Motor Australia – May 2019

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THE GIULIA Q’S $145,900 IS

A REASONABLE ASK FOR

THE FASTEST-FOUR DOOR

AROUND THE ’RING

BELOW

Giulia’s fancy active

aero and diffuser

ain’t much use here

in Oz. But looks cool

ONE Steering

wheel and paddles

are highlights, but

the interior is let

down by cheap-

looking features like

the shift lever

TWO You won’t

see the Alpina on

the Giulia’s tail for

any other reason

than photography.

Trust us

THREE Lovely

2891cc V6 shares

same cylinder

displacement with

Califoria T’s 3855cc

twin-turbo V8

AKE A DEEP BREATH. Concentrate. You control 510 of
Affalterbach’s finest horses with your right foot. The new
2019 Mercedes-AMGC63S you’reinshouldhandlethem. Its
electronicbrainhasbeensplicedwitha newESPmatrix and
adjustabletractioncontrolthatletsyouswitchbetween tyre
fryinglunaticandcorner-carvingsurgeon.
Twinturbosplumbintoa 4.0-litreV8toproducea colossal
700Nm,allaimedatitsreartyres.Butthenthere’sthe other
sideofthestory.Althoughtheoldseven-speedtransmission
wasknownforbeingbrusque,a newnine-speedwetclutch
automaticpromisestosmooththingsout.
During development Mercedes-AMG also locked some
suspensionengineersawayuntiltheydevisedanew, best-
of-both-worldssetup.Onethatpromisescomfort,precision
andtractioninequalmeasure.Italsodemandeda refreshed
interior,thebestinclass,soa newsteeringwheelanddigital
clusternowappearinfrontofyou.
Thesechangesamounttoa comprehensiverevamp of the
C63S atitsmid-lifepoint.Andalthoughtheyhopetounlock
class-dominatingpotential,asweburbledownthehighway
somethinglurkinginourrear-viewsuggeststhatwon’tbe easy.
It’sa swollen-lookingsedan.Asitclosesin,itsventedbonnet
andaggressivelycooledbumpercomeintoview.
It’sa CadillacATS-V.Gulp.GeneralMotors’anti-C63weapon.
The‘LEFTHANDDRIVE’stickeronitsrearwindowsignals it’s
anengineeringmule,hereforGMdevelopmentwork at the
handsofHolden,andsincewe’rearoundMelbourne’s South
Easternsuburbsit’sprobablydestinedforLangLang.
But it serves as a reminder this AMG faces serious
competitionbeforeclaimingthethrone.Afterall,witha twin-
turboV6,fourdoorsandrear-drive,it’sasif theATS-Vwas built
intheimageoftheAlfaRomeoGiuliaQ– theItalianweplaced

on equal footing with the C63 S in 2017. It’s back for round two

with a gang of refreshed rivals.

Alfa Romeo has tweaked some things. It’s now a five seater,

for starters. But we assume owners might have enjoyed a

375kW/600Nm 2.9-litre engine, adaptive shocks and an

electronic locking rear differential too much to ever notice it

was missing an extra seatbelt on the rear bench.

Oh, and Alfa Romeo has dropped the ‘Verde’ from the Giulia’s

QV suffix to create the Giulia Q. The rear seats are now also

heated and drivers sit behind the fancy, and previously optional,

Alcantara rimmed racing wheel with carbon-fibre inserts. This

inflates its price by $2000 to $145,900. A reasonable ask for the

fastest four-door around the Nurburgring Nordschleife and

much cheaper than the AMG’s $160,900. But if you’re after a

cheap performance car then pop into a BMW sales yard.

The M3 Pure was devised to send off the sixth-generation

car. It takes a standard Competition variant, ditches the

20-inch wheels, seat heating, leather seat inserts, fancy audio

62 may 2019 whichcar.com.au/motor