Alfa Romeo Giulietta Cloverleaf Review/Comparison with 2.5 Focus ST

Recently I enjoyed an afternoon with CarThrottle as they filmed a video on my own car, a 2011 Alfa Romeo Giulietta Quadrifoglio Verde (Cloverleaf in english). Today they’ve posted the video, and so I thought I’d do a brief write up about the car too and if anyone wants to ask any questions they can. I owned a 2.5Litre turbo Ford Focus ST before, so in this quick review I shall make comparisons where I can because obviously they are 2 rival cars in the hot hatch market. So rather than a review of the Alfa, its more of a comparison review.

As it stands, the car is completely stock. Its got 235bhp, front wheel drive with a 0-62 time of 6.8 seconds and a top speed of 150mph. It has a 1.75litre turbocharged engine which you can also find in the 4C. On paper its slower than some of its rivals, 0.3 seconds slower to 62 compared with the Focus ST but the car has so much torque and smooth power delivery you don’t even notice a difference. Its torque specs are identical to the 2.5L ST which is impressive. The best part about the Alfa is that the engine has performance but doesn’t require as many visits to the petrol station. Its fairly eco for a hot hatch and it makes a huge difference in the long run. Over the past 900miles or so, the trip computer is saying i’ve achieved 27.4MPG. This is a mixture of mainly town driving, bit of motorway and lots of fun driving. The ST would get about 20MPG, dropping to as low as 15MPG sometimes. Sure the ST is exceptionally fun but I’d rather enjoy similar performance and spend less on petrol since its my everyday car.

The 2.5Litre Focus ST model sounds so much better, inside you get a much deeper roar from the 5 pot engine, and the exhaust pops and crackles. The Alfa just misses the spot for me personally. Its the main thing I dislike about the car. It sounds great as it drives past you don’t get me wrong, but inside the car its too quiet (unless you roll down the windows). I can see where Alfa Romeo was going with it, but people buying performance cars want the soundtrack to come with it. Thankfully they’ve listened to customers because the latest Giulietta QV’s have made a big improvement (along with being much faster standard).

I love how well the Giulietta is refined and generally comfortable when cruising along in town or on the motorway. I understand Alex’s comments about the suspension and he has a point, it could be better. However in my opinion, I think its better than the ST I had and certainly a huge improvement on the Mito I owned. I also adore the looks of the Giulietta, and the interior matches the exterior with leather seats with red stitching everywhere that looks great with the car being red on the outside. I’ve also got the Bose speakers which are amazing, and a panoramic sunroof as some optional extras.

Overall, if you want a fun weekend car thats a total blast, the 2.5 Turbo Focus ST wins. However as more of a daily car, I prefer the Alfa and am happy with my decision to buy one to replace the ST. You don’t see them everywhere, they look great, it drives well and is more economical.

What do I have planned for it? Well its low milage with full service history so I intend to keep it for a while and look after it. Its going to have a custom exhaust fitted, along with a remap and engine modifications. It won’t require much work to get it running 300bhp comfortably, with about 340 lb-ft of torque which is going to be interesting. It’ll be Focus RS territory so a 0-62 time around 5.7 seconds. Im also trying to get some real custom Carbon Fibre put on the exterior but its proving to be a headache.

Thanks again for CarThrottle for filming.
https://www.carthrottle.com/post/alfa-romeo-giulietta-qv-review-a-floppy-mess-in-a-sexy-dress/

(Wheels got a refurb after the image in the post was taken. You can see that in video)