The Alfa Romeo Giulia Trounces The Dodge Charger, So Stellantis Making It Haul 1,000 Extra lbs
The latest Quadrifoglio trim of Alfa Romeo’s Giulia sedan makes 520 horsepower. The turbocharged 2026 Dodge Charger “Scat Pack” makes 550 horsepower. And it weighs 1,000 pounds more.
You may see similar powertrains and performance “priorities” marketed for both sedans. The Giulia has a turbocharged six-cylinder (a high-revving V6 supposedly based on a Ferrari powerplant). The new Charger uses a twin-turbocharged 3.0-liter I6 (which was engineered by Fiat/Alfa in Italy and powers Jeep SUVs and Ram trucks). But don’t be fooled. The engineering philosophy of the two vehicles is very different. How different? A half a ton different.
That’s right. Alfa Romeo shaved the Giulia Quadrifoglio’s weight down to 3,822 pounds. That’s before the 2026 model, which may lose a few more pounds thanks to additional carbon fiber components. Meanwhile, weight seemed to be the last thing on Dodge’s mind when it designed the new Charger. The electric Daytona tips the scales at a whopping 5,992 pounds. The internal-combustion “six pack” sheds 1,000 pounds. But even so, the Scat Pack trim of the I6 Charger weighs in at 4,876 pounds.
What do you gain when you drop 1,000 pounds?
If you throw enough displacement and superchargers at a heavy vehicle, you can get a decent 0-60 time. That’s why the Jeep Trailhawk beats a Hellcat to 60 mph. But in any other performance metric, cutting weight wins. It makes every suspension and brake component exponentially more effective. It allowed the Quadrifoglio to lay down a 7:32 Nürburgring lap time. When Europe’s Auto Express took the Quadrifoglio to the test track, it beat times laid down by the BMW M5, M4, M2, Mercedes E63, and Audi RS6. All sports sedans that would beat the latest Charger up and take its lunch money.
The Giulia Quadrifoglio is far from perfect. But the sedan is also in its first generation. A bit of fine-tuning and Alfa Romeo could have a true M3-killer on its hands.
So if you were Stellantis, trying to sell vehicles all over the world, wouldn’t you double-down on the chassis that’s a known winner? Perhaps see if Dodge wants to borrow some components for a more nimble Challenger? Nope. Stellantis has decreed that in the interest of efficiency, Alfa Romeo must build its next-generation Giulia on the bloated and untested chassis underpinning the 2026 Dodge Charger. I imagine somewhere, an engineer is loudly swearing in Italian.
You can see the Quadrifoglio reviewed in the video embedded below:
