I could hardly be called a linguist but I find there’s something very appealing about the Italian language.
Maybe that’s because of its association with food, more often than not pasta, whether it’s tagliatelle, cannelloni or plain and simple spaghetti.
The Italians are also the ultimate purveyors of messages of love and beauty with such evocative words as “amore” and “bellissima”, which simply roll off the tongue.
As a car-loving nation, the words extend to their other objects of desire, their four-wheeled chariots. While Ferrari and Lamborghini are at the exotic end and Fiat takes things more practically, Alfa Romeo does a pretty good line in names for its range.
Take the Giulia saloon, for example, which is a fine piece of kit with some of the usual Italian idiosyncrasies in the areas of styling, instrument layout and interior finish.
Pronounced the same as our English Julia, it oozes Italian styling, from the signature V-shaped grille to the offset front number plate and even at a standstill, it looks as if it’s raring to go.
That’s especially true if you scale up from the standard car and go for the sportier models. Top of that is the stunning Quadrifoglio, the renowned four-leaf, twin-turbo version, which has such a rapid take-off that you should perhaps have a pilot’s licence before you get behind the wheel.
The figures are almost academic and can only be experienced legally on a racetrack, but there aren’t many four-door production saloons that can thrust you from a standing start to 62mph in under four seconds up to a potential top speed of almost 200mph.
Once you’ve got your breath back you can look at what you’re getting for your investment.
The latest version has been scaled down from the previous flagship model but at a starting price of just over £68,000 it’s still £32,000 more than the standard model.
You can still have an optional carbon fibre roof to go with the matching bonnet and boot, and the featured test car came with £9,000 of extras which brought a Harman Kardon audio system, very stylish green seatbelts, a flat-bottomed sports steering wheel with carbon insert and, best of all, an amazingly throaty Akrapovic four-pipe exhaust.
Behind the 19-inch black alloys lurk a set of bright yellow brake calipers.
Externally there have been few changes from the previous model, because it already looked great and they weren’t needed.
On the inside, though, the central touchscreen is new and the car now comes with a raft of driver aids, such as active cruise control, blind spot monitoring and lane departure warning, which are pretty well standard on most cars even in a much lower price bracket.
The eight-speed auto gearbox is fabulous and urges a response from the three litres under the bonnet or, if you like, you can choose your gears through a large plus and minus paddle at the side of the steering wheel. As well as the green cloverleaf on the wheel, there’s a big red start button which yells “performance”.
There’s the standard D-N-A dial which determines the car’s suspension and performance set up. D is for dynamic, N for normal and A is for advanced efficiency, but there’s also a Race setting, which really should have a safety cover over it.
Engage this and the ESP is taken off, and everything from dampers to the powertrain is given free rein to do its own thing, but it is only to be experienced on the track.
The interior is clean and straightforward with a refined finish to the dials and instruments, and I liked the small green, white and red Italian flag beside the gearstick to remind you of the car’s roots.
This car is for someone who enjoys driving something different, who appreciates Italian styling and the feel of performance. It may have four doors but the whole machine is focussed on the driving.
I tried sitting in the rear seats and it was a bit of a squeeze. But if you own an Alfa you don’t want to be a passenger – you want to be behind the wheel where all the fun happens.
The Facts
Model: Alfa Romeo Giulia Quadrifoglio 2.9 V6 Bi-Turbo
Price: £68,055 (£77,055 as tested)
0-62mph: 3.9 seconds
Top speed 191 mph
Economy: 28 mpg combined
CO2 emissions: 228 g/km
