Alfa Romeo Giulia 2024 review: Q

Final Australian pricing and specification haven't been confirmed at the time of publication, but given the minimal nature of the changes it's unlikely to have a major price adjustment. As with seemingly every car these days a price rise seems inevitable, so expect a minor increase from the current $143,500 to account for the minor specification changes.

In terms of specification, the headline items are the new LED Matrix headlights and the 12.3-inch digital instrument display.

Expect 19-inch alloy wheels.

The new headlights feature the brand's '3+3' design and are full-LED Matrix type which offer anti-glare and adaptive driving beam, while also saving energy.

The rest of the equipment is likely to be carried over from the current Giulia Quadrifoglio, so expect 19-inch alloy wheels, carbon-fibre bonnet, front splitter and rear spoiler. There's also leather-trimmed sports seats, carbon-fibre interior trim and an 8.8-inch infotainment touchscreen with navigation, Apple CarPlay and Android Auto.

Not much to say. With an all-new model already being prepared to replace this one there wasn't much point in any significant sheet metal changes. So the new headlights were integrated into the same shape as the old ones.

The same goes for the new digital display, which slots into the space left by the only analogue dials. However, it has been nicely integrated and the fact the 'telescopic' panel surround remains is a nice nod to the brand's heritage that the company's chief designer says he wants to hold onto into its electric future.

Remarkably though, despite the Giulia Quadrifoglio going largely unchanged since its launch back in 2016, it still looks good. It has a unique Italian style, separating itself from its German competition, and playing to the strengths of such a long-running brand.

Alfa Romeo hasn't made any notable changes to the interior space but in terms of size, at 4639mm long, 1874mm wide and 1433mm tall, the Giulia Quadrifoglio is a direct competitor to the BMW M3 and Mercedes-AMG C63. Those dimensions translate to a respectably sized sedan, which offers good space for front seat occupants but it's a bit tight in the rear, especially in terms of knee and foot space.

The boot measures a respectable 480-litre of space, which is on par with its rivals, and is respectable for this size of sedan.

While the addition of the new digital instrument panel does add some new technology, overall the cabin of the Giulia is unchanged and feels it. The technology and design needed a major update to compete with its current competition but aside from the addition of the new dash and some carbon fibre it's still largely what arrived back in 2016. For example, the small 8.8-inch infotainment screen still uses a TomTom navigation system, which is complicated to use at times and the interface and graphics are dated.

However, the new display does add some functional improvement with multiple configurations - Evolved, Relax and Heritage - which still maintain the look of the previous analogue dials. However, these different variants are, to be blunt, hard to notice, with only subtle differences between each one. More noticeable is the change to the display that happens when you switch to 'Race' mode, with a more simplified layout that prioritises the rev counter, speedo and shift lights.

The 100th Anniversary editions get contrasting gold stitching throughout the cabin, including across the dashboard with a '100' stitched ahead of the front seat passenger seat. It may sound like a small detail but it actually makes a major impact on the presentation of the cabin, so it's a shame it's only available on these very few cars.

The boot measures a respectable 480-litre of space, which is on par with its rivals, and is respectable for this size of sedan.

Alfa Romeo made some minor tweaks for the 100th Anniversary edition, bumping the power to 382kW, but the rest of the range is unchanged. That means the same 2.9-litre twin-turbo V6 petrol engine, reportedly derived from a Ferrari design, which makes 375kW/600Nm.

The engine is paired to an eight-speed automatic transmission and drives the rear-wheels via the new mechanical limited-slip differential.

In terms of performance, Alfa Romeo claims the Giulia Quadrifoglio takes just 3.9 seconds to launch from 0-100km/h and has a top speed of 308km/h.

Alfa Romeo made some minor tweaks for the 100th Anniversary edition, bumping the power to 382kW, but the rest of the range is unchanged.

The Giulia Quadrifoglio uses a claimed 8.2 litres per 100km, which isn't particularly frugal but is respectable given the power it produces. Which is what you'd expect from an engine with links to Ferrari, with performance and not economy the focus.

Still, if you can hit that figure the 58-litre fuel tank provides a range of approximately 700km, which is good for a weekend road trip in your Italian sports sedan.

Like any great Alfa Romeo it's the driving part that allows you to overlook some of its flaws. Once you fire up that engine using the steering wheel-mounted racing-style starter button the Giulia Quadrifoglio barks into life.

The engine is happy to rev and be driven hard, which was good news because Alfa Romeo gave us the opportunity to test drive the 100th Anniversary editions on the iconic but ageing Autodrome de Montlhéry racetrack, just outside of Paris.

This allowed us to unleash the full potential of this final iteration of the Giulia Quadrifoglio in a safe environment. Importantly, though, the conditions at Montlhéry were surprisingly similar to Australian roads, with a coarse surface more like a public road than a smooth racing circuit, and with lots of road debris (leaves, stones, etc) to make for a more real-world experience.

Despite these conditions, the Giulia shone with its performance and handling. Down the long straights the engine pulled hard all the way past 220km/h and thankfully the brakes were just as effective, staying strong and consistent despite multiple hot laps and heavy stops.

In the corners the Giulia turns in with precision thanks to its Alfa Active Suspension, Active Torque Vectoring and Chassis Domain Control. This technology translates to fast, accurate steering and a chassis that grips tightly through the bend. The impressive element is the way you can adjust the Giulia mid-corner, because it has a directness and a control some of its more knife-edged rivals can't match.

Our drive on public roads was limited, but what we could take away was a controlled ride from the suspension that was certainly firm but didn't jar badly over bumps. But given there haven't been any major suspension upgrades between this incoming updated model and what we've already got in Australia, there shouldn't be any nasty surprises when this one lands in local showrooms.

The nature of this upgrade means there shouldn't be any changes to the safety features from the current car. That means you can expect autonomous emergency braking with pedestrian detection, blind spot monitoring with rear cross-traffic alert, forward collision warning, lane departure warning, lane keep assist, traffic sign recognition, driver attention alert and active cruise control.

The Giulia was given a five-star safety rating from ANCAP when the model was first launched locally in 2017 but that has officially 'expired' as it is now more than six years old.

Again, there's no reason to believe much will change from an ownership perspective for this only lightly updated model compared to what we already have here. That means a five year/unlimited kilometre warranty, which was introduced in 2022, but arguably would have been better from the Giulia's initial launch in early 2017 given the brand's patchy record of reliability over the years.

What does have the potential to change are servicing costs, which can fluctuate based on some of the changes, so we wouldn't want to speculate and provide inaccurate information given the data we have at the time of publication. But expect the intervals to remain 12 months/15,000km.