Alfa Guilia Quad test driven! Mmmmm

[ecain63]

MegaCat said:

I have had mine for a month now & it is brilliant - 2,000 miles of fun motoring. The drive modes are really great, although so far it has been eco or dynamic & the difference is stark. Race is waiting to 3,500 when the full beans are available! I was incredibly lucky as the dealer had ordered my spec, and it was in the showroom, so I bought it before it had been PDI'd & still managed to get a very decent discount! Talk to Dan at Meridien Milano in Portsmouth.

It is an immense car & it makes me giggle all the time ; ) Go and buy one!!!

3500 and full beans available??? Have you swallowed the myth?

[MegaCat]

I don't even care, I have run it in so that I will give it the full beans from then - it is already more than enough for any road I have been on - roll on Millbrook!! ; )

[200Plus Club]

MegaCat said:

I don't even care, I have run it in so that I will give it the full beans from then - it is already more than enough for any road I have been on - roll on Millbrook!! ; )

the demo car i drove had 1100m on it and has been caned regularly by the look of it. we certainly had it in race mode at all times once warm.

[MegaCat]

I intend keeping the car for at least 3 years, so I want it run in properly - after all it is a 2.9ltr which give 510bhp, a little sympathy works wonders in the long term! Admittedly I didn't do that when I used to race, but engines were treated as a bit of a commodity really

[200Plus Club]

ive joined the Alfa forum and am watching with interest one or two threads where initial issues have cropped up, to see how they pan out and are dealt with. at this stage i now dont envisage buying a brand new one this year unless they make me a stupidly good trade in offer for my R8. i think i'll wait a year and pick one up without the vat and 1st year depreciation loss.

[Ares]

200Plus Club said:

Had an extended test drive of one today in Derbyshire. Have to say it's very impressive. Race mode takes it to another level, rev matching, no traction control, instantaneous paddle shifts, popping crackling and banging on and off throttle and a perfectly weighted and set up suspension.
In normal mode it's a nice quiet 4 door sports saloon. It's trimmed well and has super brakes and seats. Very very tempting. I've never owned or wanted to own an Alfa but these may make me change my mind.
First year depreciation plus reliability concerns are in my mind though tbh, but I could easily live with one of these

I've looked at the spec list and getting one in the right colour with a few extra bits n bobs is looking like £65k or thereabouts based on £61k list. Anyone care to share what they paid, and who they went with?

I'm wary of buying brand new because of the depreciation hit in yr one and Two, plus read the odd comments about issues from new, but the test drive was very impressive, it's as fast on the roads as my R8, sounds cool in race mode, and felt good quality inside

I've only just got my R8 but could easily see one of these being next up!
Comments from current owners or people waiting on delivery appreciated

Late picking up on this, but mine arrive next month. I've got for Vesuvio Grey with the Dark 5-hole (did order silver Quad wheels, but in the flesh they looked smaller and just less cohesive). Spec wise, I've gone Electric Seat Package & CF Wheel. Couple of other things I flirted with, but nothing that seemed like a must-have.

I've eradicated the depreciation woe by opting for a business lease.

[Ares]

200Plus Club said:

generationx said:

Mine was an early order and, as such, fewer options were available. I went for Competizione red which looks stunning in the sunshine, carbon seats which are impressively comfortable and supportive, carbon steering wheel, red contrast interior panels, dark five-spoke alloys as EVERYONE else seemed to spec. the Teledials, Harmon Kardon speaker upgrade and adaptive cruise control.

5,500 trouble-free miles so far and I'm very happy with all these choices.

Do it!

That paint is the bees knees, but I'd like to see blue in the flesh perhaps. Been watching reviews on you tube all morning lol

Edited by 200Plus Club on Saturday 24th June 16:34

I've seen it. It's OK. I didn't want the shouty look, so avoided the Comp Red. Looked at Blue but preferred the sleeper look for Vesuvio.

[Ares]

ecain63 said:

Upside, I never have to carry the inlaws anywhere.

That was my first thought. Win/Win

[Ares]

ecain63 said:

Oh, and apparently the 5th belt mounting points are fitted on our UK shells, just not the belts and seat.

Issue is that it is registered as a 4-seater. Outside risk of nullifying insurance if used as a 5-seater.

[Ares]

MegaCat said:

I have had mine for a month now & it is brilliant - 2,000 miles of fun motoring. The drive modes are really great, although so far it has been eco or dynamic & the difference is stark. Race is waiting to 3,500 when the full beans are available! I was incredibly lucky as the dealer had ordered my spec, and it was in the showroom, so I bought it before it had been PDI'd & still managed to get a very decent discount! Talk to Dan at Meridien Milano in Portsmouth.

It is an immense car & it makes me giggle all the time ; ) Go and buy one!!!

Not heard of the 3500 rule? Is that official, or just your own prudence?

[200Plus Club]

Would love to drive one around blyton or similar where you can play a little in race mode :-)
I assume at some point ecu gurus will unlock the ecu to give you full noise and some stability control rather than race mode only unlocking it all.

