Our cars: Alfa Romeo Giulia Quadrifoglio

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sean _ carson@autovia.co.uk

I WAS never really a fan of dinosaurs when I was younger. However, my inner palaeontologist has broken out recently, since I’ ve been living with the Alfa Romeo Giulia Quadrifoglio.

In my last report I said I wasn ’t big on grand, romantic gestures, but that I’d fallen for the Alfa. That is still true. Running it has done nothing to disrupt my infatuation for the car, but the more I drive it – and fill it up at the petrol station – the more I feel like I’ m living with a bit of a dinosaur, and that the Giulia Quadrifoglio and cars of its type are destined to become fossils.

Increasingly, modern cars that I drive are either fully electric or have a heavy electrified element, so the pure-petrol Giulia, with its punchy turbocharged engine, feels like a dying breed. I get a kick every time I drive it; if you ’ re any sort of car enthusiast, it makes you realise how much we ’ll miss something as simple as a gearchange, for example.

I love the bassy growl from the exhaust and the cracks on upshifts in Race mode, but from a political and social point of view it feels like the world won ’t stomach cars like the Quadrifoglio all that much longer.

But while I feel the beady eye of society gazing upon me when I floor it, and then fill the Alfa up 280 miles or so after I did the last time, I’ll still mourn the Giulia Quadrifoglio when it’ s gone. System

What I won ’t be sad to see the back of is the Alfa ’ s voice control system. I once ran a BMW 3 Series that had a very decent stab at making this tech work, but the Alfa is a mile off. It takes a while to fire up once you ’ ve pressed the button on the (admittedly lovely) steering wheel, then struggles to recognise your speech, even if you use the Queen ’ s English and speak v-e-r-y s-l-o-w-l-y.

Then, when I think it’ s eventually picked up what I want it to do, after a pause to process, it comes back with the most random selection of options to my command. It’ s easier to just use the click-and-scroll wheel to control the system – which works pretty well, it must be said. I’ ve actually had very few infotainment problems so far, and I like the way the screen is integrated into the sweeping dashboard line.

The same can ’t be said when it comes to an element of the Giulia ’ s practicality. While the 480-litre boot is actually not a bad size, I can ’t get my golf clubs loaded into it – even on the diagonal – without taking my driver out. I’ ve resorted to laying my golf bag on the back seats instead because it’ s so much easier. The rear-seat bench is taking it well, too, with the upholstery still looking fresh.

It’ s true of the front seats as well, which get more use – particularly the driver ’ s seat, which I’ m finding offers just the right amount of support with the Alfa ’ s odometer now showing 8,686 miles.

That total means the Giulia is soon due a service – in either 118 days or 314 miles, according to the on-board computer. It’ll be the latter that dictates when it’ s due a routine maintenance check, I think, so I’ll have to look at getting it booked in.