Take one iconic hot hatch from VW,
find its weaknesses, then launch a rival with a hefty dose of Italian style. So
how did Alfa get it so wrong?
Take a Golf GTI for a B-road blast and
it’ll leave you itching for more – the sound, the rush, the lust for corners
and speed making you feel more and more accomplished as a driver the longer
you’re at the wheel. You become intimate with its character, which it offers up
as a reward for merely indulging your senses.
Which means its Italian rival should offer
all that and more. Thus Alfa Romeo is crowing about the revised Quadrifoglio
Verde, the new name for the hottest Giulietta – as Cloverleaf is apparently
more evocative when said in Italian. It’s Alfa’s answer to the Golf GTI et al,
and for 2014 it gets an updated 1.75-litre turbocharged four-pot (the lighter
version already seen in the 4C supercar) which gives it an extra 5bhp for a
237bhp total. This, explains chief engineer Mauro Pierallini, is to increase
production volumes of the more powerful engine, and is why the QV hatch also
ditches its old six-speed manual to now come exclusively with the 4C’s
dual-clutch transmission.
The
Alfa Romeo Giulietta Quadrifoglio Verde has its flaws, but its dynamic
capabilities and stylish looks are enough to keep it in contention
The new gearbox piles back in the pounds
the new engine lost, and the manual’s exile seems at odds with the claims of
driver involvement, Italian passion and purity pushed by Alfa’s beautiful story
of the Quadrifoglio badge. It’s also at odds with the newfound brand strategy,
in which Alfa’s chief technology officer Harald Wester declared rear-wheel
drive the brand’s future. Now we’re supposed to be excited about the latest
updated front-wheel-drive Alfa…
What chance does that leave this car – and
its smaller Mito sibling – in the fight? ‘I think that it’s mainly industry
people that know about this strategy,’ says Alfa’s boss, Louis-Carl Vignon,
suggesting it won’t affect sales. The extra pressure isn’t wanted, as the
Giulietta QV already faces one of the toughest contests in motoring: battling
the Golf GTI.
The
Alfa's cabin is neatly styled but some low-quality plastics mar its overall
appeal
Does the Alfa cut the mustard? No. the QV
is a commendable eight-tenths faster than before in the 0-62mph test – now
6.0sec – thanks to that new gearbox and the launch control that it brings with
it. But this car’s romance doesn’t go beyond the unchanged sculpted body and
those unmistakable tail lamps, as it’s stubborn to drive, and difficult to form
an intimate bond with.
Climb in, and while the cabin can’t match
VW levels of fi t and finish, it’s a handsome design that’s had Bluetooth and a
6.5in touchscreen added for 2014. A set of sport seats is standard, along with
a new flat-bottomed steering wheel and the green cloverleaf logo sits proudly
in the middle of the instruments.
The
Alfa Romeo Giulietta Quadrifoglio Verde is powered by a 1.7-litre turbocharged
engine
The DNA switch that alters the throttle and
steering settings is the first thing you touch once you’ve turned the QV on,
though. Yet even in Dynamic mode, it refuses to seduce you: it skips when you
want to run, with a slow throttle response as opposed to a thrilling surge of
power. The engine, too, isn’t as loud as in the 4C – where it tickles your ears
as it sits behind your head – but spits out a warm bassy idle that develops
into an annoying around-town drone.
Launch control doesn’t deliver a knock-out
punch, but more a polite push, and once you’re at speed, the firm ride can’t
deal with large bumps, express-posting them through your body, while amplifying
smaller ruts and surface changes. Then, as you squeeze the four-piston Brembo
front brakes into a corner, you’ll notice the Giulietta leaning far too much
for a hot hatch. Use the steering to correct this, and you’ll find a lack of
front-end bite and Hollywood tyres that screech: the steering wheel is a
sound-switch for a poorly edited movie car-chase.
‘Telephone
dial’ alloys and Brembo brakes with blood-red callipers. The essence of Alfa in
18-inches
The bad news isn’t over: that new gearbox,
clearly not as involving as a manual – with Alfa resorting to science to
justify its new religion – isn’t as smooth or responsive as the opposition’s,
with the wheel-mounted paddles pressed long before the driveline decides to
kick down.
Add a $47,870 starting price, and the
Giulietta Quadrifoglio Verde is ideologically, mechanically and economically
outpunched. It’s also a car that’s against Alfa Romeo’s new philosophy, placing
it in a state of limbo. Most cars are irrational purchases, but the Giulietta
can only win on emotion by its looks, promise and image, for it doesn’t stir
the soul behind the wheel.
