The Alfa Romeo Giulia GTA is a hardcore 532bhp super-saloon

Less weight, more power, more noise, more money – it’s the classic recipe for car porn that’s served the likes of Ferrari, Porsche, McLaren and even Renault well. So, about time Alfa Romeo got in on the lightweight special game – with one of the best supersaloons money can buy.

This is the Giulia GTA. Angry, innit? And the new vents and grilles are just the beginning of a wholesale diet and gym regime that promises to turn the Giulia QV into a proper track monster.

New side skirts, an active front splitter and a bigger rear diffuser all increase downforce, using nous from Alfa Romeo’s F1 partner Sauber Engineering, we’re told. Amid the new bum is a centre-exit Akrapovic titanium exhaust. Yum.

The front and rear tracks have swelled by a whopping 50mm, so the new 20in centrelock rims have to be contained under butch new wheelarch extensions. Underneath, there are new springs, shock absorbers and bushings.

Wondering why there’s a choice of small ducktail spoiler or big, touring car-style bookcase wing? That’s there partly to increase downforce, but mostly to tell people whether you’ve bought the standard Giulia GTA, or the even more hardcore GTAm, which ditches the back seats, adds a roll cage and helmet holder, includes race harnesses, and even swaps out door handles for fabric door pulls.

Both versions employ carbon fibre for the driveshaft, bonnet, roof, front bumper, front wheel arches and rear wheel arch inserts, and the sports seats. The GTAm even swaps its glass back window for lighter Lexan polycarbonate. The GTAm weighs in at 1,520kg, saving 100kg from the standard – and brilliant – Giulia QV model.

Whichever version of the Giulia GTA you get, the engine will have had a tickle. The 2.9-litre bi-turbo V6 has been boosted from 503bhp to 532bhp, which is fine, because under no circumstances did we ever stagger agog from the standard car saying ‘hmm, it’s alright, but it needs a load more poke’. It’ll do 0-62mph in 3.6sec.

Now, when we say ‘whichever one you get’, you’d better be quick. And probably rich. Only 500 GTAs will be made, and though prices are still secret, it’s unlikely you’ll be seeing much change from £100k, if the Jaguar Project 8, BMW M4 GTS and Porsche 911 GT3 are anything to go by. Then again, you do get a free-of-charge branded helmet and race suit thrown in.

Imagine that – a sports car with its own set of fireproof pyjamas...