Alfa Romeo Giulia Veloce - a Half Price Quadrifoglio _ 4K

**A Hands-on Review of the Alfa Romeo Giulia Quadrifoglio**

As I embarked on my journey with the Alfa Romeo Giulia Quadrifoglio, I was excited to experience what this iconic car has to offer. The Giulia is a phenomenal car that delivers an 80% equivalent of the RS4's performance at a fraction of its price and running costs. With its sleek design, beautiful interior, and incredible handling, it's no wonder why this car is gaining attention from enthusiasts worldwide.

My first impression of the Giulia was how quiet and comfortable it was to drive on a motorway. The road noise and wind noise were almost non-existent, making for a smooth and enjoyable ride. However, as I navigated through potholed roads, the Giulia proved its mettle, handling the rough terrain with ease. The car's suspension did its job well, soaking up the bumps and providing a stable platform for the driver.

The Giulia Quadrifoglio is powered by a potent engine that delivers exceptional performance. On paper, it boasts impressive numbers, but in reality, it feels like a much more substantial package. The gearbox is quick and slick, with paddle shifters adding an extra layer of convenience to the driving experience. I found myself pushing hard on the brakes down into third gear, feeling the instant response from the car's chassis.

As I took the Giulia out for a spin, I was struck by its incredible handling and balance. The rear-wheel drive layout provides a unique dynamic feel that's both exhilarating and rewarding. The car is capable of navigating twisty roads with ease, catching up to other cars in front with surprising agility. Whether cruising down the motorway or carving through mountain passes, the Giulia Quadrifoglio delivers an unparalleled driving experience.

One area where the Giulia falls short is its soundtrack. The engine note is somewhat muted and lacking in character, which might be a drawback for some enthusiasts. However, this does not detract from the overall driving experience, as the car's dynamics and performance more than make up for any audio shortcomings.

In conclusion, the Alfa Romeo Giulia Quadrifoglio is an exceptional car that checks all the right boxes for performance, handling, and style. While there are some minor quibbles with its interior design and infotainment system, these issues are largely cosmetic and do not detract from the overall driving experience. For those looking to experience the thrill of Alfa Romeo's iconic cars at an affordable price point, the Giulia Quadrifoglio is an absolute must-test drive.

**The Petrol Pup's Verdict**

As a petrolhead, I was eager to put the Giulia Quadrifoglio through its paces. In my short time with the car, I've been impressed by its incredible performance, handling, and overall driving experience. While there are some minor flaws, they do not detract from the car's overall appeal.

For those considering purchasing a Giulia Quadrifoglio, I would highly recommend it. It's an exceptional value proposition that delivers an 80% equivalent of the RS4's performance at a fraction of its price and running costs. With its stunning design, beautiful interior, and incredible handling, it's no wonder why this car is gaining attention from enthusiasts worldwide.

**Comparison to the Audi S4**

One question that often arises when comparing the Giulia Quadrifoglio to other high-performance cars like the Audi S4 is whether the former truly delivers on its promise. While the RS4 boasts impressive numbers, I've found the Giulia Quadrifoglio to be a more rewarding car to drive.

In terms of performance, the Giulia Quadrifoglio offers an 80% equivalent of the RS4's power output at a significantly lower price point and running cost. This makes it an attractive option for those looking to experience the thrill of high-performance driving without breaking the bank.

Moreover, I've found the Giulia Quadrifoglio to be more engaging and rewarding to drive than the Audi S4. Its rear-wheel drive layout provides a unique dynamic feel that's both exhilarating and addictive. Whether cruising down the motorway or carving through mountain passes, the Giulia Quadrifoglio delivers an unparalleled driving experience.

**Conclusion**

In conclusion, the Alfa Romeo Giulia Quadrifoglio is an exceptional car that checks all the right boxes for performance, handling, and style. While there are some minor quibbles with its interior design and infotainment system, these issues are largely cosmetic and do not detract from the overall driving experience.

For those looking to experience the thrill of Alfa Romeo's iconic cars at an affordable price point, the Giulia Quadrifoglio is an absolute must-test drive. With its stunning design, beautiful interior, and incredible handling, it's no wonder why this car is gaining attention from enthusiasts worldwide.

**Final Thoughts**

As I reflect on my time with the Giulia Quadrifoglio, I'm reminded of how much I enjoy driving a well-crafted Italian sports car. The Giulia Quadrifoglio delivers an exceptional driving experience that's both thrilling and rewarding.

In the end, it comes down to personal preference and what one values most in a car. If you're looking for a driving experience that's both exhilarating and addictive, with a unique dynamic feel and incredible handling, then the Alfa Romeo Giulia Quadrifoglio is an absolute must-test drive.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enhey guys and welcome to petrol ped now if you ask me what my favorite performance saloon car is you might be surprised I wouldn't say a bmwm3 I'd say Alpha Romeo Julia quadrifolio every time I think they look beautiful they sound amazing driving Dynamics are great and you also get the feeling that if you don't treat them with a little bit of respect they're going to kill you the only problem with a Julia quadrifolio is it's quite quite a pricey car so the question is is there a way of getting 80% of a Julia Quadra folio for much much less money well I reckon there is and it's one of them an alfo Julia V I was actually at the Goodwood Festival of speed the year they unveiled the Julia I was standing just 10 ft away from the car as they pulled the covers off and I remember the intake a breath from everybody because it was a beautiful car back then groundbreaking so different from everything else and all these years later I still think it's one of the most beautiful Saloon cars on the market I I love them and I've never owned an Alfa Romeo and I know they come with a whole lot of baggage around reliability and dealer Network and all the negative things that people throw at an alpha but they are magnificent things to drive and I've been very very lucky I've driven a range of different julus I've driven the quadrifolio I drove the AR Racing Edition up the hill at the festival of speed and then the following year I drove the alphao Julia GTA up the hill amazing cars the big challenge with the Julia quadrifolio the top of the range car is they're quite expensive new they're in the region of 78,000 000 now you get an awful lot of car for the money but this this is the Julia veloce and these come in at under £45,000 that's not a million miles off of being half the price and they are by no means half the car first up I think they look amazing and have a huge amount of quadrifolio DNA the most noticeable of those are the hel dial Wheels an iconic design feature on an Alpha Romeo and I think they set the car off brilliantly and then you get the little vce badging on the front Wing letting you know the trim speec I need to apologize for the state of this car or will become apparent very shortly but I've been driving this car all week I'm actually filming this review the wrong way round I've just driven back from a weekend in the cotswalds I've done I don't know nearly 500 miles in the car so far and it is filthy and I just have a very short time window especially from the weather point of view I haven't really got time to wash the car and also I'm using it tomorrow so it's pointless really so apologize for the car being a bit mingy but teley dial wheels for the win the Julia design has evolved over the years this is a model year 24 car um the one thing it's not quite as aggressive at the back as the Quadra folio you don't get the little lip spoiler you only get two exhausts rather than four but it's still a handsome looking car at the rear I guess the big difference between this vce and the quadrifolio is what's under the Bonnet now if you tune in to the channel regularly you will have seen that I drove the model year 24 Quadra folio just a month or so ago got it quite sideways Mega thing and under the Bonnet one of those is a twin turbo V6 in current form producing 500 110 horsepower all through the rear wheels and there's a mechanical limited slip diff on the latest Julia quadrifolio in the Vel the V6 has gone and it's replaced with a 2 L 4 cylinder turbo and this thing is producing 280 horsepower and that's going through an 8-speed uh paddle shift gearbox and that's enough to get this car down the road in good order it will do n to 60 in comfortably under 4 seconds about 3.6 seconds so this car is no slouch at all I guess the main difference the missing element of the quadrifolio is that Barky V6 and the the cracks and whip cracks and pops and bangs this little 2 L isn't quite as sonorous isn't quite as a much of a soundtrack it's quite quiet actually but it delivers enough punch to put a big smile on your face and bang for buck wise for the money I think it's really really impressive inside this car to be honest it's not a great difference between one of these and a quadrifolio I guess slightly less exotic materials I can't see any carbon fiber in