The RS4 is away and the replacement has been purchased.
A couple of years ago @Woodcutter and @Cooper (looking suitably unimpressed) and i (driver seat LHD grinning like a ****) headed across to Goodwood, it was there that i saw, sat in and got to see heading up the hill the Giulia Quadrifoglio (QV for short). I thought at the time i might get one of those. Fast forward two years a Golf R and RS4 later and it has come to fruition.
I was initially going to buy a weekend car and a daily but to be perfectly honest nothing really tickled my fancy with regards to a daily. I had asked @Gaz to keep an eye out for a daily the usual stuff M135i 335D etc..He came back with a list of possible options all great cars no doubt but at the very bottom of the list was a picture of QV with "just to throw the cat amongst the pigeons" typed beside it. That was it, the seed was planted and i couldn't shake it. Thanks @Gaz
Another deciding factor was any weekend car i wanted was going to cost a fair chunk and tying a pile of money up in something that i may only get to drive the odd weekend became less and less appealing. I have never been one to have a car and not use it. Having owned 3 previous Alfas it felt right that the QV should be No 4.
As i am sure everyone here does when buying a new car i went into fact finding mode, read every review i could, watched all the videos, most were broadly positive but a few of the early 16 cars did have their issues so that ruled a 16 plate out, i am not massively surprised they had gremlins, they were rushed to market my Sergio Marchionne within 24 months or something silly like that.
After a couple of weeks of hunting around for the right car within budget i found a 17 reg Dark grey one, i thought that was it, that's the one i want. I was set on it until the very next day the one that i bought became available in Silverstone Silver and immediately i knew that was the one for me no questions asked.
The RS4 was prepped, a trade in price was agreed and off to England i went on Monday night to buy the QV having never driven one. Buying blind is a risky business but i had a feeling that i would love the Alfa.
Got off the ferry in Liverpool at 6:30am on a misty Tuesday morning, fired up the Rs4 for the last time and made a B line for the dealer some 2 and a half hours away.
Upon arrival i was greeted by the sight of the QV sitting pristine outside the dealership, really didn't really matter how it drove i was having it, i love the look of them.
A quick 15 min test drive later and a bit of sideways action onto the main road completely by accident the deal was done and the money was transferred.
Yeah i loved it, maybe more than i thought i would, it also scared me a little which was a good thing. Last three cars have been 4wd which has completely spoilt me, non of them ever set the heart thumping like the short 15min test drive did in the QV.
Three and a half hours later i arrived at the ferry terminal to head back across to Dublin. I hadn't really managed to exploit the engine on the drive across apart from the odd blip due to the inordinate number of road works and average speed cameras they have across there.
Arrived into Dublin late on Tuesday evening (Delayed ferry) and gave her a good spanking an empty M1 home. Its safe to say that i was grinning like a Cheshire cat. The launch from the Toll booth was particularly memorable, great to be able to release all 503hp in anger up the road.
Anyway enough typing some dealer/my pics attached will eventually get better ones but for the moment i'm just going to enjoy driving it.
A couple of years ago @Woodcutter and @Cooper (looking suitably unimpressed) and i (driver seat LHD grinning like a ****) headed across to Goodwood, it was there that i saw, sat in and got to see heading up the hill the Giulia Quadrifoglio (QV for short). I thought at the time i might get one of those. Fast forward two years a Golf R and RS4 later and it has come to fruition.
I was initially going to buy a weekend car and a daily but to be perfectly honest nothing really tickled my fancy with regards to a daily. I had asked @Gaz to keep an eye out for a daily the usual stuff M135i 335D etc..He came back with a list of possible options all great cars no doubt but at the very bottom of the list was a picture of QV with "just to throw the cat amongst the pigeons" typed beside it. That was it, the seed was planted and i couldn't shake it. Thanks @Gaz
Another deciding factor was any weekend car i wanted was going to cost a fair chunk and tying a pile of money up in something that i may only get to drive the odd weekend became less and less appealing. I have never been one to have a car and not use it. Having owned 3 previous Alfas it felt right that the QV should be No 4.
As i am sure everyone here does when buying a new car i went into fact finding mode, read every review i could, watched all the videos, most were broadly positive but a few of the early 16 cars did have their issues so that ruled a 16 plate out, i am not massively surprised they had gremlins, they were rushed to market my Sergio Marchionne within 24 months or something silly like that.
After a couple of weeks of hunting around for the right car within budget i found a 17 reg Dark grey one, i thought that was it, that's the one i want. I was set on it until the very next day the one that i bought became available in Silverstone Silver and immediately i knew that was the one for me no questions asked.
The RS4 was prepped, a trade in price was agreed and off to England i went on Monday night to buy the QV having never driven one. Buying blind is a risky business but i had a feeling that i would love the Alfa.
Got off the ferry in Liverpool at 6:30am on a misty Tuesday morning, fired up the Rs4 for the last time and made a B line for the dealer some 2 and a half hours away.
Upon arrival i was greeted by the sight of the QV sitting pristine outside the dealership, really didn't really matter how it drove i was having it, i love the look of them.
A quick 15 min test drive later and a bit of sideways action onto the main road completely by accident the deal was done and the money was transferred.
Yeah i loved it, maybe more than i thought i would, it also scared me a little which was a good thing. Last three cars have been 4wd which has completely spoilt me, non of them ever set the heart thumping like the short 15min test drive did in the QV.
Three and a half hours later i arrived at the ferry terminal to head back across to Dublin. I hadn't really managed to exploit the engine on the drive across apart from the odd blip due to the inordinate number of road works and average speed cameras they have across there.
Arrived into Dublin late on Tuesday evening (Delayed ferry) and gave her a good spanking an empty M1 home. Its safe to say that i was grinning like a Cheshire cat. The launch from the Toll booth was particularly memorable, great to be able to release all 503hp in anger up the road.
Anyway enough typing some dealer/my pics attached will eventually get better ones but for the moment i'm just going to enjoy driving it.
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