Only 500 units will be built of the Alfa Romeo Giulia GTA and GTAm. Gautam Sharma
Only 500 units will be built of the Alfa Romeo Giulia GTA and GTAm. Gautam Sharma
Only 500 units will be built of the Alfa Romeo Giulia GTA and GTAm. Gautam Sharma
Only 500 units will be built of the Alfa Romeo Giulia GTA and GTAm. Gautam Sharma

Road test: the Alfa Romeo Giulia GTAm grips the road like a rottweiler


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The specs

Engine: 2.9-litre twin-turbo V6

Power: 540hp at 6,500rpm

Torque: 600Nm at 2,500rpm

Transmission: Eight-speed auto

Kerb weight: 1580kg

Price: From Dh750k

On sale: via special order

GTA. Just three letters, yet immensely significant when applied as a suffix to an Alfa Romeo. The acronym is shorthand for Gran Turismo Alleggerita, which translates to Grand Touring Lightened. Add a little “m” – for Modificata, meaning modified – on the end (as in GTAm), and the result is a monstrous-looking sedan that annihilates the distance-over-time equation.

Only 500 cars to be built

The first Alfa Romeo to wear this nomenclature was the Giulia GTA, born in 1965. Although it looked like a standard road-going Giulia GT, the GTA was conceived with an overt motorsport focus, with drivetrain and suspension uprated accordingly and every excess gram pared from the car.

The spirit of this historic lightweight special has now been reprised on the modern-day Giulia GTA and GTAm, of which a combined total of only 500 units will be built. Available only via special order, pricing starts at an eye-watering Dh750,000, but this sizeable outlay gets you a car that's quicker across a mountain road or racetrack than, arguably, anything else with four doors.

Power play

The 20-inch rims are shod with chunky Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2 tyres with massive Brembo carbon-ceramic brakes. Gautam Sharma
The 20-inch rims are shod with chunky Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2 tyres with massive Brembo carbon-ceramic brakes. Gautam Sharma

As with almost every go-faster special, the revamp begins with an uprated engine that pumps out 540hp (a 30hp bump over the already rapid Giulia Quadrifoglio), achieved primarily via a remapped ECU, redesigned con rods and a free-flow Akrapovic titanium exhaust. The power hike is offset by an aerodynamic kit that adds up to 300 kilograms of downforce, while stiffer springs and dampers, and revised suspension geometry deliver sharper responses and higher cornering thresholds.

Befitting their performance capabilities, the GTA and GTAm have a bodybuilder stance as their pumped guards are filled by widened wheel tracks (by 50 millimetres at the rear and 25mm at the front). Stuffed within the wheel arches are 20-inch rims shod with chunky Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2 tyres and housed within these are massive Brembo carbon-ceramic brakes.

Crucially, the GTAm trims more than 100kg of girth vis-a-vis the Quadrifoglio, thanks to a lightweight carbon-fibre bonnet, front bumpers and fenders. Also fabricated from carbon fibre are the rear wheel arches, rear diffuser and all the aerodynamic addenda. The GTAm takes it a step further than the GTA by using polycarbonate rear and side windows in lieu of glass.

Cabin comfort

The cabin comes with Sabelt carbon-fibre-shell seats, a roll cage and six-point harnesses. Gautam Sharma
The cabin comes with Sabelt carbon-fibre-shell seats, a roll cage and six-point harnesses. Gautam Sharma

Peer into the cabin and you’ll find Sabelt carbon-fibre-shell seats, Alcantara trim everywhere and a composite rear door panel. In addition, the GTAm ditches the rear seats, has door pull-straps instead of handles and adds a roll cage and six-point harnesses to make it genuinely track-worthy.

The GTAm’s cabin is generally a nice place to be, but there’s a disappointing ordinariness to the instruments and switchgear for a car with such exorbitant pricing.

Molehills out of mountains

It looks ferocious, yet the bewinged Alfa fires up unobtrusively and trundles out of the Balocco proving ground – nestled in the northern Italian countryside – in civilised fashion. Out on real-world roads, ride quality is compliant and noise levels aren’t excessive.

