Originally Posted by 02M3ForMe
Test drove the QV again. I'm going to reserve ultimate judgment on the QV because the car I tested had exterior mods and non-standard Hankook tires and I'm not confident that the car was stock (engine yes, suspension no).
Sitting in the car, it's very "M2" - small and tight. I think that's a good thing, and the interior quality compares much more favorably to the F87 than to the G8x.
The steering is very fast and light, noticeably faster than the G8x's, but my impression of this particular car is that the steering is faster than the chassis. Coming out of the composed G82, the Alfa body moved around more than I'd like. Lots of "wiggle" when making aggressive movements; the hypersensitivity of the controls felt less like the true sharpness of a flat-cornering sports car and more like just an extremely aggressive calibration (I drove in Dynamic the entire time). My instant impression was that it lacked refinement, especially in comparison to the G8x. The G8x has a significantly smaller latency between input and chassis response and stays stable at higher loads, both qualities which inspire confidence. Coming out of my G82, I did not find this specific QV particularly confidence-inspiring.
The steering, while super fast, did not seem meaningfully more communicative than the G8x's. In fact, paired with the rack's speed, I found dialing in appropriate turn-in on fast, tight corners to be less natural than I was hoping. This is very different from my experience with the 992 C2S and C4S a couple of weeks ago, where cliche words like "telepathic" instantly came to mind. The car does grip hard when asked, so the capability is there.
Exhaust sounded great. Inspired lots of shifting to hear it do different things. The transmission is great; shifts quickly, and always gave me the gear I asked for. The paddles themselves are fantastic and increase the fun factor. Throttle in Dynamic was a bit sensitive, contributing to the impression of an overall lack of smoothness to the controls (I'm sure I can get acclimated and tame it with more seat time). Engine is great, though tails off past 7000. It seemed to really hustle when short shifted around 6500. Made one tailgater instantly disappear with impressive ease. Brakes, which were an issue at low speeds during my first test drive, were fine this time.
I'm still interested in learning more about it. The exhaust, G8x-like speed, grip, looks, steering, and all the historical positive feedback have my attention. It provides a better experience than an F8x, which is impressive for a fresh entry from practically out of nowhere. I'm going to test drive a known bone-stock QV next week.
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