The new Alfa Romeo Giulia

ZCanadian

Saw one in the flesh for the first time this week.
Quadrifoglio edition.
Curiously, Alfa has dropped the "verde" from the moniker. Previous performance variants have been called Quadrifoglio Verde (for the green four leaf clover charm they carry), or QV for short. I guess they figure that's too big a mouthful for North Americans to handle, but then they offer it in colours like "Rosso Competizione", LOL!

The car is smaller than I expected. In a good way. Definitely sporty. Interior is as stunning as the exterior. Italians can do leather like no others. The display flows nicely into the dash, and the wheel and shifter paddles are perfect. No 3-pedal variant in our or most markets for this car.

In Natural mode, the car is silent. Switch to Race and it sounds amazing. Way better than any twin turbo 2-litre has a right to sound. The active aero front splitter deploys, and the driving dynamics are completely changed. I didn't take it for a drive, but thinking I may have to. There's an open house at our dealership next month, and they want my car on display anyway. Might have to make that part of a reciprocal arrangement.

The biggest barrier to ownership is the price. This one, in Q trim and with every option except the available carbon seats and ceramic brakes (both priced much more reasonably than those by Porsche or Ferrari) priced out at CDN$97,000 before tax. Still, the base car is available for just over half that, and can be optioned up nicely for around CDN$70K, where it should sell quite well.

I was impressed with the package. If the marque can get traction, and if Alfa gets its abysmal customer service situation sorted out, then they really could give BMW a run for their money. Probably not so much Mercedes, but that was never really in the cards. Those are big"if's", though.