I think the real problem is with the break even, production market right now. Dealerships are closing as FCAs pulls back to optimize and cut the dead wood that did not produce. You see this in brake pad options and kits for otherwise new market brembo systems. Wheel options are also slim and I had to do custom work in both areas to get where I wanted to be last winter. Sit tight or go ahead and crack open your powerplant to start taking measurements and make stencil patterns. I just did a mod to make my side vents functional. Luckily Alfa left a skeleton that could take the wiper cowl mods without any cutting. The passenger side vent could also work with a new flat backing plate. I dremeled edge holes in the stock one instead but I might whip up a new plate down the road. I am pretty sure it could mount to the grill with small screws. MacGeek has access to the service manuals and I might just buy a CD/Stick next month. Mopar has them on the catalog site for $198. As long as you stick to IHI turbos, "Ingeniere" N. Materazzi from F40 fame will probably approve. Check out this interview with subs.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AlX-kgJuzxU
This is a GREAT video! Thank you for sharing it! I love the part where he told ZF to keep their trans; he would make his own, and he did. Oh to be able to do something like that! It illustrates what I believe and clearly he does, that it takes a single mind; a visionary who knows what he wants to accomplish to oversee projects like this. Design by committee is a lousy way to create products. Even if a group of people is working on it, doing the various things that each department is set up to do, it still takes a single mind to oversee what happens and why. Sergio was that visionary behind the Giulia, and the results show it. There's a unity; a consistency of form and function about it that makes it stand out. It's one of the things that attracted me to the car besides the test drive. The interior matches the feel of the exterior.
As for power, the video illustrates something else I've long known and pursued when modding my cars; weight reduction. As he said, it affects everything about the car's performance. For those looking for more power, try reducing unsprung weight; especially rotating weight, and the car with the power you already have will perform better. By upgrading to lighter wheels and brake rotors, I was able to remove almost 42 pounds of unsprung rotating weight. The rotors especially made more of a difference than I expected. The car feels lighter on its feet now. It rolls easier, quicker with less throttle input. Even in N mode, from a stop when I need to make a sudden move such as making a quick left turn when there's a gap in oncoming traffic, there's about a half second lag then boom the car goes. When I first got it without any of the mods I've made (V2 intake, EC P2 tune, Remus exhaust and weight reduction), I almost got hit when trying to do that same maneuver. When I pressed on the gas pedal, the car rolled forward a few feet and there was about a 2 second lag before it began to go under power. I didn't make that mistake again, and made sure there was plenty of room to get going after that. Now I don't worry about it; the car goes almost instantly. I do all this in N mode which has the normal P1 tune (not the dual map which has P1 D mode as N). In D mode it's another story. I just came back from a trip last week to Carson City, and there was a stretch of road where I got bogged down behind two semi's grinding along at 45-50. When a section opened up where I could pass, I put it in D mode and floored it. Half second lag then BOOM the car launched like a rocket. I went from 50-90 in just a few seconds and was easily able to pass both trucks with plenty of room to spare. The beauty of the non-QV is in the mid-range where I think they intended it to be. It's not an off-the-line car, nor is it a top end car.
Now that's the thing; this car isn't the QV, it was never meant to be. It isn't a muscle car; it's a beautiful 4 door sports sedan that has the heritage, soul and spirit of the racing history of a legendary marque. In my mind, it delivers that to a T. I love this car. For the mods I've put into it, it's just about perfect now. Wheels were about $800, intake and tune were about $1,600, exhaust was about $700, rotors were about $1,200, so for about $4,300 the car is simply beautiful in most every way. Not perfect; there are things that could be improved but I'm quite happy with it just as it is. It's my daily driver and performs like a champ in all seasons, all weather. Not something you'd be looking for in a 1/4 mile car, track car.
I think for the money some of you would have to put into the car to get it up to where you want it, what you really want is a QV which is the car they designed and intended for the customer like you. You can get new 2018's from dealers right now for as low as $55k from what I'm seeing, and it will have more than you could ever do to any regular Giulia which would probably cost you more than that to mod.