Driving the Alfa Romeo Giulia Quadrifoglio Verde – The Rebirth of a Revolutionary.

It happens all the time. Scattered all around the internet, are slews of hyperbole, half-truths and sensationalism. Inflating the facts and painting a picture much prettier, or in some cases, more macabre and morbid to appeal to our sick and twisted minds, has become so commonplace in today's news and information, that often it is hard to believe what what you see in front of you. Discerning fact from fiction is becoming increasingly harder by the day.

So when I saw news and tales of the latest and greatest Alfa Romeo Giulia QV blitzing the famed Green Hell that is the Nurburgring proving grounds in a record time of 7:32.00-seconds, lapping the 154-corner circuit faster than a Porsche Panamera Turbo to make it the fastest 4-door sedan to go around the Nordschleife, my interest was less than piqued. Surely there would be some discussion around this time, as often happens, where cynics would point out that the car that set the times was running a different suspension setup, or tyres, or run higher boost levels than the production car that the public would see. It's a dance performance enthusiasts know well, one that I have no intention of learning the steps to.

I was aware of the rumours and reports, the articles that claimed that this was the greatest 4-door sedan ever to emerge from anywhere, that it handled, braked and turned like nothing ever before. I chose to ignore them. If anything, I was going to form my own opinion and was going to go into reviewing the Alfa Romeo Giulia QV with a blank canvas on which it could splash my brains – if it so wished.

Facts and figures out of the way, the QV is powered by an all-aluminium, 2.9-litre, 90-degree, twin turbo V6 which was developed by Ferrari and is based on their F154 V8. It produces 375kW (510hp) and 600Nm torque. It sends this power to the rear wheels through an 8-speed automatic gearbox, down a carbon fibre drive shaft to a dual clutch limited slip differential with torque vectoring so that 100% of the power can be sent to a single wheel when need be.

Out of the blocks, it sprints to 100km/h in only 3.9-seconds and it will max out at a limited top speed of 307km/h. Yes, 307 is an odd number when most of its competitors are reigning it in at 250km/h, but when you convert it to MPH, it's 190mph, which is a nice round number.

And speaking of competitors, it's hard to ignore the parallels drawn between the QV, the M3 and the C63. Alfa Romeo drew back on the bow and set their sights firmly on the performance sedan target. When they let go, they made sure they were aiming straight and true.

Climb onboard the QV and you're met with a sense of purpose. The carbon weave refracts the light and draws you in, glistening off of the seat backs, the door handle surrounds, the dashboard and the steering wheel. Red stitch detailing invokes an elevated heart rate as you drop yourself into the purposeful bucket seats. The Alcantara brushes against you with a feeling of class and sophistication. It all comes together to create a cabin that, while friendly enough for daily use, alerts you to its performance prowess.

A bright red Start button stares at you from the steering wheel. An Italian touch that not a single petrol head will scoff. “Push me...” it begs of you. And you oblige. The engine fires to life, not with the same forced and over-engineered tone that we've become accustomed to, but rather with a resolute snarl. The four, large-bore, chrome tips at the rear are there for a reason, and that reason is not only to look pretty – it's the orchestra that will follow you, playing the song of speed and power wherever you go.

Next to your leg is a dial, it has four markings on it: D, N, A and Race. The A stands for Advanced Efficiency, an economy mode for deactivating cylinders and saving fuel. The N represents the everyday comfort setting, Natural. D is for Dynamic, giving a sharper throttle, brake and steering response and cranking up the exhaust note. Only the QV gets the Race option, the one that activates the overboost function and livens up the throttle even more. This disables some of the driver assistance settings and in a rear-wheel drive car of this ilk, should only be enabled by the clinically insane or unnervingly brave.

It's a four-door sedan, but I'm sitting low, cosseted by the race-inspired seats and looking out over a traditionally styled twin-binacle gauge cluster. The redline rests at 7000rpm. The gearshift paddles are long, large slices of aluminium that are cool to the touch compared to the warm feel of the sculpted leather, carbon fibre and Alcantara trimmed steering wheel. I pull onto the track and mash the pedal into the floor.

Hell. It breaks loose.

