The Great Super Saloon Showdown: Part One

Welcome to part one of our Super Saloon group test, where we drag race our three rivals to find out which is the quickest to 150 mph. Our benchmark car is the Alfa Romeo Giulia Quadrifoglio, a rear-wheel drive Super Saloon with a Ferrari-derived engine. We love it, but to see if it's a true great, it needs to hold its own against the face-of competition - the facel BMW M3 Competition Package and the mighty Mercedes-AMG C63S. Both the Alfa Romeo and the Mercedes-AMG produce the same power, but the BMW M3 Monster has an impressive torque output that leaves the BMW M3 trailing in terms of torque to weight ratio. But will it trail its competitors on the runway too?

In our series of tests, we'll find out which is fastest in a straight line, which is the most fun, and which electronic Safety Systems are switched off. It's impossible not to enjoy this experience, especially when all these powerful cars are rear-wheel drive and mightily powerful. Launching them quickly will be tricky, but entertaining. The Alfa Romeo is the only car here without launch control, so after selecting race mode and pinning the brake, it's an exercise in precision throttle control to get the breath just right and get it right.

To start, we're on our empty 2m runway with all these cars being rear-wheel drive and mightily powerful. Launching them quickly will be tricky, but entertaining. The Alfa Romeo is up first without launch control, so after selecting race mode and pinning the brake, it's an exercise in precision throttle control to get the breath just right and get it right. We'll see which car can punch the most into our benchmark of 100 mph, with the Giulia Quadrifoglio looking set to be a strong contender.

Next up is the BMW M3 Competition Package, despite being a proper launch control system, we got better results by managing reps ourselves. To achieve this, we turn off the traction control, select maximum attack for the engine and gearbox, and choose a softer setting for the dampers. It's now a case of holding it on the brake and monitoring the throttle. This setup allows us to get better results, as seen when the BMW M3 hooks up best after managing its launch, reaching 30 mph first.

The final contender is the mighty Mercedes-AMG C63S. Its launch control system is simpler and more effective than the Alfa Romeo's or the BMW's. To take advantage of this, we stick it in race mode, drop the suspension to a softer setting, pull back on both paddles, hit the upshift paddle again to confirm, and then hold the car on the brakes while flooring the throttle. Despite this setup, the BMW M3 hooked up best after managing its launch, reaching 30 mph first.

The results are in for our straight-line drag race: The Alfa Romeo Giulia Quadrifoglio punches an impressive 100 mph time of 8.3 seconds. However, it's the Mercedes-AMG C63S that pulls ahead at the last moment and takes the lead with a 150 mph time of 19.9 seconds.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enwelcome to part one of our Super Saloon group test as we drag race our three Rivals to find out which is the quickest to 150 mph our Benchmark is the Julia quadrifolio a rear wheeel drive Super Saloon with a Ferrari derived engine it looks set to be the car that could end a long run of disappointing Alpa Romeo we love it but to see if it's a true great it needs to hold its own against the facel BMW M3 competition package and the mighty Mercedes AMG c63s the alpha and Mer both produce the same power but the M Monsters the others with its torque output that leaves the BMW M3 trailing with the lowest power in torque to weight ratio but will it Trail the others on the runway too in our series of tests we'll find out which is fastest in a straight line which is the around our Racetrack and which is the most fun with all the electronic Safety Systems Switched Off L impossible not to enjoy it I have to say up first is our drag race to 150 M hour on our empty 2m Runway with all of these cars being rear whe drive and mightily powerful launching them quickly is going to be tricky but entertaining the alpha is the only car here without launch control so after selecting race mode and pinning the brake it's an exercise in Precision throttle control to get the breath just right get it right and it pro bre the BMW's up next despite being a proper launch control system we got better results by managing reps ourselves turn the traction control fully off select maximum attack for the engine and gearbox a softer setting for the dampers and then it's a case of holding it on the brake and monitoring the throttle oh finally it's the turn of the big V8 Mercedes c63s this is a simpler and more effective launch control system stick it in race drop the suspension to a softer setting pull back on both paddles and hit the upshift paddle again to confirm again hold the car on the brakes and floor the throttle the BMW actually hooked up best after all that and got to 30 mph first but it's the alpha that punch to a frankly remarkable 100 mph time of 8.3 seconds however the mercedes's sheer firer pulls it into the lead at the last moment and it goes on to post a 150 M hour time with 19.9 seconds that's the straight line test done next up lap timeswelcome to part one of our Super Saloon group test as we drag race our three Rivals to find out which is the quickest to 150 mph our Benchmark is the Julia quadrifolio a rear wheeel drive Super Saloon with a Ferrari derived engine it looks set to be the car that could end a long run of disappointing Alpa Romeo we love it but to see if it's a true great it needs to hold its own against the facel BMW M3 competition package and the mighty Mercedes AMG c63s the alpha and Mer both produce the same power but the M Monsters the others with its torque output that leaves the BMW M3 trailing with the lowest power in torque to weight ratio but will it Trail the others on the runway too in our series of tests we'll find out which is fastest in a straight line which is the around our Racetrack and which is the most fun with all the electronic Safety Systems Switched Off L impossible not to enjoy it I have to say up first is our drag race to 150 M hour on our empty 2m Runway with all of these cars being rear whe drive and mightily powerful launching them quickly is going to be tricky but entertaining the alpha is the only car here without launch control so after selecting race mode and pinning the brake it's an exercise in Precision throttle control to get the breath just right get it right and it pro bre the BMW's up next despite being a proper launch control system we got better results by managing reps ourselves turn the traction control fully off select maximum attack for the engine and gearbox a softer setting for the dampers and then it's a case of holding it on the brake and monitoring the throttle oh finally it's the turn of the big V8 Mercedes c63s this is a simpler and more effective launch control system stick it in race drop the suspension to a softer setting pull back on both paddles and hit the upshift paddle again to confirm again hold the car on the brakes and floor the throttle the BMW actually hooked up best after all that and got to 30 mph first but it's the alpha that punch to a frankly remarkable 100 mph time of 8.3 seconds however the mercedes's sheer firer pulls it into the lead at the last moment and it goes on to post a 150 M hour time with 19.9 seconds that's the straight line test done next up lap times\n"