The real fun begins as a winding mountain road looms ahead. Flick the drive selector into Dynamic mode and the GTAm attacks with the same vigour as a rottweiler that's latched on to a juicy piece of meat. The steering, although a bit light for my liking, responds with crispness and immediacy. There's so much grip from the Pilot Sport Cup 2 tyres that you need a racetrack to fully exploit its limits of adhesion.

Roaring race mode

The 2.9-litre twin-turbo V6 is already a jewel in the Giulia Quadrifoglio, but with 30 extra horses and that crackling Akrapovic centre-mount exhaust, it's positively spine-tingling. The eight-speed auto is also pleasingly decisive and quick-shifting.

The track session at the Alfa Romeo test track at Balocco merely adds an exclamation point to what was already learnt out on the road loop. Even in Race mode, which completely deactivates the ESP electronic safety net, the ballistic GTAm is so predictable you can indulge in power-sliding hooliganism with relative ease.

Verdict? The GTAm’s stratospheric pricing – almost double that of a BMW M3 Competition – is a sticking point, but it’s so intoxicating that you’d still reach for the chequebook if you had the wherewithal. It’s easily Alfa Romeo’s finest offering to date.

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Group A: Palmeiras, Porto, Al Ahly, Inter Miami.

Group B: Paris Saint-Germain, Atletico Madrid, Botafogo, Seattle.

Group C: Bayern Munich, Auckland City, Boca Juniors, Benfica.

Group D: Flamengo, ES Tunis, Chelsea, Leon.

Group E: River Plate, Urawa, Monterrey, Inter Milan.

Group F: Fluminense, Borussia Dortmund, Ulsan, Mamelodi Sundowns.

Group G: Manchester City, Wydad, Al Ain, Juventus.

Group H: Real Madrid, Al Hilal, Pachuca, Salzburg.

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Results

2.15pm: Handicap Dh80,000 1,950m

Winner: Hello, Tadhg O’Shea (jockey), Ali Rashid Al Raihi (trainer).

2.45pm: Handicap Dh90,000 1,800m

Winner: Right Flank, Pat Dobbs, Doug Watson.

3.15pm: Handicap Dh115,000 1,000m

Winner: Leading Spirit, Richard Mullen, Satish Seemar.

3.45pm: Jebel Ali Mile Group 3 Dh575,000 1,600m

Winner: Chiefdom, Royston Ffrench, Salem bin Ghadayer.

4.15pm: Handicap Dh105,000 1,400m

Winner: Ode To Autumn, Patrick Cosgrave, Satish Seemar.

4.45pm: Shadwell Farm Conditions Dh125,000 1,200m

Winner: Last Surprise, James Doyle, Simon Crisford.

5.15pm: Handicap Dh85,000 1,200m

Winner: Daltrey, Sandro Paiva, Ali Rashid Al Raihi.

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Global state-owned investor ranking by size

1.

United States

2.

China

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UAE

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Japan

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Norway

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Canada

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Singapore

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Australia

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Saudi Arabia

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The specs
  • Engine: 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8
  • Power: 640hp
  • Torque: 760nm
  • On sale: 2026
  • Price: Not announced yet
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OTHER IPL BOWLING RECORDS

Best bowling figures: 6-14 – Sohail Tanvir (for Rajasthan Royals against Chennai Super Kings in 2008)

Best average: 16.36 – Andrew Tye

Best economy rate: 6.53 – Sunil Narine

Best strike-rate: 12.83 – Andrew Tye

Best strike-rate in an innings: 1.50 – Suresh Raina (for Chennai Super Kings against Rajasthan Royals in 2011)

Most runs conceded in an innings: 70 – Basil Thampi (for Sunrisers Hyderabad against Royal Challengers Bangalore in 2018)

Most hat-tricks: 3 – Amit Mishra

Most dot-balls: 1,128 – Harbhajan Singh

Most maiden overs bowled: 14 – Praveen Kumar

Most four-wicket hauls: 6 – Sunil Narine

 

The specs

Engine: 2.9-litre twin-turbo V6

Power: 540hp at 6,500rpm

Torque: 600Nm at 2,500rpm

Transmission: Eight-speed auto

Kerb weight: 1580kg

Price: From Dh750k

On sale: via special order