here and you might have slightly lower grade Plastics and a bit less leather but these seats they look all right they're very supportive the steering wheel is excellent you still get the steering column mounted aluminum shifters and this Central console and infotainment system they're exactly the same so actually from the driver's seat it doesn't really feel a great difference to a quadrifolio I guess the throttle response is obviously going to be a bit different the the noise that you get is going to be a bit different but the question is when you drive this down a road how much of a difference is there what performance difference is there between this vce and the quadrifolio you know it it isn't half the money's worth it it isn't 50% of the performance so if we spring back to earlier on today I had to drive back from the cotswalds I had the petrol pup with me and I took it down some really nice roads and put it through its Paces now it's interesting I've spent lots of time in Alf Romeo Julius but they've always been the quadrifolio the twin turbo V6 500 horsepower version but this vce is really interesting for me because from the outside apart from the quadrifolio shields on the front Wings The Styling is very similar it doesn't have that little lip spoiler but it's got the iconic Telly dial Wheels it's got two exhausts out the back it just has this really classy really understated look from the outside and when you drive it it doesn't have the the noise in the theater of the quadrifolio but by Goodness Me is it a good road car this little 2 L Turbo's got plenty of grunt coupled with this uh semi-auto now you can drive it around in uh drive mode as normal I've got the drive select of the DNA the dynamic um natural and then Advanced efficiency um the different settings I'm in Dynamic mode at the moment it doesn't have the race setting you only get that on the quadrifolio but it gives you a really nice throttle response and it's got It's just got a lovely feeling to it this is one of my favorite bits of Road uh here in the CWS fish Hill I'd absolutely love to cycle my bike up this hill but it's uh it's a very steep but very twisty bit of Road very popular with the local motorcyclists much to the dismay of the local residents but it does have a really nice feeling the front end isn't as sharp as a quadrifolio it doesn't have that Ferrari es steering that the quad has but it's still very nice and very balanced the other thing because you got a little bit less power it's rear wheeel drive but even in these damp conditions you can feel a bit more confident to get on the throttle coming out of the corners you know I'm sure the car would step out if you really aggravated it but you don't get the feeling that the car's going to try and kill you at every turn of the steering wheel and depress of the throttle like you do when you're driving a quadrifolio especially if you're in race mode with the traction control backed off but yeah on a nice long journey this is a super super comfortable place to be and I've got the little petrol pup with me today my last road trip I had the older dog so we again separated them petrol pup is at home I've been here in the cotwolds at my godson's 18th birthday and they've got they got two dogs one of which is a very boisterous six-month-old uh wheat and Tera who's very very cute Margot and lots of people so not really something that the older pup Darcy is a big fan of but this one she's hardcore she doesn't care but as you can see she's a bit tired cuz we had a late night so I've got a couple of hours of driving and I thought I would just through my journey talk to you a little bit more about this car one of the great things about being in the cotf is there are some lovely roads so I'm going to put the car into manual override and use the paddles to shift I'm in Dynamic mode I'm going to drop down a couple of gears and just so it does have quite a nice engine tone but it's quite quiet if you've got the music on it's actually quite difficult to listen to the engine and and and listen to when you need to change the Rev so you're kind of looking at the Rev count you don't do it so much by feel but more by View you and these paddle shifters on the veloce model they're straight out to the quadrifolio and they are brilliant the gearbox is super slick on the way up and on the way down they are I think they get a bit of getting used to they do kind of get in the way when you're moving to the indicator stalk or to the wash WIP stalk you can sometimes feel your fingers banging up against them but I do like the steering column mounted paddles they give you a sense of of occasion and a sense of drama and they make you want to really drive this car and push on and when you get a nice bit of open flowing Road it's a super super bit a kit my only criticism not my only criticism but a criticism when you have a quadr Foon and you go into race mode you get a really big indicator on the dash as to what gear you're in in this car if you are manually shifting there is an indicator but it's tiny it just says M6 at the moment and I know you could count in your head but I find when I'm coming into a corner I always like to