was a revelation.
In contrast, the Super Sport edition doesn’t seem that special. Sure, it’s low-volume, but all of the exterior carbon fiber bits seen here are included on the Carbon Edition car that we’ve already seen, two of three exterior colors are shared with the Carbon Edition car, and the only truly new touches are red carbon fiber dashboard trim, a new mode for the digital instrument cluster, and some badging. Sure, this is the first time that the cloverleaf emblem has been rendered in black, but how much does that matter in the grand scheme of things?
You just get the sense that Alfa Romeo could’ve done more. Perhaps port over some parts from the not-for-North America Giulia GTA, or use a properly bold paint color like Montreal Green or Ocra GT. At the same time, beggars can’t be choosers. After all, the Giulia Quadrifoglio was the first rip-roaring rear-wheel-drive Alfa Romeo sports sedan since the Milano Quadrifoglio Verde, and a car that only could’ve existed in a short window of time. While an electric successor is on the horizon, it likely won’t share the current car’s 3,806-pound curb weight, and keeping weight reasonable maintains magic.
Oh, and in case you want all-wheel-drive and a hatch, Alfa Romeo is also making 52 Stelvio Quadrifoglio Super Sport examples for North America. It starts at $95,965 including freight and features nearly all of the touches seen on the Giulia, save for the exposed carbon fiber roof. Now that’s a curiosity we’ll see at a Cars & Coffee in 2050.
(Photo credits: Alfa Romeo)
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I have a,ways loves the Alfa Romeo Giulia Quadrifoglio. It sounds amazing. It’s uncommon and I think it’s a great looking car.
One of my best friends has one and it’s been phenomenally reliable. I think the only real issue he had is the hood latch broke on him. They’ve never been able to escape the rep for bad reliability (fitting of an Alfa Romeo) from their first year or two when all the reviews came out with limp mode.
I think a long-term these will be recognized as one of the last true great ICE true sports sedans. It truly is a driver’s car, and I can tell you from driving it that it actually lives up to all the hype. I wish they’d figured out something better for the front end, but every other angle is beautiful
I am of an age where the front end of the Giulia reminds me too much of Ollie, the one-toothed dragon puppet from the old Kukla, Fran and Ollie TV show.
To date, I have seen exactly two of these on the road. It’s a shame that seemingly nobody bought them; however, I understand why. I will say that the road presence that this had, especially from the rear, was more akin to a Ferrari (It was red) than an M3. Combine that with the fantastic Italian sound these things make; I get really excited when I do see them.
That’s all they had to do was make these cars good looking and reliable, which they failed at. Come to think of it, FCA and now Stellantis have really been failing the design class for a while now.
As far as I have heard (read), the issues mostly were with the Quad cars only, the regular Giulia / Stelvio cars were pretty reliable, reasonably quick, got decent mpgs and handled great. I almost ended up in one but interior space is limiting if you are tall and want to carry passengers.
So I own two Alfas. ’18 Giulia and ’23 Stelvio Quadrifoglio both owned since new. They have been similtaneous the least reliable cars I’ve owned and the most enjoyable cars I’ve ever owned.
The nearest dealer is 100 miles away, and I had to pay a visit today and collect my Quad and return the loaner I’ve had for 2+ weeks. It needed a new ECU flown in from Italy. Quads use two ECUs (one for each bank of the V6). That’s been the only issue on the Quad (now at 6500 miles), but still a major annoyance to have a critical component like an ECU be problematic on a car that has been in production for 7+ years.
That said, it is basically an all weather super car. The Quad is definitely the best, modern, vehicle I’ve ever driven in terms of enjoyment.
Someone I used to work with had a four cylinder Giulia for about a year before giving it up because it was regularly broken. Oil hose failure necessitating turbo replacement, various control module failures, no start conditions. In the end it started seeing significant water ingress into the passenger footwell (apparently not uncommon) so he decided to trade it out.
Every angle where you can’t see the front, it’s gorgeous. Even the front has grown on me, since one of my buddies bought one a few years ago. It’s a sheer delight to drive despite the lack of a manual. And it does seem little things fail on them but theyve generally been mechanically reliable, but they’ve never been able to get over the initial wave since they fixed the limp mode issues in their first batch when all the reviews were done.
It’s a shame that neither these nor the Blackwings have sold very well. They have so much more character than anything German or Japanese, but people just can’t get past their preconceived notions about certain brands. Get them while you can, because we’ll never see anything like em again and they’re the only relics left carrying the torch from the golden era of sports sedans (the 2000s).
If I’m back to work again soon, take heart that the Blackwing is the car I intend to buy. The 4 is the total size I want, but felt a little cramped in the cockpit (6 feet, 215lbs). As such I intend to sit in the 5 as well and try them back to back. I really, really want yellow or orange, but I’ll settle for blue.
The 5 is a pretty big price jump over the 4, but that’s the one you want if you’re partially looking to keep as much value in it as possible. Supercharged v8 with a stick is going to be the prize, not the twin turbo 6.
Yeah, I’m not so fabulously wealthy as to pretend that’s not an issue. But if I’m going to go nuts, I’m gonna go full nuts and not wish for the rest of my life that I only needed two more inches across the shoulders, just two inches more clearance for my knees. I romanticize my old Sentra, which was definitely a riot, but it was too small and I’m not old enough to have the knee and hip pains I have and got from that car.
