036. COMPARO. CAR AND DRIVER. MAR/2017CADILLAC ATS-V
Price: $78,930
Power: 464 hp
Torque: 445 lb-ft
Weight: 3839 lb
0–60 mph: 3.9 secTHE NAME ALFA ROMEO
CONJURES UP GHOSTS.
A brand that once ruled racing, gave a young Enzo Ferrari his start, and
produced bubbly little macchine throughout the 1950s and ’60s is also a
company whose cars earned a reputation for electrical malignancies and
for dissolving with the speed of an Alka-Seltzer tablet. Plop, plop, fizz, fizz.
Those ghosts define Alfa Romeo, simultaneously elevating and haunt-
ing the brand as it tries to launch its American comeback tour, attracting
and repelling us in equal measure. We will not forget that, in the late ’80s,
we had two very charming Milanos fail to complete long-term tests. Two.
So it’s with equal parts skepticism and excitement that we approach the
Alfa Romeo Giulia, the beachhead of Alfa’s return to America. Aimed
squarely at the usual suspects in the compact-luxury-sedan segment,
it starts at $73,595 in Quadrifoglio form, and with 505 horsepower it is
equipped to take on some of the world’s best sedans. Engineered and
designed in Italy, the Giulia is built on FCA’s new Giorgio rear- and all-
wheel-drive platform that will also form the basis for Alfa’s second moor-
ing, the Stelvio SU V.
Breaking with our usual comparison-test protocol, we brought back all
the players from the last test of this genre. Ordinarily, we’d only invite the
test winner, in this case the BMW M3, but we recalled the also-rans from
that comparo as well, even though they are unchanged since their last visit.
The Cadillac ATS-V still has a twin-turbocharged 464-hp V-6 and
Nürburgring-developed moves; the Mercedes-AMG C63 S still has a sug-
ary-sweet 4.0-liter twin-turbo V-8 that pours out 503 horsepower.
Of the returning cast, the M3 has changed the most. BMW now offers
the car with a Competition package, a $4750 option that includes 19 more
horsepower from the twin-turbo 3.0 -liter inline-six, forged 20 -inch
wheels with wider Michelin Pilot Super Sports, and a retuned suspension
with new springs, dampers, and anti-roll bars. It’s a more intense M3 that
shifts the sedan toward the track-focused M4 GTS.