Alfa Romeo · Sports Saloon · 2024

Alfa Romeo Giulia

It has the most direct steering of any saloon on sale: barely two turns lock to lock, with an eagerness that surprises at first and occasionally alarms. This is a car built around driving pleasure, with rear-wheel drive, fifty-fifty weight distribution and a carbon-fibre propshaft to save weight. Anyone coming from a German rival notices immediately: the Giulia feels more alive, less filtered, more willing to tell you what the wheels are doing. In exchange it asks for compromises: the boot is average, some dashboard materials fall short for the money, and the infotainment is less polished than rivals'. The Quadrifoglio, with its 520 hp twin-turbo V6 developed with Ferrari's help, is a different car again: a supercar with four doors. If you want comfort and technology, look elsewhere. If you want a car that makes you take the long way home, this is it.