just double check what gear I'm in to work out what gear I'm going to you know select for the exit of the corner and it just takes a little bit of extra Focus to come down and see AR and and I'd just like a bigger indicator of the gear for when I'm driving in Flappy paddle manual override when you do change down it's very responsive and in Dynamic mode on the way up it's almost like a bit of a push in the back you can very much feel that that new gear going in and it just has a lovely feel on the road as I've said already I still think for me even though the Julia has been around a long time now it's still one of the most beautiful Saloon cars on the road for me the external styling is right up there and and it doesn't really need to change a great deal to still look fresh and new and just stand out from the crowd that can look a bit plain and a bit vanilla I love the styling of the Julia and this vce just has that sporty Edge and arguably is the I think I've called it before the thinking man's quadr folio because you buy one of these I guess you're not going to have the worries of poorer fuel economy although I'm I'm averaging about 30 mil to the gallon over the last 260 Mi which I don't think is too bad to be honest and I know I wouldn't be doing that if I was in the quadrifolia with his V6 twin turbo but I am missing out on all of that auditory drama and auditory pleasure that you get in a quadrifolio and then I guess just in terms of things like servicing costs and consumables like brakes and brake pads and those types of things you're going to be spending less money on one of these to keep them on the road so if you want that that visual prowess of Julia quadrifolio but you really want to do the miles you're going to put long miles maybe it's your company car and you're going to you're going to want to put a lot of miles on the clock then maybe this VCI is the car to go for because it certainly has the looks and the visuals is that gear on the way in that's just delicious this car absolutely delicious it just has this way of of enveloping you in the drive and the Driving Experience the driving position's great I've got the ability to get the steering wheel in a fantastic position really nice and close to me and then internally um there's there's quite a lot to like in here again it hasn't changed a great deal there's elements of it for me starting to look a little bit dated I'm not a fan of the infotainment system really sorry Alpha Romeo I'm using Apple carplay at the moment but the the native entertainment system isn't great there's the ability to customize it you can add widgets and and and a whole bunch of of of different menu screens and menu options but I just find it difficult even pairing my phone and and sort of getting things like carplay working was a little bit of a faf I haven't used the native satnav so I can't comment but the main instrument binacle screen I like a great deal I love these iconic kind of Alpha Romeo um binacle um covers it kind of harks back to cars of old and makes you feel like you're sat in a really special place now I'm on a dual carriageway I can utilize another great feature of this car it's adaptive cruise control level two autonomous driving it's not unique to this car obviously but what it does is it just means a long drive is such a relaxing place to be you can literally just chew the miles in this car and when it is just cruising along like we are at the moment at 70 M an hour it's when you get the most fuel efficiency but you can sit here and you can enjoy the Hi-Fi system which is great you can just enjoy the comfortable seats it's got great visibility it's just a brilliant mile munching car terms of practicality I got quite a bit of stuff with me even though there's only me and the pooch the boots are good size obviously you don't have that extra practicality of maybe be a kind of estate format or a hatchback format but I don't think that's a bad thing and then there's plenty of room in the rear for passengers not that I've had those either but you're cruising along in this car on a Motorway it's so quiet it's dealing with the pretty horrid potholes we've seen today to be honest very well the road noise and wind noise is pretty good there's a bit of a whistle from the uh door mounted mirror just there but only just in the background it's not that pronounced yeah a really nice place to do a long journey this car so I'm coming towards the end of my journey home and honestly the roads dried up a little bit the sun's come out the grip levels have gone up a little bit and it just means you can push on even more in this car and it's such a rewarding car car to drive my final thought about Julia is my my heart says Julia quadrifolio every time phenomenal car amazing soundtrack great performance beautiful looks but my head my head says vote and in a way it's a little bit like for me I'm sure many of you know I used to have an Audi S4 and I always said that was the that was really the thinking car to buy instead of the RS4 he gave 80% of the RS4 in terms of deliverables but for much less money and it was a cheaper car to live with and it's the same thing with this vache it delivers a good 