The laws of physics are unwavering, and the Alfa Romeo Giulia Quadrifoglio – more powerful and lighter than the Cadillac ATS-V as it is – has beaten the Caddy’s time around Virginia International Raceway in the latest edition of Car and Driver magazine’s annual Lightning Lap feature.
The gap wasn’t as great as one might imagine, however, with the Giulia Quadrifoglio posting a 2:58.6 hot lap vs. the Cadillac ATS-V coupe’s 2:59.2 and the sedan’s 2:59.8. We’d have thought the extra 41 horsepower, Ferrari engine development, torque-vectoring differential, and expert chassis tuning would have translated to a bigger time difference. After all, the Italian super-sedan currently holds the record for the quickest production four-door ever around the Nürburgring Nordschleife.
We’d love to say that it’s the ATS-V’s merits alone making it nearly as quick around VIR as the Giulia Quadrifoglio, but in reality, Car and Driver says that the Italian car experienced some technical difficulties whenever the staff tried to set a hot lap. Chief among the issues was what seemed like a recurring case of fuel starvation, which never quite seemed to go away no matter what the staff did, but also inhibiting the car were a set of badly worn tires and imperfect brake pedal feel.
Car and Driver hopes to bring the Alfa Romeo Giulia Quadrifoglio back to a future edition of Lightning Lap, believing the car capable of setting an even quicker lap time. But for now, at least, the Cadillac ATS-V can celebrate being only a second or so slower around VIR.
(via Fiat Chrysler Authority)
Comments
Yep, the Italian trash Quadxyzdhdhhkjcj can’t complete a race course without a breakdown, even the base models are POSs. I take my ATS-V in fire red and a tune package.
Did Giulia Q break down or was the issue fuel starvation? Fuel starved Giulia Q bested Cadillac in spite of that.
If we are talking quality Cadillac does rank better than Fiat in the number of lemons produced. Fiat has the most lemons and Cadillac is second in lemon production.
Quality may not be the best argument to make if you are comparing Alfa Romeo to Cadillac. Please see link.
http://www.autoguide.com/auto-news/2016/01/toyota-tops-fiat-flops-in-autoguide-s-1st-annual-lemon-list.html
I agree, smear a little 1LE sauce on the ATS-V and I’m good to go!
Well, regardless, it is still an excellent feat for the first gen. ATS competing full time in this class and the next gen. model (CT3/4) will be substantially better and could be best in class.
Yeah, 61k vs 72k…. Hmmmm, let me see what I can do with at least 10k to make an ATS-V spank the Italian…..Wow, exhaust, fresh air, staged or bigger turbo’s, tune, suspension as previously mentioned (1le) . etc…..
Mary Barra should have Cadillac President Johan de Nysschen’s head for this.. as Cadillac’s ATS-V could be an iron fist in a velvet glove if the top engine was the LT4 and you’ve got to wonder why the heck now when it’s used by Cadillac’s CTS-V; Cadillac shares the Alpha platform with Chevrolet’s Camaro which means that the two cars should be able to share technology and is treasonous for Cadillac to not integrate drivetrain and suspension engineering used in Camaro’s ZL1 1LE in Cadillac’s ATS-V.
Everyone getting their panties in a bunch over a less than a second difference?? “Dude, with the money I would save from not buying the Alfa, I’d make the Caddy SOOO much faster.”
Well here is the deal. The ATSV is an old car and the Alfa just arrived and still came up short.
The reality is the CT5 is coming and will be better than the CTS and ATS V models.
Aldo the Alfa long term will show the Italian quality issues they are well known for that will kill the resale value.
The Alfa had a long gestation not because the were sweating the detail vpbut because they had major chassis issued in crash testing. You think having cue issues is bad how about a chassis issue? That is a major problem and really hurt FCA as they were depending on Alfa volume that has yet to arrive even 2 years later.
Alfa is like the Cleveland Brown. They may win a game here or there but they are not going to the Super Bowl soon.
Excuse me….what major chassis issue are you talking about? There is absolutely no evidence at all of this anywhere on the internet. You are making up nonsense that is the total opposite of the truth.
The Giulia had an incredibly short 2 year gestation period. That is among the shortest ever for a car of this type because they had a skunkworks team on it. The Giulia came out 5 years after the 159 production ended because the planned replacement was FWD but Marchionne cancelled it at the last minute as he wanted it to be perfect. Then a rumor was spread that is failed its crash test when a few weeks later it scored the highest ever recorded Euro NCAP rating.
As for the reliability issues. They have all been software related. I’m a regular on a couple of Alfa forums and I have yet to see a single post about mechanical issues of any kind. No issues with the engines (a handful of QFs have had some valve issues but its not widespread), none with the gearbox and absolutely no chassis problems of any sort. You are talking out of your behind.
Next time bring a Chevy. Come on Giulia I’ll be your huckleberry. ZL1 2:45.7 at VIR. 2:58.6 really.
When you want to spank the competition, dollar for dollar, spec for spec, then the Caddy CTS needs all the balls of the platform GM has to offer. WITHOUT the price penalty. Caddy’s should have the luxury WITH the performance. Not less or costly upgrades. Let’s try this, CTS-V with at least 700+hp and the ATS-V with the same ZL1-1LE platform @ 650+hp. Same Alpha platform as Camaro with same chassis, let’s make it happen. Time to Elevate, GM, rather than complacence….IMHO….
Bottom line is that the ATS-V should have had an optional LF4 and LT1 and still only called “V-Sport.” Cadillac should have then thru in the LT4, same as the ZL1, but like my CTS-V.. come in at 640HP simply because the less aggressive exhaust of a luxo car. There really is zero reason why the ATS and CTS can’t have all the same engines.
As to the Alfa.. come on… they had technical issues with an Italian car.. a FIAT?? Get the Eff outta here. LOL.. its a GIVEN since the 60s. Wouldn’t touch one if U paid me to.
Two strange things : first, as tested by Steve Sutcliffe (EVO) the Alfa is 1.4 second faster than the Mercedes AMG C63S on a lap, which is (relatively) an important gap for two cars having the same power, and the Mercedes is known to be a real beast. Secondly, we see Sutcliffe performing several laps with the Giulia without having any of the problems met by various U.S. reviewers. In fact, the software problems or “fuel starvation” problems described here and there are (unless I’m wrong) described only in U.S. reviews.
So what ? American reviewers have such fantastic driving skills that they can push the car harder ? Excuse me if I have serious doubts about that.
It’s really strange that European reviewers don’t mention these kinds of problems, which appear only in the US. It seems that something happens on the boats which carry the Alfas from Europe to the U.S…. Giulia doesn’t like the sea… Or what ?
“It’s really strange that European reviewers don’t mention these kinds of problems, which appear only in the US. It seems that something happens on the boats which carry the Alfas from Europe to the U.S…. Giulia doesn’t like the sea… Or what ?”
Cadillac enthusiasts are threatened by Giulia Q.