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<\/p>\n<\/div>Two years ago the carbon-fiber, 2,400-pound Alfa Romeo 4C exploded on the auto scene, an imperfect, flatulating, frunkless roller skate that was more fun than a seaside romp with Italian actress Monica Bellucci.<\/u> That spicy Italian meatball whetted America\u2019s appetite for a new menu of Alfa luxury sedans and sport utes based on the 4C\u2019s unique recipe.<\/p>\n
The follow-up course to the 4C finally has arrived. And it was worth the wait.<\/p>\n
The Alfa Giulia is a head-turning, asphalt-gripping, laugh-out-loud, luxury … sedan. Yes, sedan. Those four-door things that dad drove to drop you off at school before he bought the five-door SUV. Sedans are the cars everyone wants to make self-driving because the commute is such a slog. Buy a Giulia and you\u2019ll never want an autonomous car again.<\/p>\n
This shot of Italian espresso puts the sport in \u201csports sedan.\u201d Now dad can drop you at school, then take the curvy route to work arriving sideways with smoke pouring off the brake discs.<\/p>\n
The United States first saw the Giulia at last year\u2019s LA auto show \u2014 not in base trim \u2014 but as the weaponized, 505-horsepower Quadrifoglio Verde (QV for short). Its huge biceps and blood-red wardrobe were introduced by dry ice and models in racing suits. How very Italian \u2014 and LA. After all, I wouldn\u2019t expect Beyonce to hit the stage in a robe and whisper. No, she comes at you in high-leather boots belting \u201cPut a Ring on It.\u201d Now that\u2019s an entrance.<\/p>\n
Shouldn\u2019t all performance cars be the same? Imagine Mustang rolling out the blood-curdling, ear-shattering Shelby GT350 as its first model and you get the idea.<\/p>\n
Twelve months later and the media\u2019s first taste of the Giulia QV (you\u2019ll know it by its lucky four-leaf clover badge) wasn\u2019t on a nice urban trot through tree-lined suburbia. It was at California\u2019s Sonoma Raceway. In the right seat. Next to Fabio Francia, the Italian record holder of the fastest lap in a sedan ever recorded at the epic Nurburgring in Germany. For you speed geeks, that\u2019s a 7.32-minute lap. Faster than a Lamborghini Gallardo. Faster than the Porsche 911 GT3.<\/p>\n
Fabio was right out of Hollywood central casting. After exchanging pleasantries in broken English on our way down the pit lane, Fabio stopped the conversation, pointed to the track, and said: \u201cOK, we go now.\u201d<\/p>\n
At which point, he nailed the throttle up into Turn One and proceeded to destroy the formidable, 11-turn, 2-mile course in a neck-twisting, brake-stomping display of car control. I swear we broke Kyle Larson\u2019s NASCAR lap record.<\/p>\n
So that\u2019s what sedans can do.<\/p>\n
I spent the rest of the day \u2014 on and off-track through lovely Sonoma County \u2014 following Fabio\u2019s example in multiple Giulias. The Quadrifoglio is a well-tuned athlete. Unlike its turbo-laggy, small-displacement little brother 4C, the QV\u2019s 2.9-liter, twin-turbo V-6 reacts. Right. Now.<\/p>\n
Aided by an eight-speed transmission that barks off millisecond upshifts like a Doberman charging an intruder, the engine gulps road at an alarming pace. With a perfectly-weighted, 50-50, rear-wheel-drive chassis and short ratio (2.3-turns-lock-to-lock) steering, corners are dispatched with a flick of the hands. No lurid power slides with arms crossed like pretzels.<\/p>\n
Miles pass on country roads at illegal, addictive speeds. The QV demands to be pushed. Rotate the center dial to DYNAMIC. It growls louder. Rotate it to RACE and the growl turns to a guttural yawp that should be Cerberus\u2019s ring tone.<\/p>\n
The Quadrifoglio\u2019s sensory magnificence masks more flaws than the Tower of Pisa. The boomerang-sized shift paddles look cool until your realize they have<\/em> to be that big because they are fixed and can\u2019t be reached when you turn the wheel. And like the 4C, there\u2019s no manual option for America. The tiny back seats seemed to have been designed by Delta for use in Coach Class.<\/p>\n The voice recognition system was so poor, I might have been speaking Italian. Repeated requests to go to \u201cSonoma Raceway, Napa County\u201d were returned with responses such as, \u201cYou want to go to Rhode Island, is that correct?\u201d The nav system was so bleached, it looked like it had been left in the sun for days. And Apple Car Play and Android Auto \u2014 standard in Chevys, for goodness sakes \u2014 won\u2019t come until later in the 2017 model year.<\/p>\n But all is forgiven because what the Quadrifoglio rock star also masks is an even better base car. Take off Superman\u2019s cape \u2014 and he\u2019s still a hunk.<\/p>\n The volume seller for Giulia will be the Ti Sport trim with a turbocharged, 2.0-liter, 280-horse mill that will embarrass everything else in class. The Audi A4 I drove to Watkins Glen, New York, and back this fall<\/a> is the best all-around car in class with its ingenious \u201cVirtual Cockpit\u201d display, AWD and perky 252 horsepower. After driving the Ti Sport, I still think so, but the Giulia is zippier than the Audi.<\/p>\n And it looks like Alyssa Milano next to Christoph Waltz.<\/p>\n On the Pacific Coast Highway north of Sonoma, a Porsche Cayenne owner stopped dead in his tracks when he saw my Alfa Ti Sport \u2014 not <\/em>Quadrifoglio \u2014 parked by the road. Now that\u2019s a sexy base car.<\/p>\n Dressed in white with the same smoky, phone dial wheels that are available on the Quadrifoglio, these Italians know how to get attention. With available AWD, it\u2019ll be a sure-footed lynx in Michigan snow. Sticker prices won\u2019t be firm until Giulia hits dealer shelves early next year, but Alfa estimates a low-$40,000 entry price bristling with standard equipment including leather, 16-way seats, first-in-class-electric \u201cbrake-by-wire,\u201d a quick-revving, carbon-fiber driveshaft and plenty of console room.<\/p>\n Giulia Ti tells a story all its own. My Porsche friend wants one because he craves the Italian accent.<\/p>\n