Really? IMO they just don’t look special or eye catching, they just look like An Cadillac.
The designs have changed so little in the last decade I couldn’t tell you which were brand new cars and which were just rebadged refreshea
I’d rather my luxury super sedan be under the radar than look like the buck toothed monstrosities coming out of Bavaria these days. If you want to be noticed just buy a sports car. To me the point of a super sedan is to be a practical, understated daily that can torment supercars on the track over the weekend.
I totally get that and I’m with you on thinking most of the German alternatives are fugly, but just like the debacle with advertising that was the Chevy SS, if people don’t know there’s something special about the car (or GM doesn’t bother telling them) I can understand why people wouldn’t flock to them.
I agree with the blackwings, you kind of have to know what you’re looking at. Even just the differences between the blackwings and the ct4/5-v are pretty minimal. But the v3 cts-v and the ats I think stand out for one primary reason: the heat extractor in the hood. That’s a pretty obvious clue that it’s something special and I wish GM had carried it over.
The Black wing is a nice looking car. It’s a shame Cadillac failed to sell in the UK and Europe, so we can’t have them.
A.k.a. the Uncle Adrian Edition.
Hopefully it comes preloaded with Bauhaus and the Sister’s Of Mercy’s entire discographies in the infotainment.
Wherever this car is, She’s in Parties.
That’s a deep cut! Great song.
It’s Dark Entries.
Usually I try not to fall into the trap of “this car would have done better with a manual” because outside our small circle that is a ridiculous statement. But in this case, I actually believe it. Kind of crazy they never found a way to offer one.
I believe they did offer a manual in Europe, and it was pretty universally panned as quite a bad transmission. The auto seems to be the way to go
Yeah I don’t think Stellantis has access to any good manuals. Even the Tremecs in the Challengers get pretty universally panned as being vague and rubbery. I’d imagine they’d have to use those or engineer something from the ground up. For better and worse the ZF8 is far and away the best transmission they have.
I drove a Challenger with a manual and didn’t think it was half bad. The clutch pedal was a real workout, though.
I had a coworker with a Challenger 392 and the stick. The clutch pedal on that car was brutally stiff, to the point where I couldn’t believe the throwout bearing or slave cylinder weren’t defective. I’ve driven tractors and clutched PTO-driven farm implements with softer clutch pedals…
I never found the clutch exceptionally heavy in mine, and before this I mostly drove lightweight manual transmission cars (Mazdas and Hondas, mostly). My left leg is definitely stronger than my right as a result, though.
My understanding is that the clutch on Challengers came straight from the Viper and is a twin plate clutch.
Interesting. His was really tough, so perhaps he did have something defective after all. When I told him to try the clutch pedals on both my Jeep and Subaru to get a comparison, he laughed and said it felt like the pedals weren’t even there.
Well mine is a 5.7 instead of the 392, so maybe they used a different spec. Or maybe they went to one with greater clamping force than was used on my 2010. Was his clutch stock?
I assumed it was all stock, as the car only had 7,000 miles on it when I drove it. The only mod he had said he had done to the car was to put some silly looking green LED halos in the headlights (it was a 2015 with the inner set of lights turned into air intakes), but otherwise he hadn’t admitted to doing anything else to it and said the clutch pedal was always that hard.
The Tremec is IMO the best manual transmission in the world.
It’s possible it doesn’t fit or is too heavy for the Guilia, but as far as functionality its damn near perfect.
Yeah, I think the complaints about the shift action in the Challenger are mitigated with an aftermarket shifter from Barton.
I’ve never driven a Challenger but I’ve had 3 vehicles with T-6060s and “rubbery” is not even close to how I’d describe the shift action on any of them.
The issue is that if you direct-mounted the shifter in a Challenger, the lever would be up in the dashboard. They have to use a linkage (rods, not cable) to move it back where it needs to be for comfortable shifting. The stock linkage is less robust than the Barton, and the Barton has stronger return springs. So the stock Challenger shift feel is not as nice as vehicles with the T-6060 further rearward due to the engine being placed further rearward.
PS – I don’t find it rubbery, but it certainly didn’t have bolt-action feel that my RWD Mazdas have had.
They did, it just liked to shear people’s feet off
I’m surprised the special final edition is under 100k, which sure it’s still extremely expensive, but not much more than a BMW M3 Competition with no options.
That said, the depreciation on regular Giulias is crazy, and the fact that sub-60k mile examples that are only 6 years old can be found all day in the mid-to-high teens is crazy. Reliability may be a mixed bag, but for the same or less money I’ll take a turbo-4 Giulia over a an N55 power BMW every day of the week.
When ugly gets cheap enough, it gets desirable. I might have to shop Alfas this weekend.
The ’17s and early ’18s, the sub-60k mile ones that are selling in the teens, were the ones with the iffy reliability. At the very least you’d want a ’19, though in ’20 they did a refresh on the interior and added more refined materials and improved the infotainment system.
That makes sense, it definitely seems like the ’19-20 cars are still a great value, especially if they’re significantly more reliable and even nicer inside. Italian depreciation really is a thing of beauty.