Alfa Romeo Giulietta Quadrifoglio Verde review: Hot hatch that deserves your attention

We really can't stress this point strongly enough. If you tried one of the early Alfa Giulietta cars that arrived in 2010 and came away unimpressed, that's understandable. Alfa really hadn't fettled the car to a level UK enthusiasts expected. In the intervening years, the Giulietta has had so much effort poured into its development that it's probably our pick for biggest improver.

As Alfisti will no doubt be able to tell you, at length, this isn't the first time the Giulietta badge has been used on a car. In fact it's fully 60 years since that nameplate was first attached to the rear end of an Alfa Romeo and to celebrate that occasion, Alfa has brought us a special edition version of its hottest Giulietta. The Quadrifoglio Verde - or Green Cloverleaf if you prefer - might not get the same recognition as cars like the Ford Focus ST or the VW Golf GTI but if you're in the market for a car like this, it deserves your attention.

Driving Experience

The Giulietta Quadrifoglio Verde features much the same aluminium engine as seen in Alfa's stunning 4C lightweight sports coupe. Okay, so a four-cylinder 1750cc engine might not sound immediately exciting, but it's heavily turbocharged and makes a hefty 240PS at 5,750rpm and 340Nm of torque between 2,000 and 4,000rpm. This special edition gets some custom intake and exhaust systems so that it sounds agreeable Italian. Drive is deployed via a six-speed ALFA TCT twin dry clitch transmission which has also been inherited from the Alfa Romeo 4C supercar. As with all Alfa Romeos, the car's character can be customised by the driver using the Alfa D.N.A driving selector, which employs different throttle, transmission and steering settings depending on the driver's choice.

The Quadrifoglio Verde also introduces a Launch Control system to the TCT transmission software. It's activated by pressing the brake and accelerator pedals all the way down, squeezing the down-shift paddle on the steering wheel and then releasing the brakes - the system automatically controls the traction control system, engine power delivery and transmission upshifts to maximise acceleration: It's so effective, in fact, it has shaved 0.8 seconds from the Alfa Romeo Giulietta Quadrifoglio Verde's sprint to 62mph compared to its predecessor. It can now perform the benchmark in a mere 6.0 seconds and will on to a top speed of 149mph.

Design and Build

Alfa has done a bit more than throw some sporty mats and flaps at this car. The stance is completely different to most Giuliettas courtesy of lowered sports suspension, then you might well spot the Quadrifoglio Verde emblems on the front wings and the dark-tinted rear window glass. The mirror cappings are finished in anthracite, while that colour scheme is also extended to the front grille, door handles and fog-light frames. There's a pair of beefy exhaust tailpipes and a set of 18-inch alloy wheels come as standard. Look carefully and you'll spot the red, four-piston Brembo brake calipers and 320mm brake discs behind.

The interior also features a number of upgrades. The bolstered wraparound sport seats get a one-piece backrest and are trimmed in leather and Alcantara. The steering wheel is finished in leather with contrasting white stitching and there's a set of aluminium sports pedals, some specific kick-plates, a dark interior headlining and a leather-trimmed gear level and parking brake lever with matching contrast stitching. Material quality isn't at all bad. There are some cheaper plastics if you go looking for them but the controls are extremely simple, with the 6.5-inch TFT display taking care of most of the minor functions.

Market and Model

The Giulietta Quadrifoglio Verde's value proposition is a tough one to nail down. To ardent fans of the brand, £28,120 isn't an unreasonable ask for a that's had a lot of work done to it and which packs a 240PS punch. Those who don't have quite such loyalty to Alfa Romeo might well wonder whether spending another £1,800 on a Volkswagen Golf R, a better-built car that packs a 300PS punch, a more talented all-wheel drive chassis and which will be faster and more composed than the Alfa on typically wet and bumpy British roads. We'll leave it to you to decide when camp you fall into there.

As well as the QV specific arts, this Giulietta also comes with a smarter infotainment system called Uconnect, which works well within a range of smartphone and MP3 devices, either cabled or accessed via Bluetooth. Streaming your smartphone's music library is easy to do and if you get bored of that, you can play DAB radio. There's a full complement of six airbags plus ABS anti-lock braking with Electronic Brake force Distribution (EBD); Vehicle Dynamic Control (VDC) - Alfa Romeo's interpretation of Electronic Stability Programme; Cornering Brake Control (CBC), Dynamic Steering Torque (DST), Hydraulic Brake Assistance (HBA) and a Pre-Fill function for the brakes.

Cost of Ownership

The good news with this model is that it records some extremely good economy and emissions figures. There aren't too many hatches this quick that will be better 40mpg, but the Giulietta Quadrifoglio Verde gets 40.4mpg on the combined cycle which equates to emissions of just 162g/km. Of course, you probably won't match those figures in typical road driving, but as a benchmark it shows that quick needn't always mean thirsty.

Of a little more concern to buyers might well be this car's residual value after three years and 30,000 miles. Your Alfa would be worth in the region of £9,100, while if you'd bought a Golf R it would still command over £14,300. Factor in insurance, servicing fuel, road tax and such like and the pence per mile figures come to 71ppm for the Volkswagen and 82ppm for the Alfa. That might sound bad but a Renaultsport Megane with the Cup Chassis pack will cost around 83ppm to run. It's no that the Alfa is inherently bad, merely that the Volkswagen stands out as extremely good. At Group 31 it also has markedly the lowest insurance costs of the trio, the Golf rated at Group 34 and the Renault a hefty Group 40. For buyers in their twenties, that could be deciding factor right there.

Overall

The Alfa Romeo Giulietta Quadrifoglio Verde isn't your average special edition model. It's a lot more committed than that. It's also a car that requires you to be committed to the Alfa badge if it stands any chance of securing your order. As good as it is, and as far as Alfa has come in developing the Giulietta, it faces some fearsome rivals and on an objective basis alone, it can't really hope to face them down as a pure hot hatch.

Instead, think of it as a luxury sports hatch that has something about it, not as a car that demands to be driven at ten-tenths all the time. Yes, the engine and gearbox require you to be right on top of them to get the best out of them, but think of that as an essential part of this car's character. There's space in the market for cars like this. It's not a big space and you have put objectivity aside to a certain extent, but it exists and we're thankful for that.