80% maybe more of what you would get from a quadrifolio but they're cheaper to buy they're cheaper to run they don't look that dissimilar to a quadrifolio and you can just you can really get into that special Alpha feel and I know for some people there's still concerns around Alfa Romeo in terms of uh reliability and long-term running costs there maybe some issues around dealer network but in terms of a car to create an impression for people to get comments I mean you drive one of these arounds and I've only been driving this the last few days and it's a car people say oh what's that they want to know and it's it's a goodlook car and then when you get it on a nice bit of Road they're just fantastic cars to drive I can't give it enough plaudits are there things I don't like yeah of course I don't like the entertainment system the there are bits of the Interior that are starting to look their age now but do I care no not really because it's just a mega saloon car if you want a sports saloon car with good looks and good performance it's it's got to be on your list it's got to be on your test drive list and when you get it on a nice bit of road like this and you're able to push on a little bit this gearbox we come down into this corner the brakes have got a lovely feel down into fourth down into third super quick on the way down and then back on the way up just a really quick slick gearbox of these lovely column mounted shifter paddles it's just great hard on the brakes down into third I've got the flickers going oh look twisty road sign for the next 1 and 1/2 miles I'd like a bigger gear select or gear indicator on the dash but honestly Road's just a little bit damp in here so just a little bit careful cuz you got obviously rear wheel drive but that gives you great balance it's got a lovely feeling from front end in we go what do you reckon petrol pup you enjoying that it's not got the best soundtrack in the world it's a bit muted and a bit me but honestly it doesn't detract from that feeling the dynamic feeling of driving the car and you uh end up catching up cars in front quite a lot in this car there you I would love to know what your thoughts were would you go quadrifolio would you go vce there's speale underneath this as well there are other trim levels but I think for me when you get this with the teley dial Wheels it just it's just got something about it but I hope you enjoyed that a video I've had this car for a number of reason on lots of Miles this week I used it to drive to the airport to go on a on an alpha event in Italy and I really wanted to kind of just get into the whole world of alpha on my way to to see the new Junior but I thought I'd do a film while I had it as well anyway I hope you enjoyed that if you did give me a thumbs up comments below are always welcome and if you haven't done so already please subscribe to Petr ped for plenty more content to come for me and the petrol pup you right dude yeah oh were you fast asleep oh no I'll just see you on the next film take care guys drive safehey guys and welcome to petrol ped now if you ask me what my favorite performance saloon car is you might be surprised I wouldn't say a bmwm3 I'd say Alpha Romeo Julia quadrifolio every time I think they look beautiful they sound amazing driving Dynamics are great and you also get the feeling that if you don't treat them with a little bit of respect they're going to kill you the only problem with a Julia quadrifolio is it's quite quite a pricey car so the question is is there a way of getting 80% of a Julia Quadra folio for much much less money well I reckon there is and it's one of them an alfo Julia V I was actually at the Goodwood Festival of speed the year they unveiled the Julia I was standing just 10 ft away from the car as they pulled the covers off and I remember the intake a breath from everybody because it was a beautiful car back then groundbreaking so different from everything else and all these years later I still think it's one of the most beautiful Saloon cars on the market I I love them and I've never owned an Alfa Romeo and I know they come with a whole lot of baggage around reliability and dealer Network and all the negative things that people throw at an alpha but they are magnificent things to drive and I've been very very lucky I've driven a range of different julus I've driven the quadrifolio I drove the AR Racing Edition up the hill at the festival of speed and then the following year I drove the alphao Julia GTA up the hill amazing cars the big challenge with the Julia quadrifolio the top of the range car is they're quite expensive new they're in the region of 78,000 000 now you get an awful lot of car for the money but this this is the Julia veloce and these come in at under £45,000 that's not a million miles off of being half the price and they are by no means half the car first up I think they look amazing and have a huge amount of quadrifolio DNA the most noticeable of those are the hel dial Wheels an iconic design feature on an Alpha Romeo and I think they set the car off brilliantly and then you get the little vce badging on the front Wing letting you know the trim speec I need to apologize for