The Alfa Romeo Giulietta is one of the few sporty hatchbacks that is family-friendly. Designed with an interior flavor usually appealing to men, the biggest buyers so far have been female! Read on to understand this hotbed of anomalies...

Drive Performance

Press the pedal lightly and the Giulietta won't blink. This is one pampered child, so you need a firmer hand. On the road, this toy gives a very "Audi-esque" drive feel, which in English means 'well done!' There aren't many hatchbacks that can boast this kind of drive. There are three drive modes:

Natural
All Weather
Dynamic

We thought the Dynamic would be the best one, but turns out the Natural felt...well, more dynamic and sporty! The Dynamic should have been renamed "Stiffy" because all it does is stiffen up the steering and it's supposed to be better...but it's not! The Natural mode works its magic on corners and sharp turns when you really feel the edge. Is it better than Volkswagen Golf? In handling, close. In acceleration, definitely yes. Paddle shift can be found in the full option mode as well.

Fuel consumption? Not the best. Listed consumption is 5.2L/100 km; however, our test car showed an average of 10.0 L/100 km, more than Volkswagen Golf 1.6L and Audi A1.

Interior

Alfa Romeo Giulietta Interior

The interior, especially the seats and steering, looks like a Volkswagen GTI and Audi A1 inspired incarnation. This is not really a bad thing; the look is sporty, and the leather steering and sporty seats make it a macho-ish ambience. While comfortable, the quality and finishing are not as good as the Volkswagen Golf and Audi A1.

The dash has lots of hard touch material which can use an improvement. The dash box is tiny and hardly anything can fit into it. There is one good cupholder and one excuse of a cupholder—that's where you put the rest of your stuff. On the positive side, the audio controls are very intuitive, and there are many ergonomic upticks to be found.

Some examples include:

Switching on/off the swiveling headlamps (helpful in Abu Dhabi fogs)
Easy access to USB
Blue & Me technology

The best part about the interior is the spaciousness. There is enough legroom in front and back for 5 adults to comfortably be seated. The biggest surprise was the boot space. Our twin stroller is massive, but we got it to fit inside the boot. Mind you, there aren't many boots that can fit our twin stroller. Heck, Audi A7 Sportback had issues with it, not to mention Volkswagen GTI and Peugeot 208. It's not because there is necessarily more space in terms of volume. It's the wide shape of the boot which makes it highly practical. So yes, in terms of boot space, this is our best in class pick.

Verdict

It seems this is a fairly gender-neutral (a cynic might say "Gender Confused") car. It's sporty, so guys will like it. It's spacious and practical, so families will like it too. It's not like Peugeot 208, which is focused squarely at the female audience. However, the price tag seems a bit steep at 105,000 AED starting price going up to 115,000 AED. It does not have the interior finishing to match that of Audi A1, yet it's priced close to it. Overall, a solid competitor in the hot hatch market.