Jeremy Clarkson, the irrepressible former host of Top Gear and The Grand Tour, recently got his hands on the brand-new Audi RS5. Writing for the Sunday Times, he generously praised the German performance machine for being fast, exceptionally comfortable, and impeccably well-built.
Then, in typical Clarkson fashion, he dropped the hammer: given his own hard-earned money, he would still walk past the shiny high-tech Audi and buy an Alfa Romeo Giulia Quadrifoglio instead. Somewhere in Ingolstadt, an executive’s morning espresso undoubtedly turned exceptionally bitter.
The comedy lies in the spec sheet, which heavily favors the German flagship on paper. The 2026 Audi RS5 arrives as a rolling laboratory, unleashing 639 HP from a twin-turbo V6 paired with an electric motor, a rechargeable plug-in battery pack, and surefooted all-wheel drive.
Meanwhile, the legendary Italian sedan relies on a recipe that debuted back in 2015: a 2.9-liter twin-turbo V6 churning out 520 HP strictly through an eight-speed automatic, a mechanical limited-slip differential, and good old rear-wheel drive. No plugs, no heavy hybrid gadgets, no nonsense. It hits 0 to 62 mph in 3.9 seconds and tops out at a declared 190 mph.
Despite carrying an eleven-year-old architectural platform, the Giulia Quadrifoglio remains an engineering masterpiece focused entirely on dynamics. Thanks to carbon fiber, aluminum, an ideal weight distribution, and an active front splitter, it glides through corners with unmatched agility. Adorning its fender is the iconic Four-Leaf Clover, a historic emblem Ugo Sivocci carried to victory at the 1923 Targa Florio, forever linking racing lineage to road-going icons.
The best news for petrolheads sharing Clarkson’s mindset? The twin-turbo V6 Alfa isn’t dead yet. European order books for both the Giulia and Stelvio Quadrifoglio remain open through 2027. Clarkson couldn’t resist poking fun at the extension, sarcastically linking the stay of execution to electric Fiat Panda sales figures, a cheeky joke purely of his own making.
But satirical jabs aside, the verdict is crystal clear: when emotional driving thrill trumps cold laboratory metrics, passion will always conquer pure numbers.