The 2023 Alfa Romeo Giulia Is Higher Than You Think

Get those Alfa Romeo reliability jokes out of your system. I’m here to let you know they aren’t needed here. The Alfa Romeo Giulia is very good. And in the game sedan segment — a segment that seems to get smaller every few years — the Giulia is a standout offering from a brand that gets an excessive amount of flack.

Disclaimer: Alfa offered me the Giulia on a whim after I contacted them for details about a story I used to be working on. I used to be surprised at how much I enjoyed this thing.

What Is It?

The Giulia is one in all three cars the brand sells here within the U.S. Well 4 when you count the 33 Stradale nevertheless it’s ultra exclusive and already sold out. The opposite two are the Stelvio and Tonale. The Giulia can be the one sedan Alfa sells within the U.S. It’s been on sale largely unchanged since its 2016 introduction. A recent refresh has given the Giulia a rather redesigned front fascia; the Giulia you see here is the model available right before the refresh was announced.

Only two engines are offered on the Giulia. When you don’t select the hearth respiration 505 horsepower 2.9-liter twin-turbo V6 within the Giulia Quadrifoglio, the one engine available is a 2.0-liter 280 hp turbocharged I4. That engine gets mated to an eight speed automatic.

The one I borrowed is the Giulia Luzzo Edition; that’s just fancy Italian for Luxury Edition. Ranging from the $45,615 Giulia Ti, an additional $3,200 gets you Crema Cannelloni Design Leather-Trimmed Seats, leather trim on the upper dash, a 14-speaker Harmon Kardon audio system, and vivid silver trim across the front grille, on the exhaust suggestions, window moldings and covering the 19-inch five spoke wheels with red brake calipers. With one other $400 for the Alfa Rosso exterior color, this Giulia rings in at $54,030.

A Dynamic Chassis With Superb Tuning

Did BMW or Lotus let Alfa Romeo borrow a few of their engineers? Because this thing is implausible to drive. Turn in is great. Throw it right into a corner and it’s just like the Giulia is saying “Yea don’t even worry about it, I got this.” Body roll is non-existent and the Giulia stays planted through any curve you throw it into. With handling this exceptional, you’d think the Giulia’s ride could be stiff or rough. Surprisingly its double wishbone setup manages to deliver a cushty ride. Braking is sport car-like with Brembo four-piston calipers that bring the automobile down from speed with ease. One in every of the explanations the Giulia is so responsive, Alfa says, is its class-exclusive carbon fiber driveshaft which helps keep weight down and improves engine response.

Speaking of the engine, that was one other surprise. The two.0-liter turbo I4 utilized in the Giulia can be utilized in every part from the brand new Alfa Romeo Tonale/Dodge Hornet to 5 different Jeep models around the globe, including the Wrangler and Grand Cherokee 4xe models. So my hopes weren’t high on the performance front. However the engine surprisingly delivered. The turbo seems as if it’s at all times on boost so lag is sort of non-existent. And with 306 lb-ft of torque, it pulls hard and pulls away from other cars with ease.

The Only Downside

The one knock in regards to the Giulia that I didn’t take care of was the inside. It’s not a nasty looking interior and material quality was top notch. But this was not an interior designed with Americans in mind. I’m a giant guy, 6 ‘0 tall and just over 260 lbs and this will not be an interior I could sit in for long periods on something like a road trip.

The steering angle was awkward: adjust the steering wheel a bit higher, and it hides some parts of the gauges; move the seat down….I couldn’t because it was already at its lowest. Move the steering wheel down and it’s nearly rubbing my knees. One other weird part in regards to the interior was the infotainment screen. The plastic that covered it had a dark tint on it so in direct sunlight it was nearly useless.

Front legroom is decent at 42.4-inches, but an intrusive transmission tunnel makes that appear smaller. Rear seat legroom is as tight as a cummerbund around a giant bellied man in a tux at 35.1-inches. That is all made worse by small door openings and doors that don’t appear to swing open wide enough for entry and exit.

Verdict

What you have got here is probably the greatest kept sport sedan secrets in the marketplace. It looks implausible, is from a brand that you just won’t see fairly often, and doesn’t come across prefer it’s trying too hard or being pretentious like some German offerings. The downside is that $50,000+ price puts it right in step with those very German offerings, a few of that are genuinely higher. The used market is one other factor. Used Giulias are absurdly low cost with low miles, even ones which can be only a 12 months old. Recent ones could be had with steep discounts though.

But even when you go for a brand new one, don’t let any preconceived notions about Alfa Romeo stop you from driving a Giulia. You won’t regret it.