2017 Alfa Romeo Giulia Debuts with Ferrari Power

The range-topping Alfa Romeo Giulia has been officially unveiled.

Introduced at the Alfa Romeo Museum in Arese, Italy, the Italian automaker marked its 105th anniversary, and there’s no better way to celebrate than by showing off an all-new model. The 2017 Alfa Romeo Giulia is quite a bit different from the 4C sports car available in the U.S., sporting four doors and a more traditional midsize sedan body.

For Alfa Romeo, there were two key elements the Giulia had to embody during its development: a 50/50 weight balance and rear-wheel drive. According to the Italian automaker, the Giulia has very short overhangs, a long hood and front wings in order to arrange the engine and mechanical parts between the two axles, helping give it the perfect weight balance.

As a result, the Alfa Romeo Giulia actually has the longest wheelbase in its class, but it’s all packed into a compact body.

But what everyone is excited about is the fact that the Giulia will come equipped with a Ferrari-prepped, six-cylinder engine churning 510 hp. Capable of accelerating to 62 mph from a standstill in 3.9 seconds, the Alfa Romeo Giulia will set its sights at the BMW M3 and Audi RS4 models as a high-performance sedan with robust handling capabilities. In addition to the powerplant, the Giulia is outfitted with Torque Vectoring and a double-clutch transmission, allowing the rear differential to control the torque delivery to each wheel separately.

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Keeping things simple in the cabin, the Giulia’s interior features a steering wheel similar to one you’d see on a Formula 1 car, where the car’s main controls are incorporated on the wheel. The human-machine interface consists of just two simple, user-friendly knobs for adjusting the Alfa DNA selector (driving mode) and the infotainment system.

Although the official weight wasn’t announced, Alfa Romeo is bragging that the Giulia has “an excellent power-to-weight ratio (remarkably lower than 3 kg/hp).” Carbon fiber can be found on the sedan’s propeller shaft, hood and roof, while aluminum was used for the engine, brakes, suspension, doors and wings. Even the rear crossmember has been manufactured from aluminum composite and plastic.

The 2017 Alfa Romeo Giulia is expected to arrive U.S. dealerships late next year and we’ll get an up close look at the Frankfurt Motor Show this September.

Discuss this story at our 2016 Alfa Romeo Giulia Forum