Alfa Romeo was once a brand with a death sentence hanging over it. Around the early 1990s, all models in the range moved to Fiat-based platforms, rear-wheel drive was replaced with front-wheel drive, and the brand began its slow decline. Sales collapsed nearly fourfold between 1990 and 2015.
You might ask, “what’s so important about the drivetrain – they still made beautiful cars, didn’t they?” Yes, they did. But Alfa Romeo is one of those brands with an aura, with incredibly loyal fans, and with meaning for almost anyone who truly loves cars. That means the way a car makes you feel – whether behind the wheel or waiting on the roadside for assistance – matters immensely.
So, after 25 years of decline, the skies above Alfa finally began to clear, thanks to the right decisions: returning with a compact premium sedan with classic rear-wheel drive, and a stylish SUV to keep the business alive.
That sedan is the Giulia – a spiritual successor to the Alfa Romeo 155, Alfa Romeo 156, Alfa Romeo 159 and, most importantly, the Alfa Romeo 75.
Design
At the end of 2015, I caught a glimpse of the Giulia at the Frankfurt Motor Show. I say “a glimpse” because it was surrounded by a crowd – men practically drooling and women ready to throw their bras at it.
Yes, the Giulia is sexy. Full stop.
The proportions are classic and perfectly executed – a wide stance, a long bonnet, and a short rear end that flows naturally instead of being artificially raised for an extra 50 litres of boot space. The overall design is fascinating. When you look at individual elements, you might think, “nothing special… even a bit odd.” But step back and take in the whole car – it’s captivating.
There’s something else. I’m not a fan of white cars. In 95% of cases, they look cheap and plain compared to the same car in a proper colour (unless we’re comparing a white Porsche 911 to a red Toyota something… then things change). Here, however, the colour actually works – it highlights the lines and curves beautifully.
And this isn’t just any Giulia – it’s the Veloce version. That means more aggressive bumpers, a rear diffuser, gloss black window trim, and in this case, optional tinted 19-inch wheels. The result is a beautiful car that attracts attention – to the point where, for the first time since starting Roadhunter, someone spoke to me at a red light… and not to insult me or threaten me, which has happened more than once on our rather “colourful” local roads.
Interior
The strong first impression continues inside. The Giulia offers a very pleasant interior design, blending classic, sporty, and modern elements.
The test car was configured tastefully, with brown “tobacco” leather and matte oak trim. A genuinely elegant combination that highlights the cabin’s strengths. One detail worth mentioning is the infotainment display integration – it blends seamlessly into the dashboard and is, in my opinion, one of the best solutions currently on the market.
Space is also good, both front and rear (though, as typical for the class, the rear seats are slightly low).
Now, onto the less positive aspects.
First – storage spaces. “Small” is the right word, because all of them are rather limited, especially the narrow door pockets, particularly in the rear, which feel like they were added just for the sake of it. The car shows its Italian character here.
At least the boot is solid, with 480 litres of capacity.
Another weak point is material quality and build. It’s not bad, but it’s average – and in this price range, it should be better if Alfa wants to win over customers from the German trio. Yes, there’s high-quality leather (including a leather-covered dashboard in this case) and oak trim, but some buttons, air vents, and parts of the dashboard and doors use plastics that don’t feel particularly premium. Build quality is also average, with a lack of solidity around certain controls.
Finally, something that didn’t appeal to my personal taste – the gear selector. It honestly reminds me of a computer joystick. Thankfully, the Giulia comes with near-perfect steering wheel-mounted paddle shifters.
On the Road
Let me start with the conclusion: no car in this class offers such sharp, direct, and lightweight steering as the Giulia.
Now, back to the beginning.
The test car is powered by a 2.0-litre turbocharged four-cylinder engine producing 280 hp and 400 Nm of torque. Paired with an eight-speed automatic gearbox from ZF Friedrichshafen AG and the Q4 all-wheel-drive system, it accelerates from 0 to 100 km/h in 5.2 seconds and reaches a top speed of 240 km/h. Fuel consumption is officially between 4.9 and 8.9 l/100 km. Under normal conditions, the car is rear-wheel driven, with up to 60% of torque sent to the front wheels when needed.
Early on a Monday morning, I settled into the brown leather seats, found a comfortable driving position easily (everything is exactly where it should be – not always guaranteed in an Italian car), and reached to start the engine.
Except… I couldn’t find the button. Right of the steering column? No. Left? No. Centre console? No. Eventually, I had to ask – and the answer was embarrassingly obvious. The start button is on the steering wheel. Just like in a Ferrari. A very nice detail.
So, I left the premises of Auto Italia and began getting to know the Giulia in an urban environment. One of the first things I noticed was the exceptional precision of the steering, although I decided to focus on that a bit later, once I found myself some proper corners.
Otherwise, the car feels perfectly at home in the city – the eight-speed automatic gearbox shifts seamlessly, the start-stop system works quickly and accurately, and the steering is light and pleasant. The suspension is distinctly firm, so the imperfections of the streets in Druzhba are clearly felt, but unless you suffer from serious back issues, it shouldn’t be a problem. On the positive side, noise from the suspension is well filtered.
Still, the Jaguar XE offers better comfort in this regard, despite also having a firm setup. The Mercedes-Benz C-Class, on the other hand, remains the king of ride comfort in this class, although it targets a slightly different audience.
