From Dh360,000: Alfa Romeo launches new Giulia and Stelvio Quadrifoglio in the UAE

The Italian manufacturer promises distinctly frisky performance with everyday usability

The new Stelvio and Giulia on the track. All photos courtesy Alfa Romeo Automobiles SpA

A Stelvio and Giulia lurking in the dark.

The engine bearing the Quadrifoglio badge, which takes the form of a four-leaf clover.

A Stelvio heads into Dubai.

A Giulia storms through a tunnel.

A sporty seat option.

A more sedate seat option.

Getting into a tussle.

The Giulia and Stelvio give a clear view ahead over precise analogue and digital instruments.

A Stelvio climbs one of the UAE's rockier outcrops.

Vented disc brakes on a Giulia.

The Quadrifoglio exhaust.

The Quadrifoglio rotary dial.

Alfa Romeo has just launched an automotive double whammy in the UAE by revealing the new Giulia and Stelvio Quadrifoglio.

The company, which is celebrating its 110th birthday this year, says the new arrivals combine usability and high-level performance with extensive new technology, connectivity and safety features.

Each has a 2.9-litre V6 bi-turbo powerplant, which is capable of unleashing 510 horsepower and a top speed of 283 kilometres per hour. And they’ll both reach 100kph in 3.8 seconds.

These two new cars are the latest in a line of vehicles that various manufacturers are producing that they want to be suitable for a racetrack, as well as doing the shopping.

As such, alongside all that oomph under the bonnet, you can fit five people in each of these models and there’s space for more than a couple of pots of hand sanitiser in the boot after you’ve been to the supermarket.

They like to get arty when it comes to describing vehicles of this sort, so when it comes to the interior, apparently, “Alfa Romeo's Italian style expresses a simplicity that conceals the complexity of the creative design process. The result – an ergonomic, harmonious series of lines and instruments, volumes and spaces enveloping the driver – is a complex, sophisticated piece of work.”

So it’s quite nice inside the cabin, then, and the instruments aren’t in funny places. Fancy talk aside, there are certainly a lot of smooth, stylish lines along the dashboard and on the driving paraphernalia, and you know they will be more pleasant to perch inside than austere offerings from the past, what with all the carbon fibre, comfy seating and tech.

They’re in showrooms now, with prices starting at Dh360,000 for the Giulia and Dh370,000 for the Stelvio.