Alfa Romeo Australia has confirmed that the Giulia Quadrifoglio NRING Edition and Stelvio Quadrifoglio NRING Edition will be arriving on our shores in the late 3rd quarter of 2019, giving local fans the opportunity to own these limited edition cars. That said, you better get your name down quick as only 3 Stelvios and 4 Giulias have been allocated.
Because they are in such short supply, though, they do carry a hefty premium over the standard versions - we’re talking in excess of $30,000. The Giulia Quadrifoglio NRING will be priced from $182,900 while the Stelvio Quadrifoglio NRING carries a $189,900 sticker price, excluding on-road costs.
The ‘Circuito Grey’ exterior, which a dark champagne in a matte finish, are the surest way to differentiate an NRING variant from the common or garden variety Giulias and Stelvios. All of them also receive the optional carbon ceramic brake package as standard, with red callipers to complete the look.
Other visual upgrades shared between the two cars include a carbon fibre ‘V’ grille insert and carbon fibre side mirror covers. For the Giulia NRING, it further receives an exposed carbon fibre roof and a set of 19-inch Dark Miron alloys. Meanwhile, the Stelvio NRING receives a set of 20-inch Dark Miron alloys and a panoramic roof as standard.
Inside, the novelty NRING treatment continues with a two-tone red and black motif with seat upholstery being a combination of leather and Alcantara. Speaking of seats, the front pair have been upgraded to Sparco Carbon Fibre semi-buckets. Naturally, there are also plenty of badges and plaques among other little touches to literally spell out that you are in a limited edition NRING.
That’s where the changes end, unfortunately, as Alfa Romeo has not made any changes beyond the cosmetic. Mechanically, both NRING cars are identical to their respective standard Quadrifoglio variants. As such, each boast 375kW and 600Nm from a 2.9-litre twin-turbocharged V6.
Drive is sent to either the rear (Giulia) or all four wheels (Stelvio) via an 8-speed automatic transmission supplied by ZF. While the Giulia Q is marginally slower to 100km/h than the Stelvio (3.9s v 3.8s), the super saloon smokes the SUV at full whack, topping 307km/h to 283km/h.
Alfa Romeo was kind enough to remind us of their respective Nurburgring lap times. The Stelvio was once declared the fastest production SUV to lap the fearsome German circuit in 7 minutes 51.7 seconds before being dethroned by the Mercedes-AMG GLC 63 S. The Giulia Quadrifoglio has set a time of 7 minutes 32 seconds.
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