One thing I noticed in the city is the somewhat awkward operation of the indicator stalk – there’s a good chance you’ll activate the left indicator while trying to cancel the right one. Of course, that won’t be much of an issue for Bulgarian drivers, who tend to use indicators only on holidays… or when they’ve had a drink and don’t want to attract attention.
After a short photoshoot near Overdrive, whose building still looks “very cool” despite being around ten years old now, I joined the Trakia Motorway and pushed the throttle all the way down.
Yes, the Veloce is definitely a fast sedan. The acceleration is strong, assertive, and well controlled – the car simply goes, without you having to fight it. Credit for that goes to the lightning-fast gearbox and the almost imperceptible turbo lag below around 2,500 rpm. Perhaps precisely because of this smoothness, the claimed 5.2 seconds for 0–100 km/h feels a bit optimistic. Subjectively, it feels closer to six seconds.
At motorway speeds, however, the car behaves entirely predictably. The engine (once you calm your right foot) runs quietly, while most of the noise comes from the wheels – where smaller rims would likely help – and from the A-pillars, where wind turbulence becomes noticeable at around 120 km/h. Overall, noise levels are about average for the class.
And so it was time for the most interesting part – the corners.
Since I was short on time this time around, I decided to take the familiar road to Panichishte, which offers relatively fast bends with good visibility around Zheleznitsa, followed by a slightly rough secondary road for testing efficiency (Samokov–Dupnitsa), and finally a proper mountain climb with tight switchbacks up to the lift for the Seven Rila Lakes.
Once I left the populated areas, I switched into Sport mode. The car uses Alfa’s so-called DNA selector, but when you rotate it, the dashboard simply shows D, N, or A – without any real explanation of what they stand for. Sure, D clearly means Dynamic (the red graphics give that away), but N and A? Normal? Advanced Efficiency? It could definitely be clearer.
In any case, my choice was obvious. I switched to manual mode as well and set off with plenty of throttle through the empty road.
This is where I felt the Giulia’s greatest strength – and in this regard, it is the undisputed leader in its class: the steering.
The car responds instantly to inputs – the steering is incredibly quick and direct, but there’s one issue, and it’s called electric power steering. The wheel is simply too light in every situation. Even a programmed progressive “weighting up” would go a long way towards creating a more natural feel.
That said, driving on a twisty road is an absolute pleasure. The car remains neutral, firmly planted no matter what I do, and modulating the braking force is very easy and intuitive. What I don’t quite understand is why Alfa Romeo decided to set the threshold for the emergency brake lights so low – the result is that in almost every corner, my hazard lights were flashing, and from the outside I must have looked like a complete idiot (fortunately, there was no one around to witness it except a few squirrels and rabbits).
Overall, though, this is exactly where the Giulia feels at home. The chassis is so well sorted that it makes the car feel at least 200 kg lighter than it actually is.
Brilliant.
In fact, in terms of weight, it really is the lightest in its class – 110 kg less than the “heavyweight” BMW 330i xDrive and 65 kg less than the Jaguar XE 25t AWD. Mercedes-Benz doesn’t offer a directly comparable model, but the closest in concept is the Mercedes-Benz C200 4Matic (four-cylinder turbo engine, all-wheel drive, automatic transmission), which weighs just 15 kg more than the Giulia… but also has 100 hp less.
In this section, I noticed something else – it started getting quite warm inside. The reason? The climate control seems to have a mind of its own. I’ve also come across other opinions suggesting that the temperature displayed doesn’t quite match reality, so it might be a good idea for Alfa to address this. It could be something as simple as a software calibration.
It wasn’t until the switchbacks above Sapareva Banya that I managed to unsettle the Giulia, inducing a touch of understeer which, with the right pedal inputs, could easily be turned into oversteer. I had quite a bit of fun on the way up, until eventually I reached fresh snow with ruts in it (and yes, the car was on summer tyres).
Naturally, I didn’t give up. I continued carefully at first, until at some point I thought, “why not,” switched into Sport mode, and with the throttle pinned, kept climbing – occasionally entering corners not exactly with the headlights pointing forward.
And yes… despite all that, I still managed to return the car to Auto Italia completely intact.
Conclusion
I’m satisfied. The first Alfa I’ve ever driven is a real Alfa – not a Fiat wearing a sporty shirt. Am I impressed? Yes – and that’s despite my high expectations. Sure, in many areas the Giulia sits around, even slightly below, the class average, but it truly shines in others.
The result is a car you can fall in love with from the very first encounter. Yes, the BMW 3 Series is a more complete and balanced car overall, the Mercedes-Benz C-Class is far more comfortable, and the Audi A4 probably has something to boast about as well (perhaps interior quality?), although I wouldn’t know – Porsche Bulgaria don’t seem confident enough in it to give me one. The Lexus IS can proudly show off its “tuned vacuum cleaner” looks, while the Infiniti Q50 offers a well-executed, high-tech alternative. The Jaguar XE, on the other hand, delivers a bit of the best in every area, plus outstanding style – and it’s a car I really like.
But the Giulia?
I love it. And if I were in the market for a sedan in the €45,000–€50,000 range, this would be my pick. (Oh, and it comes with a 5-year warranty, although limited to 200,000 km.)
Eng. Tsvetan Iliev
Comments are closed.