Alfa Romeo Is Offering Quadrifoglio Buyers A Driving Course - Because Where Else Can You Actually Use 520bhp?

Buying a 520hp Alfa Romeo Quadrifoglio is not a decision anyone makes after carefully comparing boot capacities and annual road-tax. You buy one because it has a Ferrari-derived twin-turbo V6 and a four-leaf-clover badge.

But the problem is that, once you have bought one, there are very few places in Britain where you can meaningfully explore what all that power is capable of. A fast B-road might give you a brief taste, but you are always one badly positioned van, hidden dip or speed camera away from an expensive problem.

Alfa Romeo seemingly understands this, as customers who order a new Giulia Quadrifoglio or Stelvio Quadrifoglio before November 30 will receive a complimentary Alfa Romeo Driving Academy Sports Driving Course.

The course takes place at Varano de’ Melegari, home of Scuderia de Adamich in Italy’s Motor Valley, and includes track tuition in different conditions plus telemetry and analysis - with participants getting to drive both the Giulia Quadrifoglio and Alfa’s super little 4C.

It is a smart offer, as performance-car buyers are often handed an enormous amount of power and then expected to work the rest out for themselves. A proper track day with tuition is not only more fun than another cosmetic pack or a few thousand pounds knocked off the monthly payment, it also gives owners a chance to understand how a car behaves when it is actually being driven hard.

The Giulia Quadrifoglio remains one of the most compelling performance saloons around, boasting a 2.9-litre twin-turbo V6 which produces 520hp and sends it to the rear wheels through a limited-slip differential, while the Stelvio Quadrifoglio applies the same engine to an SUV with Alfa’s Q4 all-wheel-drive system.

Neither is short of pace and both are probably wasted sitting in traffic, commuting through average-speed-camera zones or being driven at seven-tenths on the way to a garden centre.

Of course, there is a little catch and, while the course is free, travel to Italy, accommodation and any other associated costs are not included. Alfa is also offering 0% APR finance, although buyers will need to put down a fairly sizable 40% deposit.

Still, if you are already in the market for a new Quadrifoglio, a driving course at an Italian circuit feels like a sweetener. And it is a reminder that, even as Alfa Romeo moves into its new electrified era, it still knows how to make owning one of its cars feel properly special.