Hey folks, welcome back to another video. Today we're going to be taking a look at the Italian M3, otherwise known as the 2023 Alpha Romeo Giulia Quadrifolio. And what a great car this is, if for no other reason, but just how it looks. Very excited to drive this thing, especially because of how rare they are, but I'm curious to see how it compares to the current M3, because really these two cars are very synonymous with the same level of performance. It's just, you don't see these quite as often. So, follow up being said, let's get to it. All right. So, here we are in the interior of the Giulia Quadrifolio. And, you know, this interior does get a lot of criticism, I think, for its lack of luxury at this price point. And at first, I can kind of understand that. But, after spending some time in here, I kind of feel the other way around. I mean, you can't compare this interior to any BMW's interior today. I mean, BMW is just knocking it out of the park right now with their interiors on all their vehicles. It's just, they've just up-leveled their manufacturing process, the materials they use are top-notch, and everything just feels so solid and well screwed down. That it's hard to fault any car that's trying to compete with BMW because that took BMW a few years, too. But, when you think about what this car actually is, it's trying to stay true to what its purpose is to be a performance sedan first. And so, you know, sitting here, I got to tell you, like, I'm pretty pleased with what I see. So, for example, you've got leather touch points at the top of the dash, on the top of the door, here on their armrest, on the sides here. You've got a mixture of, you know, polished aluminum throughout the cabin with also bits of carbon fiber. And we're not talking about carbon fiber, the dry, unglossy stuff. We're talking about this is like the carbon fiber that's got such a high, like, resonance of gloss on it that, like, it makes it feel upskilling here, not cheesy or corny. So, I'm very pleased to see that. Also, all the switch gear and all the things that you would need to interact with on a daily basis are all here in their manual, which is great to see the mode selector, infotainment, screen stuff, the HVAC, the headlights, all of that stuff has an actual button or switch or knob. And I think it's just harder to find that these days than you might think. So, I'm actually really happy about that. The screen here, nothing to write home about, I mean, honestly, it feels like an afterthought, but it's there and it tells you what you need. The backup camera is kind of laughable, but it's there. The gauges in front of you, there's two gauges on either side, which are analog, and then you do got a little bit of a screen in the middle, which is laughable. But, again, I could forgive it for all of those reasons, because ultimately what this thing is trying to be is a performance car first, and something you can live with and have it be your only car. And it, you know, just living with it like this, I think you can, you'd be very happy. The other thing that I'll also point out is these seats. These seats are such a perfect balance between performance and comfort. I mean, they are not over-bolstered, and yet they're not under-bolstered. They've got a mixture of materials without contrarian leather on the sides and perfect stitching with the Italian flag theme throughout the car. It's just hard to argue about it. I mean, you sit in these things, you feel like you can go for a track day. You also feel like you can go for road trip. I mean, how many cars these days do you know that you could do that in? Not many. So, for all those reasons, I'm actually pretty pleased with this, and I think if you were thinking of buying this car, you would be happy about it too. Woo! Yeah, this aid speed is great. It's just great. No complaints here. Considering this is not all-wheel drive, I am really impressed by the suspension, the setup, and the tires, because they work together. Mwah! Beautifully! This thing feels like it has so much grip. I keep thinking this has to be all-wheel drive, and it's not, which I'm really glad it's not. You might just decide that this is something you could drive year-round, because it's so, so planted. What a great package, man. The brakes just respond so well. This thing hugs corners, amazingly tight. The transmission is so snappy and instant when you need that gear. The only complaint I really have is that you run out of RPM pretty quick. I mean, I look down and I'm like, already past six, and this thing red lines at about 6,600. That's not that high up, not for today's motors. And when you change gear, you get this nice little brow, this little brumble coming out of the exhaust. It's not a popper, a bang. It's just a little bit of us, just a little reward for driving the car, how they want you to drive it from the factory. Yeah, I mean, this is something else. Now, normally I prefer manuals, but this car does a really good job of kind of convincing me that I need dual-pattles instead, because what I'm noticing is there's so much performance in this, and it's so fast that I wouldn't even want this in to stick. There's just too much to think about, and on a track, you'd be slower, not just because of the time it takes a shift, but just because mentally, there's just too much going on, and if you're not on point like one or two steps thinking ahead, you're going to be slower, just the way it is. And this transmission is so good, like really impressive, like it just, I mean, it's not PDK good, but it's up there. Really brings us 2.9 liter of life, and I don't have any complaints about that. I wouldn't change much on this car at all, really wouldn't. So I got to wonder, if you put this car on Michelin tires instead of the Prelli P-0's, just go with a 4S. How much better would it be? So what makes the Julia Quadrofolio a special car? Is it the 2.9 liter, 90 degree V6, or the fact that it's got carbon fiber roof and hood and other little bits? Or maybe it's the sexy Italian looks? You know, I'm not really sure, but what I can tell you is driving this car and spending time in it really did make me feel like I was in something special. And it wasn't just me, I mean, I've never seen so many people steer at a car and really turn their heads to really take it in as I would drive by. It speaks to something. Maybe it's the right balance of exotic and rare and just kind of flashy. Or maybe it's something else. Either way, this car definitely deserves its place in the hall of special vehicles because it is something that only comes around once in a blue mode. All right guys, so that concludes our drive in the 2023 Alfa Romeo Julia Quadrofolio, still a mouthful. But I'm going to answer the question, which do I prefer this car or my BMW M3? Well, the truth is, I still would take the M3, but oh, God, it's just, it's close. The reason why is because of this. This back seat, it exists, but this is not enough room back here for me to be able to like put car seats in and and the hall things around in and the M3 just has a cavernous back seat. So that's a big, it's a big check box of practicality on the M3 side. But the other thing is, I'm still young and able, so I like to roll my own gears and unfortunately here in the United States, you can't get this car in a stick. So unless you're in Europe, you're just stuck with the paddle box and even though it's a great paddle box, I just want to keep shifting my own gears for as long as I can. But other than that, this car is built by people who are passionate, who care about performance, who care about really just, you know, the way the car makes you feel. And this is a special car and it accomplishes so much of that, you know, that Italian sexiness. It's all in here. So for all that being said, thanks for watching guys. Great car. Highly recommend checking it out. If you guys like this video, please like, share and subscribe. And of course, as always, I'll catch you guys on the next one.