the state of this car or will become apparent very shortly but I've been driving this car all week I'm actually filming this review the wrong way round I've just driven back from a weekend in the cotswalds I've done I don't know nearly 500 miles in the car so far and it is filthy and I just have a very short time window especially from the weather point of view I haven't really got time to wash the car and also I'm using it tomorrow so it's pointless really so apologize for the car being a bit mingy but teley dial wheels for the win the Julia design has evolved over the years this is a model year 24 car um the one thing it's not quite as aggressive at the back as the Quadra folio you don't get the little lip spoiler you only get two exhausts rather than four but it's still a handsome looking car at the rear I guess the big difference between this vce and the quadrifolio is what's under the Bonnet now if you tune in to the channel regularly you will have seen that I drove the model year 24 Quadra folio just a month or so ago got it quite sideways Mega thing and under the Bonnet one of those is a twin turbo V6 in current form producing 500 110 horsepower all through the rear wheels and there's a mechanical limited slip diff on the latest Julia quadrifolio in the Vel the V6 has gone and it's replaced with a 2 L 4 cylinder turbo and this thing is producing 280 horsepower and that's going through an 8-speed uh paddle shift gearbox and that's enough to get this car down the road in good order it will do n to 60 in comfortably under 4 seconds about 3.6 seconds so this car is no slouch at all I guess the main difference the missing element of the quadrifolio is that Barky V6 and the the cracks and whip cracks and pops and bangs this little 2 L isn't quite as sonorous isn't quite as a much of a soundtrack it's quite quiet actually but it delivers enough punch to put a big smile on your face and bang for buck wise for the money I think it's really really impressive inside this car to be honest it's not a great difference between one of these and a quadrifolio I guess slightly less exotic materials I can't see any carbon fiber in here and you might have slightly lower grade Plastics and a bit less leather but these seats they look all right they're very supportive the steering wheel is excellent you still get the steering column mounted aluminum shifters and this Central console and infotainment system they're exactly the same so actually from the driver's seat it doesn't really feel a great difference to a quadrifolio I guess the throttle response is obviously going to be a bit different the the noise that you get is going to be a bit different but the question is when you drive this down a road how much of a difference is there what performance difference is there between this vce and the quadrifolio you know it it isn't half the money's worth it it isn't 50% of the performance so if we spring back to earlier on today I had to drive back from the cotswalds I had the petrol pup with me and I took it down some really nice roads and put it through its Paces now it's interesting I've spent lots of time in Alf Romeo Julius but they've always been the quadrifolio the twin turbo V6 500 horsepower version but this vce is really interesting for me because from the outside apart from the quadrifolio shields on the front Wings The Styling is very similar it doesn't have that little lip spoiler but it's got the iconic Telly dial Wheels it's got two exhausts out the back it just has this really classy really understated look from the outside and when you drive it it doesn't have the the noise in the theater of the quadrifolio but by Goodness Me is it a good road car this little 2 L Turbo's got plenty of grunt coupled with this uh semi-auto now you can drive it around in uh drive mode as normal I've got the drive select of the DNA the dynamic um natural and then Advanced efficiency um the different settings I'm in Dynamic mode at the moment it doesn't have the race setting you only get that on the quadrifolio but it gives you a really nice throttle response and it's got It's just got a lovely feeling to it this is one of my favorite bits of Road uh here in the CWS fish Hill I'd absolutely love to cycle my bike up this hill but it's uh it's a very steep but very twisty bit of Road very popular with the local motorcyclists much to the dismay of the local residents but it does have a really nice feeling the front end isn't as sharp as a quadrifolio it doesn't have that Ferrari es steering that the quad has but it's still very nice and very balanced the other thing because you got a little bit less power it's rear wheeel drive but even in these damp conditions you can feel a bit more confident to get on the throttle coming out of the corners you know I'm sure the car would step out if you really aggravated it but you don't get the feeling that the car's going to try and kill you at every turn of the steering wheel and depress of the throttle like you do when you're driving a quadrifolio especially if you're in race mode with the traction control backed off but yeah on a nice long journey this is a super super comfortable place to be and I've got the