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The Giulia from Alfa Romeo

The Gorgeous Giulia from Alfa Romeo

The new Alfa Romeo Giulia is Alfa’s entry in to the compact-luxury-sport-saloon class. The Giulia is a mid-size saloon with an all-new rear-wheel drive platform, which offers a brilliant mix of gorgeous looks, fun handling and impressive running costs.  For the Giulia to be successful, it must do three things: firstly, it must be the best-driving, best-handling, most exciting entrant in the crowded BMW 3 Series, Mercedes C-Class, Audi A4, Jaguar XE market. Secondly, it must offer competitive space, comfort, and ergonomics with no crazy Italian quirkiness, and finally, achieve high levels of quality and reliability.

The name Alfa Romeo is one of the most evocative in the motoring world, but despite reliability issues in the past, Alfa’s long awaited revival may at last be upon us. Hot on the heels of the exciting 4C sports car the Italian firm launched this sporty compact executive saloon.

Specification

The first time the model name was used was back in 1962, so the new Giulia has a lot to live up to. The latest Giulia offers a broad range of engines, starting with a 200bhp 2.0-litre turbo petrol unit, as well as Alfa’s 2.2 JTDM-2 diesel with 150bhp or 180bhp. The Giulia is available in five trim levels – Entry, Super, Super Sport, Super Lux and Quadrifoglio.  The Giulia Quadrifoglio, also known as the Giulia QV, feels the benefit of a twin-turbo 510bhp 2.9-litre V6, that’s been honed with the help of Ferrari’s expertise.  All Irish-spec Giulia’s come with an 8-speed automatic gearbox and paddle-shift levers behind the wheel on some models.  There is no manual option in the Irish market

Test Car

My test car this week was the Giulia Super Sport 2.2-litre turbo diesel with 180bhp.  This superb engine produces a healthy 450Nm of torque with carbon emissions of just 109g/km, thereby leading to annual road tax of just €190.  Fuel consumption as low as 4.2l/100km is possible from this engine on a combined driving cycle.   The 0-100km sprint can be achieved in as little as 7.1 seconds, while a top speed of 230km/h is possible (where permitted).

Equipment

Standard equipment across the entire Giulia range is generous but my test car came with such lavish features as full leather interior, leather multi-function steering wheel, 18” Turbine alloys, aluminium sports pedals and dash inserts, Bi-xenon headlights with LED day-time-running lights, painted brake calipers, dark privacy glass, front armrest and aluminium column-mounted paddle shifters.  Safety features across the range include forward collision warning (FCW), autonomous emergency braking (AEB), lane-departure warning (LDW) and hill-hold control.  Also standard is Alfa Romeo’s patented DNA drive-select system for the ultimate driving experience.

Pricing

Pricing for the new Giulia starts at just €39,995 for the diesel model or from €40,395 for the petrol.  In my opinion the Giulia

Is a welcome alternative to the German manufacturers and has a unique character.  It corners and steers like a sports car, making it fun to drive.  The Giulia is an impressive offering from Alfa Romeo.

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