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Chris Harris Drives


Andy_Bangle
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This is the first video (on YT) in his new series Chris Harris Drives.

Alfa's new Giulia Quadrifoglio wants to go head to head with the BMW M3 and Mercedes-AMG C63, injecting a welcome dose of Italian style into the segment. It boasts a 2.9-liter twin-turbo V6 developed by Ferrari rated at 503 HP (510 PS) that are channeled to the rear wheels through either a six-speed manual or eight-speed automatic gearbox.

There's a lot to love, then, about Alfa's new Cloverleaf - but how does it measure up against the Germans? Harris delivers his verdict.

 

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Wow.  Just wow.  Not often you see (or hear?) Chris Harris lost for words.

"This is not so much a car, as a Class A substance"  :roflmao:

Evolution is a wonderful thing.  20 years ago last month, Ferrari launched the 478 hp, 1770 kg 550 Maranello.  Was a new era for Ferrari, a real game changer, I recall Richard Burns and Top Gear Magazine voted it best handling car on the planet, and it was faster than pretty much every Ferrari before it bar specials like the F40 and F50.

780 hp and 1415 kg (dry) means the TDF has more than twice the power to weight ratio of said 550.  Bonkers.

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  • 3 weeks later...

Shortly after Porsche made the claim that its new Panamera Turbo was the fastest five-door sedan around the Nurburgring, the Alfa Romeo Giulia Quadrifoglio has reclaimed its title.

At the vehicle's launch in 2015, the Italian marque said it could lap the famed circuit in just 7:39, based on virtual sector times. As it turns out, it's actually a little bit faster than expected, recently lapping 'Green Hell' in a mere 7 minutes and 32 seconds.

The car used in the record-breaking run was installed with the vehicle's optional eight-speed automatic transmission, rather than the six-speed manual. Behind the wheel was expert Italian racer Fabio Francia and throughout the clip, it's obvious that he is pushing the potent sedan to its absolute limits, hitting over 280 km/h on the track's long straight and clipping the curbs at every corner.

Given the Giulia Quadrifoglio's potent engine, it isn't surprising that its fast. The twin-turbocharged 3.0-liter V6 powertrain has been tuned by engineers with expertise at Ferrari and can accelerate the car to 100 km/h (62 mph) in a mere 3.9 seconds, thanks to 503 hp. The car also has a perfect 50/50 weight distribution and an advanced torque vectoring system.

 

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9 hours ago, Rachel said:

That will be a weapon.  I think the rumours are $140K here...

About half the price of an RS6?  Whats that, about 270?

My brother has just spent a week back in UK (he's been in Aus six years now) and we were discussing the cost of living and property over there, it actually makes buying a house in the home counties here in England look cheap!!

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Still think Monkey trying to thrash something like a Gee Whizzer around Silverstone would make far more entertaining viewing, than the constant supercars plus superlatives stuff that he is currently peddling.......

Once you've seen it once,it tends to get a bit repetitious and boring after a while, it ceases to be car porn and becomes car yawn

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On 10/09/2016 at 5:22 PM, Ian_C said:

About half the price of an RS6?  Whats that, about 270?

My brother has just spent a week back in UK (he's been in Aus six years now) and we were discussing the cost of living and property over there, it actually makes buying a house in the home counties here in England look cheap!!

I think it's just stupid taxes on stuff from 'the old world'

Who knows, without the EU influence, maybe stuff like Jags, Bentleys, RRs,, RRs & Astons will become cheaper in Aus due to lower import taxes?

Edited by cruiser647
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We have dealer duties, delivery, GST and luxury tax among other thing pumped on to of a car's $ value.

Our housing in general in the major cities is now I think pretty much the most expensive on the planet.

It's our long work hours and stuff that send the ex-pats running home to mummy...   Most white collar folks probably put in an additional 10-20% of discretionary effort over what they get paid.  In ICT it can often be 200-250% if you are unlucky enough to work for a multinational.

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2 hours ago, Rachel said:

Our housing in general in the major cities is now I think pretty much the most expensive on the planet...

Not quite, but of the Aus Cities, Sydney is in the top (7th) recently, behind New York.  

Monaco,  Hong Kong and London remains the top 3 most expensive real estate in the world.

Edited by JonC
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On 10 September 2016 at 7:08 PM, JonC said:

In my experience of living in Aus, European cars are generally very expensive...

I met up with my sister-in-law this week. She was over from Melbourne on a business trip (flies First for free as she holds a senior position with Qantas) and she paid $120k for her A45 AMG. That's about £70k for a £40k car.

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3 hours ago, JonC said:

I met up with my sister-in-law this week. She was over from Melbourne on a business trip (flies First for free as she holds a senior position with Qantas) and she paid $120k for her A45 AMG. That's about £70k for a £40k car.

 

Still cheap in Oz compared to Denmark where it's £95k before any options :wacko:

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On 18/09/2016 at 0:15 PM, Andy_Bangle said:

Still cheap in Oz compared to Denmark where it's £95k before any options :wacko:

Fecketty feck!

That does explain why, on my visit to Copenhagen to a successful Pharma company that my company just bought, there was absoutely nothing of consequence in the car park.

Whereas here, tripping over M3/4, X this, Q that, Porsche this and a Maserati!

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My sister lives in Australia and, despite having lived there for 5 years now, she still regrets not having taken her MINI there from the UK.

She sold it and planned to get another when they'd moved.

Oh dear.

I can't remember the exact price for the comparable car but it wasn't far off double what she'd paid at home!

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