With a near instant cacophony of rushing air and boost, the V6 clears its throat and screams its way to the rev limiter, slingshotting me into the first sweep. I snatch the next gear and the guttural rasp from the exhausts sounds determined yet uncouth. The acceleration doesn't let up and the first turn nears.

I lift off of the throttle, still unaware of the capabilities of the Giulia and the Alfa Romeo specific Pirellis that adorn the 19-inch wheels. The weight transfers to the front and the rear end lightens up. Not in the same way that braking in a hot-hatch will get you light-in-the-pants and facing the wrong way, but rather in a predictable, sure footed fashion that places just the right amount of weight on the front end to allow you to feed in your next steering command.

The balance is phenomenal. When they say it's a perfect 50/50 weight distribution setup, they're not lying. Front to rear, left to right, the QV pivots around its center point. For some that may be accustomed to the planted rear ends that are engineered into some of the competition it may feel loose, twitchy even. But for me, who likes a balanced chassis and a car that can adjust its entire attitude going into a turn, this is heaven.

With the tail lifting slightly and the QV's nose darting towards the apex, I get a taste for the levels of grip. I haven't been foolish enough to disable all the driver aids; the circuit doesn't allow for it and frankly, there is no need to get that ambitious. The weight transfer is predictable and minimal, keeping the Giulia planted and very level through the turn. The transition from left hand to right hand turn has the QV rotating around its axis, once again setting me up slightly prematurely for a line towards the apex. This time it's followed by a straight and setting me up early like that is too tempting an offer to refuse – so I plant it.

The rear end squats and the limited slip differential does what it needs to; it feeds power to the drive wheel and keeps the Giulia true to it's promise of taking this corner as fast as possible. The steering remains responsive and there's no sign of front end wash or understeer, only the howl and scream from the exquisite V6 with the occasional bark as I bang it up through the gears.

To keep us sane and the gleaming red paintwork in one piece, the organisers have placed a chicane in the middle of the straight. This provides an opportunity to see what the brakes are capable of. Climbing onto the brake pedal the nose dives and the rear gets lively once again. In fact, 'dives' is probably not the best way to describe it, because it all feels natural and controlled. The brakes do an astounding job of scrubbing off speed and the front end feels as controllable as you would want. All while returning a progressive and responsive pedal feel. Turn in under braking and it's planted enough to let you know that trail braking is something this car likes.

So far, I'm more than impressed with the handling, braking and cornering capabilities of the Giulia QV, but what about the power? What about the engine and the 375kW?

Don't worry, there's very little to criticize there. The soundtrack is something to behold, unlike the overdriven bassiness of the German V8 counterparts and nowhere near as forced as the pop-synth tracks heard from the turbo-sixes, the twin turbo V6 is the greatest stadium rock and roll band, backed by a full symphonic orchestra.

It's strong too. The acceleration is staggering and the way that it gathers pace beggars belief. But it never feels like too much for the rest of the car to handle.

The power delivery is near linear in a way that is very unlike a turbocharged machine. If you didn't know better, you'd firmly believe that you were pedalling a highly tuned naturally aspirated car with  a seemingly endless reserve of power and a knife-edge throttle that responds to your slightest whim.

As I snake my way around the rest of the track, it's only my own ineptitude and fading memory of the turn in points that lets me down. The Giulia has yet to disappoint. With each and every corner I fall more and more in love with this inanimate object. You never fall in love with a toaster or a microwave oven, you only fall in love with something that has a personality and a personality comes from the human-like trait of being flawed. Which leaves me with the realization that it has to be flawed in some way or another. I just can't find what it is.

Alfa Romeo has done their homework. They knew what they wanted to achieve and set about doing it. They knew who they were aiming for and they've hit their mark, and they managed to do it without losing any of the character that makes an Alfa Romeo so endearing. Fans will understand, and as long as potential buyers of M3s and C63s are willing to open their minds to the idea of the Giulia QV, they may just see what all the fuss is about.

The hype is warranted. The reports are true. There's no sensationalist media tripe here, this is just accurate reporting – from the heart.

The Alfa Romeo Giulia QV Launch retailed for R1.4 million with the Giulia QV Race, with its carbon ceramic brakes retailed for R1.6 million. Expect pricing on the next few to land on our shores to change hands for similar amounts.