Official: The 503hp Alfa Romeo Giulia QV Is Way Faster Around The ‘Ring Than Anyone Ever Expected
It’s been clear from the off that Alfa is determined to give BMW’s M3 a bloody nose with the hottest version of its new Giulia saloon. And what better place to deliver the first punch than the Nurburgring, the nucleus of car manufacturer exhibitionism?
Sure enough, recent reports indicated that the car had indeed lapped the Green Hell in 7 minutes and 43 seconds, nine seconds quicker than the lap set by the M3’s coupe cousin, the M4. Impressive, we thought; but the reality is even more jaw-dropping: at the Frankfurt motor show today, Alfa Romeo confirmed that the QV actually clocked a 7:39.
Not does that make the QV 13 seconds quicker than the BMW, it’s also about as fast as the previous generation Porsche 911 Turbo, and actually a little quicker than a Lamborghini Murcielago LP640. Now, there is a caveat with all this, in that the Alfa’s time is a proper manufacturer effort, which means extensive testing and most likely a team of engineers on hand to make small set-up changes to clock the magic figure.
The BMW M4’s time on the other hand was backed by Auto Motor und Sport magazine (admittedly with the very handy Horst von Saurma behind the wheel, while the Lamborghini time was set by Autobild with Giorgio Sanna driving). Even bearing that in mind, though, to lop 13 seconds off its arch rival is a serious achievement.
On top of the jaw-dropping ‘Ring time, Alfa also revealed more juicy details about its new super saloon. We now know its top speed is 191mph, and that it’ll emit around 198g/km of Co2. That’s slightly less than the 204g/km puffed out by the M3, so it should be more economical as well as faster.
The weight figure has been confirmed at 1524kg - a healthy figure helped by things like a carbonfibre roof and bonnet, plus the extensive use of aluminium - and we now have a European price of "about" €79,000 (£58,000). Right-hand drive prices for the UK will be revealed at a later date. It’ll go on sale during the first quarter of 2016.
Growing up on a diet of World Rally Championship highlights and lengthy Gran Turismo 2 sessions, a life in cars was as good as inevitable for Matt.
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