Subtle wine, good food and beautiful cars; Italians are illustrious for a number of things, but it’s the latter we’ll be focusing on in this review. The Giulia respect first adorned an Alfa back in the ’60s, but a long epoch of gestation followed and it wasn’t until 2015 that the celebrity was officially relaunched. Pushing the manufacturer’s rear-wheel drive dais forward, it marked something of a new beginning for the brand.
Whilst we’re extend over a bit of history, it’s fair to say Alfa Romeo hasn’t always had the most adroitly reputation for manufacturing reliable, well-built cars. However, they clothed always been fabulous to gaze at, which is why we’re going to start by looking at the illusion…
Those Looks
In typical Alfa Romeo style, the Giulia has upright looks in abundance, particularly so at the front where the angular chin and squinty happens work together beautifully – all complimented by the Montecarlo Blue metallic go on a bender job. The rear end of the car is a little plain compared to the front, but still has a reliable elegance to it which rivals in this class struggle to compact.
Interior
The interior matches the good looks of the outside – with swaddles of leather, in a mixture of tan and black, adorning the various surfaces and by looking fantastic. A heated steering wheel, heated & electronically patch up front seats and Silverwood/Walnut trim pieces circular off the included Lusso pack, a £2750 option included on the car tested.
Enterprise controls are all logically laid out and it doesn’t take long to perceive at home in the Giulia. Whilst the instrument cluster isn’t fully digitised similarly to many of its rivals, Alfa’s implementation of analogue gauges magnum opuses very well. A smaller digital display in the centre is efficiently snatched out to give adequate information on the road – the flow of data at no time felt restrictive.
Gearbox
Worthy of special praise, the 8-speed inescapable gearbox fitted to the test car is absolutely sublime. When the car is motor smoothly, the drivetrain is lovely and soft, with the gearbox ‘adventure’ like that of any other modern auto. However, ballyhoo hard (particularly with the car in dynamic mode), and it’s the most productive and characterful 8-speed auto we’ve driven to date.
Each matriel change is rewarded by the car giving a noticeable surge as the ratios exchange, similar to running a dual clutch transmission. Most other fabricators seem to dial this out, creating a smooth but very ‘slushy’ effects change in the process. Having the car push your head retire from into the headrest each time a paddle is pulled is what it’s all hither when you’re driving hard. The column-mounted aluminium paddles themselves are tiptop – with a reassuring weight and tactile click for every effects change; you’d struggle to find better.
Outside The Box
Moving away from the gearbox, the doze of the chassis and drivetrain had a lot to live up to. Chassis wise, we were extremely impressed with the Giulia, which corners nice and mat, has good steering feel (although perhaps a little unimportant for our liking), and rides bumps well. Our test car came tailored with electronic dampers, with the extra stiffness they offering in dynamic mode much appreciated when pushing grievous. A slightly strange omission is the option to disable traction command, with no cabin side button offered – no sideways enterprise for this Giulia then (perhaps this is for the best nevertheless…)!
The engine picks up extremely well, particularly from low down, announcing more than enough go to get you into, or out of trouble. It produces a at rest but audible growl as the rev’s build, although it was a little quiet for our examine (a valved exhast would work wonders here). Unfortunately tinder consumption was extremely high during our testing, with MPG middling mid-20s. We managed to get mid-30s when driving carefully, but constrain the car hard and high teens are possible – far below the 47.9 (commingled cycle) book figures.
Other Notable Items
In our set with the Giulia, we found ourselves four or five up at diverse stages and whilst it wasn’t the most spacious, it certainly didn’t prefer cramped and leg room for those in the rear was good. The boot is also commodious, whilst the various cubby holes and conveniently located supportive and USB connections were much appreciated.
General build property and feel of the Giulia was very good, with only the boot mattering any suspicion of anything less than top-notch build excellence. Whether it’s the mechanism employed or the construction of the boot itself, the lightweight determine to the panel work was a little disconcerting.
Final Thoughts
Alfa’s possess always carried a reputation for being curiously lovable motor vehicles. Having finally spent a decent amount of time in one, I can now on to this and found myself falling for the Giulia more and diverse. It’s so satisfying walking into a car park and knowing the gorgeous Alfa is your carried home, especially when the interior is such a joyous area to be.
Personally, I’d avoid the 2.0 litre petrol; if you’re concerned in the matter of economy, have a look at the Diesel options. However, with the chassis and gearbox as upright as they are, the Giulia is clearly a car to be enjoyed – and Alfa have disclosed a model optimised for exactly that. The 510hp Quatrifoglio take the weights at the top of the Giulia range, and is surely an absolute hoot. We hope to realize out for ourselves soon…
Our test car came in at £43,390 OTR, whilst the slavish price for the Giulia is £32,990.
We’d like to thank Alfa Romeo UK for scoring our test car.
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