little petrol pup with me today my last road trip I had the older dog so we again separated them petrol pup is at home I've been here in the cotwolds at my godson's 18th birthday and they've got they got two dogs one of which is a very boisterous six-month-old uh wheat and Tera who's very very cute Margot and lots of people so not really something that the older pup Darcy is a big fan of but this one she's hardcore she doesn't care but as you can see she's a bit tired cuz we had a late night so I've got a couple of hours of driving and I thought I would just through my journey talk to you a little bit more about this car one of the great things about being in the cotf is there are some lovely roads so I'm going to put the car into manual override and use the paddles to shift I'm in Dynamic mode I'm going to drop down a couple of gears and just so it does have quite a nice engine tone but it's quite quiet if you've got the music on it's actually quite difficult to listen to the engine and and and listen to when you need to change the Rev so you're kind of looking at the Rev count you don't do it so much by feel but more by View you and these paddle shifters on the veloce model they're straight out to the quadrifolio and they are brilliant the gearbox is super slick on the way up and on the way down they are I think they get a bit of getting used to they do kind of get in the way when you're moving to the indicator stalk or to the wash WIP stalk you can sometimes feel your fingers banging up against them but I do like the steering column mounted paddles they give you a sense of of occasion and a sense of drama and they make you want to really drive this car and push on and when you get a nice bit of open flowing Road it's a super super bit a kit my only criticism not my only criticism but a criticism when you have a quadr Foon and you go into race mode you get a really big indicator on the dash as to what gear you're in in this car if you are manually shifting there is an indicator but it's tiny it just says M6 at the moment and I know you could count in your head but I find when I'm coming into a corner I always like to just double check what gear I'm in to work out what gear I'm going to you know select for the exit of the corner and it just takes a little bit of extra Focus to come down and see AR and and I'd just like a bigger indicator of the gear for when I'm driving in Flappy paddle manual override when you do change down it's very responsive and in Dynamic mode on the way up it's almost like a bit of a push in the back you can very much feel that that new gear going in and it just has a lovely feel on the road as I've said already I still think for me even though the Julia has been around a long time now it's still one of the most beautiful Saloon cars on the road for me the external styling is right up there and and it doesn't really need to change a great deal to still look fresh and new and just stand out from the crowd that can look a bit plain and a bit vanilla I love the styling of the Julia and this vce just has that sporty Edge and arguably is the I think I've called it before the thinking man's quadr folio because you buy one of these I guess you're not going to have the worries of poorer fuel economy although I'm I'm averaging about 30 mil to the gallon over the last 260 Mi which I don't think is too bad to be honest and I know I wouldn't be doing that if I was in the quadrifolia with his V6 twin turbo but I am missing out on all of that auditory drama and auditory pleasure that you get in a quadrifolio and then I guess just in terms of things like servicing costs and consumables like brakes and brake pads and those types of things you're going to be spending less money on one of these to keep them on the road so if you want that that visual prowess of Julia quadrifolio but you really want to do the miles you're going to put long miles maybe it's your company car and you're going to you're going to want to put a lot of miles on the clock then maybe this VCI is the car to go for because it certainly has the looks and the visuals is that gear on the way in that's just delicious this car absolutely delicious it just has this way of of enveloping you in the drive and the Driving Experience the driving position's great I've got the ability to get the steering wheel in a fantastic position really nice and close to me and then internally um there's there's quite a lot to like in here again it hasn't changed a great deal there's elements of it for me starting to look a little bit dated I'm not a fan of the infotainment system really sorry Alpha Romeo I'm using Apple carplay at the moment but the the native entertainment system isn't great there's the ability to customize it you can add widgets and and and a whole bunch of of of different menu screens and menu options but I just find it difficult even pairing my phone and and sort of getting things like carplay working was a little bit of a faf I haven't used the native satnav so I can't comment but the main instrument binacle screen I like a great deal I love these iconic kind of Alpha Romeo um binacle um covers it kind of harks back to cars of old and makes you feel