alfa romeo car

 alfa romeo car

Overview

What is it?

The first Alfa you want to buy in a long time. The Giulia is the Italian brand’s answer to the BMW 3 Series, Mercedes-Benz C-Class, Audi A4 and Jaguar XE – a mid-size saloon with an all-new rear-wheel drive platform (that also underpins the new Stelvio SUV) in which Alfa (or parent company FCA) invested billions in a quest to take Alfa from sales of 75,000 per year to 400,000 within three years. That… hasn’t happened. But it’s certainly not because the Giulia is a sub-standard bit of kit. To drive, it’s actually one of the best normal-ish cars money can buy.

Like its rivals, there’s an engine in every flavour and for every occasion. In total, there are two petrols, two diesels and a super-hot performance model – the 503bhp twin turbo V6 Quadrifoglio. That one’s quite special. As for spec, you’ve got Super, Speciale, Veloce and that rip-snorting Quadrifoglio with prices starting at just under £35k and rising all the way to £70k for a fully-loaded super saloon. 

For that cash, you get quite a bit of tech, particularly in the Quadrifoglio. Torque vectoring, and some kind of new braking system that uses a traditional servo alongside the stability control to apparently improve responses. All cars get the normal collision warning, pedestrian detecting, and autonomous braking kit you could ever need.

Dynamically, Alfa has smashed it out the park on its first attempt. No matter the spec, the Giulia has an inherent feeling of a proper driver’s car. The seating position is superb, steering fantastically quick (making it nimble, almost like it has rear-wheel steering) and it has superb balance and a more playful edge than its competitors.

Looks good too. The aggression ramps up as you go through the range but there’s a lovely neat and very animated face on all of them, while the side forms are simple and organic. As you’d expect, the Quadrifoglio is an angry beast but even in lower trims the Giulia still sits on its wheels fantastically well. It is an Alfa after all. 

It’s also quite light. The doors, wings, engines and bits of the braking and suspension systems are all made of aluminium, and the driveshaft is carbon fibre. The quick one takes things even further, with a carbon bonnet, carbon roof, carbon spoilers and splitters and ceramic discs. The weight-split of all versions is 50/50 (it is rear-drive, remember). Alfa also seems especially proud of the Giulia’s suspension and steering setup, with a double wishbone up front and a four-arm layout for the rear axle that makes it ride incredibly well. A lot better than you’d expect from a car with this short of a development gestation period, that’s for sure. 

Poring over the materials in the Quadrifoglio’s cabin serves up a plate of confusion as there are some wonderful elements: the big metal paddles on the steering column that move with wonderful solidity, exposed carbon trim (on the top model) and classy green and white contrast stitching. But then there are the basic, uninspiring and slightly shoddy parts; the heating controls, the column stalks, and the way the seatbelt tap-tap-taps on the B-pillar if there’s no passenger sitting alongside the driver. 

Interested to know what this car is like over a longer period of time? Read our long term review by clicking these blue words

Driving

What is it like on the road?

Thankfully, it’s the driving department where Alfa’s engineers have hit the nail on the head and earned their keep. A good thing when it comes to cars.

In total, you have four engines to choose from (five, if you count the QF, with its Ferrari-developed V6) – two petrols (a 2.0-litre turbo with 197bhp and 243lb ft and saucier 277bhp number in the Veloce) and a 2.2-litre diesel with either 148 or 178bhp. All are brand-new for the Giulia, and all are available only with an eight-speed ZF automatic gearbox. European markets get a six-speed manual for everything.

The diesel’s refinement isn’t the best, but more than capable of chugging along with 332lb ft at 1,750rpm in the range-topper. Even in basic specs, the Giulia moves easily and confidently and as an everyday car. The powerful diesel engine feels capable of delivering the claimed 6.8secs to 62mph acceleration, but it does get a bit strained over the last 1,000rpm, so you find yourself shifting at 3,500rpm, which is fine because of all that torque on offer.

Petrol options are surprisingly refined, revving cleanly to the redline and always egging you on. The 197bhp unit will average 35 to the gallon if you’re driving like, well, like a German rather than an Italian, and in eighth gear it’s impressively hushed. If you want more of a riot, the twin-turbo V6 has all the Italian character you could ever want as it bangs on every upshift and burbles at idle. 

No matter the spec, the Giulia is a proper driver’s car. The chassis is supremely well balanced and it handles well, too. Engaging enough to hold your interest, with plenty of grip, but a bit softer than its Bavarian rivals. It feels as light on its feet as that 1,429kg kerbweight suggests, so changes direction easily via its sharp, quick steering. A 320d is a more polished back road performer, but the Alfa is an engaging and interesting car to drive. Trust us, you’ll enjoy it.

As for the ride, while it’s good at dealing with the larger scale rise and fall of a road, the 18s do patter over smaller scale stuff. You do notice that it doesn’t ride as smoothly as you might hope, and that there’s enough road noise in the cabin to make you realise the standard sound system’s speakers aren’t the best. But, strangely, the QF with its trick dampers actually rides the best out of them all – it’s fluid yet composed, bettering all bone-shaking rivals. Yes, we’re looking at you, Mr BMW M3

On the inside

Layout, finish and space

You’ve heard it a million times: imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. But when does imitation cross the boundary? That’s a question you’re left pondering with the Giulia’s interior. There are familiar aesthetics to its German rivals, yet the execution is more, erm, Italian. 

Taken by itself the Giulia’s interior is more than acceptable (and jolly nice to look at), but hop between this and an Audi A4 and you’ll feel the difference. The Alfa may be shot through with style, but it’s not as solid as the best German alternatives. Making things look the same is easy, emulating the tactility and haptic pleasures is much, much harder. This is where the first Giulias came really unstuck, but for the 2020 update Alfa has listened to criticism and had a second crack at the interior.

The gearlever is now comfy in the hands, not sharp and tinny. There’s an Italian flag motif to give a little patriotic flourish. The indicator stalks still feel like they came with a McDonalds unHappy Meal, but the general cabin architecture now looks and feels of a higher standard. BMW or Audi posh? No, but you’ll also no longer feel pangs of envy when you clamber inside a Kia taxicab.

The infotainment has been improved too: there’s Apple CarPlay support, the interface has had a facelift and feels more modern for it, and even the clickwheel responds with more obedience. Again, it doesn’t stack up next to BMW’s iDrive, but it’s better than before, and better than you might expect again. Could you live with it without it driving you nuts? Yep, especially now there’s built-in smartphone support and even wireless device charging. 

The dash is a relatively simple shape, like the outside, with an elegant sweep for the top structure. The start button is on the steering wheel, and on the console is a big round version of Alfa’s ‘DNA’ driving mode switch. Alongside is a straightforward, circular controller that runs the infotainment screen. That apart, the cabin isn’t pebble-dashed with switches. That’s because the Giulia does without the vast array of electronic support systems the German rivals are touting these days.

The slim-rim steering wheel is genuinely lovely to hold and the paddles behind it (part of the £1,950 Performance Pack which includes an LSD and active suspension) are possibly the nicest, most tactile slivers of aluminium fitted to any production car. You can’t help but run your fingers up and down them.

In fact, you have to spend a bit of time in the car before you spot any Alfa-isms. They are there, though: the one-touch indicators have to be cancelled (after lane changes and the like) by pushing them in the other direction. Push too far, of course, and you indicate to come back out. And the seat belt clip-ins are mounted to the floor, not the seat itself, so if you like to sit high in the car, the buckles disappear down the side of the seat, making them hard to use.

Aside from these very minor bugbears – the kind of things that only the Germans bother to spend time and millions of Euros eradicating – the Alfa’s cabin is handsome and user-friendly

Owning

Running costs and reliability

Giulias kick off at £34,995 with the 197bhp 2.0-litre petrol. The basic 157bhp diesel is £35,665 in ‘Super’ trim. That’s on par with almost all of its rivals, and standard equipment is generous – with satellite navigation, dual-zone climate control, lane departure warning and parking sensors all thrown in.

Course, you’ll likely be buying on finance, where Alfa’s residuals and sparse dealer network mean you’re less likely to be able to haggle a deal versus your on-every-street corner Audi. We found PCP deals started around the £430 per month mark, while an equivalent A4 asked around £100 per month less. Ouch.

The diesels will entice business users as they claim 54mpg (and on the motorway, they’ll easily match that), though emissions of 139g/km will start to look on the high side as more cars in this class move to mild- and plug-in hybrid drivetrains. No sign of either of those from Alfa, so the Giulia remains 100 per cent fossil-fuelled.

As much as we’d all like to be bumbling around in 500bhp+ QFs, the four-cylinder cars are the ones that do the heavy-lifting sales-wise, and with diesel on the downturn our choice is the lower-powered petrol, though the £43k ‘Veloce’ version with a lustier 276bhp is a really interesting and enjoyable old-school sports saloon. And it’ll still average low 30s to the gallon. 

As for practicality, the 480-litre boot is spacious enough, but rear legroom is modest at best and the confluence of A-pillar and wing mirror does damage visibility at junctions. Also, if you want to fold the seats down on the QF, forget it. That’s not an option.

Verdict

Final thoughts and pick of the range

Sound the fanfare, it's a rear-drive Alfa that's rather good indeed. Updated tech helps too

The Giulia, no matter how it’s powered, is a very good looking and capable small sports saloon from Alfa. It’s the first compelling rival to the Germans from Alfa in over a decade. It’s got real character and dynamism that makes us car types smile. Yes, there are some Italian idiosyncrasies, and it’ll cost more per month than the usual German suspects, but it’s an Alfa, so what were you expecting? Such is the price of swimming against the tide. 

If you’re looking for a left-field choice to the normal Merc, Bee Em and Audi, there’s finally something that’s genuinely tempting. And with the updates made to the interior for 2020, it’s now slightly easier for your heart to talk your head into signing on the dotted line.