Alfa Romeo Giulia Quadrifoglio – long-term review

You may remember the Giulia recently got posted back to Alfa as it kept going limp. Initially, its techies struggled to identify the fault, but pinned it down to an electrical glitch in the wiring loom.

This gremlin duped sensors into thinking there was an issue with the turbos, giving the car’s brain the impression it’d grenade itself imminently. That’s why it’d shut all the fun of Race mode down and nestle itself into a safety net, instantly transforming it from a fire-snorting super-saloon to salesman’s repmobile.

To rectify it, a section of wiring was snipped out and replaced. So far, so good – it hasn’t skipped a beat. But what about that dicky speaker? Well, that still sounds like a perforated tambourine. But sick of it being in the shop (and really missing it) I’m just living with it.

Now, you may have noticed it’s got quite chilly recently. I did when entering a cold, wet two-lane roundabout... halfway round on a steady throttle, the rear Pirelli P Zero Corsas just gave up.

These super-sticky tyres are great on track (although they have a pretty horrendous wear rating and cost approximately £255 for the fronts and £290 for the rears) but are pretty much useless in a British winter.

So I’ve swapped them for winters which has given the traction control a break. Admittedly, the Alfa still has a playful rear end, but now it can handle adverse conditions. Like snow, which I experienced the other day.