The Alfa Romeo Giulia is the niche Italian marque’s first such offering in a while - longitudinally-mounted front engine with rear-wheel drive. It’s also Alfa’s first proper and modern D-segment luxury sedan and as such, competes with the BMW 3-Series, Audi A4, Mercedes-Benz C-Class, and Jaguar XE in the UAE. The Giulia’s platform has been so successful and adept, that Alfa Romeo also used it to make their Stelvio SUV. The Giulia itself made its world debut in the second quarter of 2015, and hit international markets just under a year later. Still in its first generation, the Alfa Romeo Giulia has picked up tons of praises and acclaim for its spectacular design, commendable performance, and for being a viable alternate to its more common German rivals.
Exterior
Alfa Romeo has done it again. They’ve created a piece of automotive sculpture that just happens to have four wheels and can go very fast. The design is achingly elegant and contemporary, but also sporty and aggressive enough to lure purists into coming closer. The sloping clamshell hood leads straight to the upside-down triangular grille that Alfa’s are famous for. Meanwhile, the slender headlamps with their crisp LED running lights add a sense of flair and sophistication. Further down, the chiseled bumper houses a split design for the honeycomb-pattern air dam, and a subtle lip spoiler.
The graceful sides of the Giulia are home to the sports sedan’s taut character lines and the subtly applied sporty side sills. There are also the swanky 18-inch alloy rims with pumped up fenders, gently sloping roofline, partnered with the Giulia’s eye-pleasing proportion. The latter also stands testament to this sedan’s perfect 50/50 weight distribution. At the rear, the boot gets a pronounced lip extension, whilst the wrap-around LED taillights look purposeful and tasteful at the same time. The sculpted bumper gets a comprehensive air diffuser setup and shiny, well-integrated dual exhausts. The Alfa Romeo Giulia measures just over 4.6 meters in length and 1.4 meters in height, while she stands around 1.86 meters wide and boasts a wheelbase just north of 2.8 meters. Its 480-liter boot is comparable to that of other segment bests such as the C-Class and A4.
Interior
Some of her rivals have interiors that focus on sheer elegance, the latest in gadgets and technology, and quality standards that are second-to-none - the Giulia doesn’t bother itself with those criteria. Step inside the sportier trims of the Alfa Romeo Giulia, and its intentions become instantly clear. This sedan is mostly about emphasizing its sportiness and verve more than fiddling with adjectives such as classy or elegance. There are loads of carbon fiber bits in this cabin which are merrily accompanied by stitched Alcantara and leather, too. In short, this interior looks smart, race-ready, and simply oozes panache. I agree, however, quality and attention to detail aren’t at the same level as ze Germans.
While room up front is good, the same can’t be said about the Giulia’s rear cabin space. As for features and equipment, you can have automatic headlights, adaptive dampers, two-zone climate control, engine start-stop button, drive mode selector, a 7-inch digital instrument cluster, and an 8.8-inch head unit with support for Android Auto & Apple CarPlay and then some. The 5-star Euro NCAP rated Giulia also gets multiple passive and active safety gear.
Engine and performance
The sportiest Giulia Quadrifoglio has a 2.9-liter, BiTurbo V6 which develops 505 hp and 600 Nm. It connects to an 8-speed ZF automatic and drives the rear wheels. The rapid Quadrifoglio can hit 100 km/h in just 3.9 seconds and a top speed of 307 km/h.
Verdict
The Alfa Romeo Giulia is priced between AED 145,000 to AED 393,000 in the UAE, while cost of finance stars from AED 2,260.
