Over in America, Tesla has taken on every Mustang, Charger and Corvette. But Europe has different champions, and one of them is the Alfa Romeo Giulia Quadrifoglio or QV for short.
The model is a performance version of the first rear-wheel-drive Alfa Romeo sedan in many years. It's been designed to take on the BMW M3 mainly, but can also play with the C63 and RS5. Yet we don't think it's ever gone up against a Tesla, especially not the Model 3.
Lovecars got hold of an early European example with the Performance package. Since it participated in numerous races, we already know the Alfa doesn't have a chance against it, especially not when it hasn't been fitted with AWD and the weather takes a turn for the worst.
Despite being cheated out of a good start, ex Fifth Gear and Top Gear presenter Tiff Needell still manages to win convincingly. But after moaning about lack of engagement on the road, he's simply blown away by what Tesla's Track Mode offers. The EV comes alive, proving ample reassuring grip and a surge of power.
Drag racing a Tesla is as simple as waiting for the light to go green. On paper, the gap to 100 km/h is only half a second, though it feels much larger due to the Alfa struggling for traction. Witnessing them side-by-side is like witnessing the transition of the auto industry in a split second. Plus the video has fart jokes!
On the other hand, the Alfa is more capable of drifting and catching out the bad driver. It's not only savagely quick but also handles like a European sports sedan should. Under its sexy Italian suit resides a 2.9-liter bi-turbo V6 tuned by Ferrari to produce 510 HP and you can even have it with a manual, though nobody does.
Mihnea's favorite cars have already been built, the so-called modern classics from the '80s and '90s. He also loves local car culture from all over the world, so don't be surprised to see him getting excited about weird Japanese imports, low-rider VWs out of Germany, replicas from Russia or LS swaps down in Florida. Full profile
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