[Ares]

200Plus Club said:

Would love to drive one around blyton or similar where you can play a little in race mode :-)
I assume at some point ecu gurus will unlock the ecu to give you full noise and some stability control rather than race mode only unlocking it all.

There, apparently, a couple of tuners (Celtic being one) that do full exhaust noise on Dynamic, but from Test Drive experience, the standard dynamic setting gives full noise on manual changes and above 3k(?) - that can almost be nicer as you get the sudden exhaust bark.


I only had a brief play on Race mode - not sure what else it brings, other than shutting down all electronic aids.

[200Plus Club]

I caned the bejesus out of it in race mode but it was a warm day and the tyres were sticky!

[smarty156]

Race mode gives even sharper throttle response, hard suspension setting (that can be softened back slightly to medium), faster gear changes, fully open exhaust at all revs and over boost facility.
Dynamic puts suspension in medium suspension which can be switched to soft of you're on a rough/bumpy road.
I believe the torque vectoring rear diff changes too in Race and the hazard lights don't go mental if you brake hard. And of course the screen between the rev counter and speedo has different displays depending what mode you're in.
Gearbox is very racy in Race mode when in auto.

Edited by smarty156 on Monday 3rd July 21:31

[ecain63]

For anyone interested, as far as Alfa are concerned there is no recommended run in period for the QF. It's effectively good to go, straight off the line. There is no power to be gained in waiting until 3500 miles and no software hard wired to restrict anything. Mechanical sympathy is obviously a good thing but you're only wasting time by holding off on the fun.

[200Plus Club]

smarty156 said:

Race mode gives even sharper throttle response, hard suspension setting (that can be softened back slightly to medium), faster gear changes, fully open exhaust at all revs and over boost facility.
Dynamic puts suspension in medium suspension which can be switched to soft of you're on a rough/bumpy road.
I believe the torque vectoring rear diff changes too in Race and the hazard lights don't go mental if you brake hard. And of course the screen between the rev counter and speedo has different displays depending what mode you're in.
Gearbox is very racy in Race mode when in auto.

Edited by smarty156 on Monday 3rd July 21:31

I tried it manually shifting in race mode and have to admit I could never rev match a box as good as that did it in Auto. Blimey it's good. Full throttle flat shifts by the sound of it and perfect downshift while standing on the brakes. I don't see why you'd ever manually shift it after the initial play :-)
If I wasn't so scared about dumping 20k of my hard earned down the pan I year one perhaps if be in one right now. I do hope they sell well and prove their reliability. My R8 is so good but it's so tempting!

[smarty156]

I was taken on a few hot laps at Millbrook recently in the Giulia QV by ex BTCC driver Paul O'Neill and he was not holding back!
He was in Race mode obviously but interestingly he also left the gearbox in auto. The gear shifts seemed spot on to me and I have to admit the box is so good, even in D and N, that I drive 99% of the time in auto.
The few times I have used manual my wife has commented that the car does it better in auto!

[Ares]

smarty156 said:

Race mode gives even sharper throttle response, hard suspension setting (that can be softened back slightly to medium), faster gear changes, fully open exhaust at all revs and over boost facility.
Dynamic puts suspension in medium suspension which can be switched to soft of you're on a rough/bumpy road.
I believe the torque vectoring rear diff changes too in Race and the hazard lights don't go mental if you brake hard. And of course the screen between the rev counter and speedo has different displays depending what mode you're in.
Gearbox is very racy in Race mode when in auto.

Edited by smarty156 on Monday 3rd July 21:31

Whats the over boost facility?

[200Plus Club]

Ares said:

smarty156 said:

Race mode gives even sharper throttle response, hard suspension setting (that can be softened back slightly to medium), faster gear changes, fully open exhaust at all revs and over boost facility.
Dynamic puts suspension in medium suspension which can be switched to soft of you're on a rough/bumpy road.
I believe the torque vectoring rear diff changes too in Race and the hazard lights don't go mental if you brake hard. And of course the screen between the rev counter and speedo has different displays depending what mode you're in.
Gearbox is very racy in Race mode when in auto.

Edited by smarty156 on Monday 3rd July 21:31

Whats the over boost facility?

peak boost midrange is allowed to shoot to about 36psi if what i read was correct, in Race mode only. its certainly very very strong in the midrange there.

[ecain63]

200Plus Club said:

Ares said:

smarty156 said:

Race mode gives even sharper throttle response, hard suspension setting (that can be softened back slightly to medium), faster gear changes, fully open exhaust at all revs and over boost facility.
Dynamic puts suspension in medium suspension which can be switched to soft of you're on a rough/bumpy road.
I believe the torque vectoring rear diff changes too in Race and the hazard lights don't go mental if you brake hard. And of course the screen between the rev counter and speedo has different displays depending what mode you're in.
Gearbox is very racy in Race mode when in auto.

Edited by smarty156 on Monday 3rd July 21:31

Whats the over boost facility?

peak boost midrange is allowed to shoot to about 36psi if what i read was correct, in Race mode only. its certainly very very strong in the midrange there.

The vbox testing I've done would suggest there are no performance gains in Race over Dynaminc or Normal mode. All modes produce near identical 100-200kph times.