Alfa Romeo Giulia Quadrifoglio 2020 UK first drive

Four years have passed since a revitalised Alfa Romeo first unleashed its fantastic Giulia Quadrifoglio on the motoring masses. How excited we were: here was Alfa’s first rear-wheel-drive model in a quarter of a century. Not only did it turn out to be a bona fide driver’s car, but it was also quite simply the best car Alfa had launched in a generation.

Despite all of this, things weren’t exactly rosy in Turin over the following years. Sales struggled in Europe and the US; the Alfa Romeo Stelvio SUV with which it shared its newly developed Giorgio platform didn’t perform as well as expected; and Alfa’s plans to field seven models by 2023 were significantly pared back. Considering the billions of pounds parent company Fiat Chrysler Automobiles had poured into the brand under charismatic former CEO Sergio Marchionne, that must have been concerning. Perhaps the forthcoming PSA Group merger will turn things around for the better.

In the meantime, however, Alfa has treated the Giulia Quadrifoglio to a minor mid-life refresh. So there’s a new touchscreen infotainment system, and a full suite of advanced driver assistance systems has been introduced, too. The material quality of the cabin has also been lifted ever so slightly. An Akrapovic exhaust and exposed carbon roof are now both available as options - although our test car had neither.

Not that it mattered, as the Giulia Quadrifoglio remains as magnificent as ever. Its performance is ferocious, but not so outrageous that it feels like overkill on the public highway. With 3000rpm or so on the clock, turbo lag is all but non-existent, and an extended stomp on the throttle will keep acceleration impressively constant effectively all the way round to the rev limiter. Provided you’ve selected manual mode - as you should - you’ll then be invited to grab one of the beautifully milled, cold-to-the-touch metal shift paddles to slot the next gear home. This will almost immediately be followed by a whip crack from the exhaust, and a suitably forceful kick as the Alfa’s eight-speed gearbox slots the next ratio home.

With the DNA drive mode selector set to ‘D’ for Dynamic, the Ferrari-derived V6 sounds pretty good, too, with a rich mechanical growl that’s highly suggestive of its abundant performance intent. And although that growl morphs into more of a bellow than a truly memorable operatic climax as the revs climb, it’s unlikely you’ll feel short-changed for aural drama. Nevertheless, the optional Akrapovic exhaust would probably still be an absolutely worthwhile investment.