Alfa Romeo Giulia GTA, GTAm completes final testing – F1 driver Kimi Raikkonen drives the pair at Balocco

Alfa Romeo has finally concluded the final testing phase for the Giulia GTAm. The last leg of the trials saw Finnish Formula One driver Kimi Raikkonen personally evaluate the road legal sports sedan at the Balocco Proving Ground.

Prior to this, Raikkonen had driven the Giulia GTA and GTAm last year, and provided engineers with valuable feedback pertaining to the car’s aerodynamic performance, particularly the adjustable front splitter and manually adjustable rear wing.

With the revisions, Raikkonen said the car is “better at high speeds in terms of balance. It seems the front of the car is lower, making the steering faster. It’s fast, easy to drive and responsive.” He also really likes the car, saying “we’re looking at a car that can be used on an everyday basis, but that can also be taken onto the track, one in which you can really enjoy yourself.”

Just as a reminder, both the Giulia GTA (short for Gran Turismo Alleggerita) and GTAm are based on the Quadrifoglio model, but amped up to be the most potent versions of the Giulia. The GTA is a regular four-seater car, but the GTAm is more hardcore with two race bucket seats, roll-bar and six-point harness. They share the same 2.9 litre biturbo V6 petrol engine as the Quadrifoglio, albeit tuned to make 540 hp, or 30 hp more than the Quadrifoglio’s factory tune.

However, the GTAm does the 0-100 km/h sprint in 3.6 seconds, or 0.3 seconds quicker than the Quadrifoglio. This is thanks to extensive use of carbon-fibre (both to reduce weight and aerodynamic optimisations), courtesy of Sauber Engineering. The new front bumper, side skirts, rear diffuser and rear spoilers have all been tested in the wind tunnel, plus the entire underbody is completely faired to reduce turbulence.

If you’re lucky enough to be among 500 exclusive owners, Alfa Romeo will be treating you to a personalised experience package, which comes with a Bell helmet in special GTA livery, a full racing set by Alpinestars (race suit, gloves and shoes) and a personalised Goodwool car cover. Customers can also take part in a specific driving course devised by the Alfa Romeo Driving Academy.