like you're sat in a really special place now I'm on a dual carriageway I can utilize another great feature of this car it's adaptive cruise control level two autonomous driving it's not unique to this car obviously but what it does is it just means a long drive is such a relaxing place to be you can literally just chew the miles in this car and when it is just cruising along like we are at the moment at 70 M an hour it's when you get the most fuel efficiency but you can sit here and you can enjoy the Hi-Fi system which is great you can just enjoy the comfortable seats it's got great visibility it's just a brilliant mile munching car terms of practicality I got quite a bit of stuff with me even though there's only me and the pooch the boots are good size obviously you don't have that extra practicality of maybe be a kind of estate format or a hatchback format but I don't think that's a bad thing and then there's plenty of room in the rear for passengers not that I've had those either but you're cruising along in this car on a Motorway it's so quiet it's dealing with the pretty horrid potholes we've seen today to be honest very well the road noise and wind noise is pretty good there's a bit of a whistle from the uh door mounted mirror just there but only just in the background it's not that pronounced yeah a really nice place to do a long journey this car so I'm coming towards the end of my journey home and honestly the roads dried up a little bit the sun's come out the grip levels have gone up a little bit and it just means you can push on even more in this car and it's such a rewarding car car to drive my final thought about Julia is my my heart says Julia quadrifolio every time phenomenal car amazing soundtrack great performance beautiful looks but my head my head says vote and in a way it's a little bit like for me I'm sure many of you know I used to have an Audi S4 and I always said that was the that was really the thinking car to buy instead of the RS4 he gave 80% of the RS4 in terms of deliverables but for much less money and it was a cheaper car to live with and it's the same thing with this vache it delivers a good 80% maybe more of what you would get from a quadrifolio but they're cheaper to buy they're cheaper to run they don't look that dissimilar to a quadrifolio and you can just you can really get into that special Alpha feel and I know for some people there's still concerns around Alfa Romeo in terms of uh reliability and long-term running costs there maybe some issues around dealer network but in terms of a car to create an impression for people to get comments I mean you drive one of these arounds and I've only been driving this the last few days and it's a car people say oh what's that they want to know and it's it's a goodlook car and then when you get it on a nice bit of Road they're just fantastic cars to drive I can't give it enough plaudits are there things I don't like yeah of course I don't like the entertainment system the there are bits of the Interior that are starting to look their age now but do I care no not really because it's just a mega saloon car if you want a sports saloon car with good looks and good performance it's it's got to be on your list it's got to be on your test drive list and when you get it on a nice bit of road like this and you're able to push on a little bit this gearbox we come down into this corner the brakes have got a lovely feel down into fourth down into third super quick on the way down and then back on the way up just a really quick slick gearbox of these lovely column mounted shifter paddles it's just great hard on the brakes down into third I've got the flickers going oh look twisty road sign for the next 1 and 1/2 miles I'd like a bigger gear select or gear indicator on the dash but honestly Road's just a little bit damp in here so just a little bit careful cuz you got obviously rear wheel drive but that gives you great balance it's got a lovely feeling from front end in we go what do you reckon petrol pup you enjoying that it's not got the best soundtrack in the world it's a bit muted and a bit me but honestly it doesn't detract from that feeling the dynamic feeling of driving the car and you uh end up catching up cars in front quite a lot in this car there you I would love to know what your thoughts were would you go quadrifolio would you go vce there's speale underneath this as well there are other trim levels but I think for me when you get this with the teley dial Wheels it just it's just got something about it but I hope you enjoyed that a video I've had this car for a number of reason on lots of Miles this week I used it to drive to the airport to go on a on an alpha event in Italy and I really wanted to kind of just get into the whole world of alpha on my way to to see the new Junior but I thought I'd do a film while I had it as well anyway I hope you enjoyed that if you did give me a thumbs up comments below are always welcome and if you haven't done so already please subscribe to Petr ped for plenty more content to come for me and the petrol pup you right dude yeah oh were you fast asleep oh no I'll just see you on the next film take care guys drive safe\n"