The editors of Car and Driver today named the Alfa Romeo Giulia – including the record-breaking Giulia Quadrifoglio – to its annual “10 Best Cars” list for 2018, which recognises the best cars on the market under $80,000.

The 10 Best nomination process has three official rules: the vehicle cannot exceed an $80,000 price tag; a sample vehicle must be available for testing by mid-September of the current calendar year; and the vehicle must be on sale to the public by January of the following calendar year.

“Every year, we gather all the new sub-$80,000 cars for a meta test of automotive virtue,” said Car and Driver. “Sixty-five cars, ten days, 26,000 miles, 58 ballots, 502 doughnuts, one rainstorm, zero traffic citations. We crunched the numbers and here you have it: the 10 Best Cars for 2018.”

Rather than limiting entries to only all-new or significantly redesigned vehicles, Car and Driver invites returning winners as eligible for its 10 Best awards, making the pool of candidates much larger and more competitive.

Alfa Romeo Giulia models feature an all-new, all-aluminium, 2.0-litre, direct-injection turbo engine with an eight-speed automatic transmission that delivers a class-leading, standard 280 horsepower and 306 lb.-ft. of torque, allowing it to launch from 0-60 mph (0-100 kmh) in 5.1 seconds, and achieve a top speed of 149 mph (240 kmh).

As the lineup’s “halo” model, the Giulia Quadrifoglio highlights Alfa Romeo’s performance and motorsport knowhow with its twin-turbocharged V6 engine featuring best-in-class 505 horsepower, 0-60 mph (0-100 kmh) in 3.8 seconds and a record-setting 7:32 lap time around the legendary Nürburgring – the fastest ever by a four-door production sedan.