Alfa Romeo’s new mid-size sports sedan has just been around the Nurburgring for a hot lap. It lapped the legendary Nordschleife in 7 min 32 sec beating the mighty Porsche Panamera Turbo’s fastest time.
The Alfa Romeo Giulia Quadrifoglio equipped with the new 8-speed automatic gearbox was being driven by test driver Fabio Francia. A previous attempt in an Alfa Giulia fitted with a manual transmission resulted in a lap time of 7 min 39 sec.
The Alfa Romeo Giula Quadrifoglio is not a direct rival of the Porsche Panamera Turbo. In fact, it competes with the likes of the BMW M3 and the Mercedes-AMG C63. That said, by lapping the Nurburgring faster than a Panamera Turbo, Alfa Romeo has gained a clear upper hand when it comes to marketing and bragging rights. Just in case your are wondering, the Panamera Turbo lapped in 7 min 38 sec.
Alfa Romeo’s feat further reiterates the fact that despite its long straights, the Nurburgring is predominantly a handling circuit. The Giulia Quadrifoglio’s lack of weight and better handling characteristics helped it set a quick lap time and was aided by the 2.9-liter 510 hp twin-turbo V6 engine.
PS: We often see test drivers in full racing overalls attempting a lap record. Fabio went out with just his racing helmet with a half open visor, a pair of jeans, a t-shirt and a fancy wrist watch. How Italian is that! The car seems to be extremely twitchy under braking and eager to oversteer. Watch as it hits ~280 km/hr on the main straight.
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Alfa Romeo Giulia Quadrifoglio image gallery:
