Ferrari influenced the Alfa Romeo Giulia design
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In this bona fide Italian Alfa Romeo Giulia, you can see so much Ferrari influence. I guess this is what made me fall in love with this car immediately. And I am over the moon that it is now in South Africa. The paddle shifts are HUGE, which means you can change gears manually at almost any steering angle. One can also see the Ferrari influence in the dash. Everything flows. It’s almost as if the screen, when turned off, could be just another part of the dash. I drove the 2.0 litre turbo and not the Alpha Romeo Giulia Quadrifoglio. However, this car made me smile from the minute I got into it.
2.0 ltr Turbo engine
Dynamic
Natural
All Weather
With Alfa’s DNA system, you get to choose the driving style that suits you and the road conditions. It delivers the desired results by making adjustments to throttle response, gear shifting speeds and traction control. There is one more option in the Alfa DNA system called R for Race. Sadly only available on the Alpha Romeo Giulia Quadrifoglio which switches off all the driver assist features and puts you in FULL control of the car.
This (not so little) car puts out 147kw of power and 330NM of torque through an 8 speed automatic gearbox. Doing 0-100 km/h in 6.6sec and burning 5.9L per 100km on average, with a top speed of 235 km/h. Usually people avoid entry level models, but, this one isn’t in that class.I found the flat bottom steering wheel a little lacking, but, may be my personal preference for more bulky steering wheels. The connection between the steering wheel of the Alfa Romeo Giulia and the road is just phenomenal. You can make this car understeer or oversteer as you play with it through corners.
Light footed, Alfa has tried to keep the weight of this little machine down by fitting a carbon fibre prop shaft to every model. You can really feel how nimble the Alfa is when putting it through its paces.
Interior
The interior of the Alfa Romeo Giulia is roomy with nice legroom at the back for those tall South African rugby players. The boot in my opinion is the same size visually as the BMW and Mercedes. This Alfa sports an 8 speaker infotainment system which I found hard to use because of the rotary dial (#antiquated), I think a touch screen is the way of the future here. The infotainment screen is also hard to see in the South African sun. but these are not enough for me to be put off this magnificent car.
Safety features
- Automatic Emergency Braking (AEB)
- Pedestrian detection
- Forward collision warning
- Lane departure warning
- Highest ever Euro NCAP adult occupant protection score
Standard on the entry level Alfa Romeo Giulia
- Leather Trim
- 18 Inch wheels
- Bi-Xenon headlamps
- Keyless start
- Sat-Nav
- Dual zone climate control
- Automatic windscreen wipers
- Adaptive cruise control
- Parking sensors
- Rear view camera
In-car technology
The sporty 6.5 inch infotainment screen (upgradable to 8.8 inches) is amazing as it almost melts into the Ferrari style dash. It uses a rotary dial in the centre console to control the menus. The car has the stop-start function which, while economical, can be a little slow for quick getaways, especially in South Africa. The cars engine start-stop button is on the left of the steering wheel, which again is that Ferrari sports car touch.
With the keyless start meaning you can leave the car key in your pocket, it doesn’t have keyless entry which would be an even nicer touch in future models. I found the in car entertainment system a little lacking and difficult to use, having to fiddle through the cumbersome rotary dial. I’ve probably wind on about this, but touch screen would be better.
Blue-tooth hands free phone kit works nicely and is clear while on a call. In car tyre pressure monitoring is becoming more of a standard with most cars now days and the Alfa is no different. The park distance control features the handy rear-view camera, but, whats nice is the way the dynamic parking lines curve with the steering to show where the car will end up.
The 3 USB’s mean you and your passengers can charge phones at the same time, a nice little thing that makes a big difference on those long family road trips. Sadly, no Apple Car Play or Android Auto which, for me, was the second downside to the Alfa Romeo Giulia.
Competition
The Alfa Romeo Giulia 2.0L Turbo has more power than its main rivals, the BMW 320i and Mercedes Benz C200, but lacks the elegant finish that BMW and Mercedes have become over decades of refinement. Robot to robot, the Alfa is slightly quicker than its 2 rivals but requires more pedal-to-the-metal to do so. The suspension feels stiffer than the BMW or Mercedes, but again, perhaps the Ferrari or sports car influence.
On the outside, it looks a little like the Audi A4 from the back. It may be the rear lights but when I first saw the Alfa Romeo Giulia, I thought it was an Audi A4.
Conclusion
I have never liked Alfa for its un-reliability and, lets be honest, it’s never been a pretty car. But, this one has blown me away in almost every way.
