Monday 28th October 2013

Alfa Giulietta to receive 4C's engine and 'box

Adds another 5hp and 7lb ft over the current flagship. Huh?

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Dropping the engine and gearbox from the Alfa 4C into the Giulietta hatchback sounds like the recipe for a rather interesting hot hatch, right? In an attempt to create a stronger link between its regular cars and the 4C halo model, that's exactly what Alfa will do.

Does this make you want a Giulietta more?

Except it already does offer such a car. Sort of. The Giulietta 1750 TBI Cloverleaf has been available since the Giulietta's launch, with 235hp and 251lb ft. And all said and told, it's not a great fast hatch, the 1.4 Multiair a sweeter thing to drive.

But the engine was used as a base for the 4C. An aluminium block means it weighs in at a substantial 22kg less than the standard 1750TBI lump. So despite just another 5hp and 7lb ft, Alfa claims it will drop the Giulietta's 0-62mph time to 6.5 seconds from 6.8.

The six-speed TCT dual-clutch 'box is also carried over from 4C to Giulietta, with the manual quietly being shuffled off into retirement. Harris was fairly complimentary about the transmission in the 4C, saying it suits the engine's power characteristics and felt sharp when pushing on. Can it work in a less frenzied hatch?

No more GTAs, says Alfa. Ho hum

Despite the addition of a new(ish) engine and gearbox, Alfa will not resurrect the GTA name, maintaining that such a tag will be reserved for homologation specials. That it will continue as the Cloverleaf implies the little chassis tweaks the fastest Giulietta could benefit from won't be introduced. Shame.

If you're after a rapid and stylish hatch though, there are a few 235hp Giuliettas in the PH Classifieds. This 2012 car looks fab in white with red leather, for example. And if the lack of a proper GTA is disappointing, console yourself with looking at 156s here and 147s here. Yum.

[Source: Autocar]

[ts86net]

In other words, the Giulietta Cloverleaf will now be available with the TCT box?

About time really...

[schmalex]

I really do struggle to see Alfa's relevance in the market nowadays. Aside from the 4C, they build dull shopping trolleys, trading off the back of a once great name.

There is not one vehicle in their mass market range that is particularly relevant or significantly outclasses any of rivals (one could argue that there is not one mainstream model that can really touch their mainstream rivals).

[kambites]

ts86net said:

In other words, the Giulietta Cloverleaf will now be available with the TCT box?

And the aluminium block from the 4C, which I suppose will save a bit of weight over the front axle.

Wont make it any less monumentally ugly, though.

[TNH]

I dont understand peoples fascination with Alfa Romeo. Generally they're cars are way below the class average, albeit they do look quite nice aesthetically.

I'm only 24 though, so maybe i missed the "golden age" of affordable italian motoring.

[lewisf182]

Most modern Alfa's IMHO have been stunning. I can't stop looking at Brera S and 159 Ti's but then I see the performance figures and mpg figures. And they are terribly lacking compared to rivals, which is a real shame as they look like truly exotic cars. How can the 2.4 JTDM Brera only do 0-60 in 8 seconds? The thing must weight 2 tonnes!

[anonymous-user]

kambites said:

ts86net said:

In other words, the Giulietta Cloverleaf will now be available with the TCT box?

And the aluminium block from the 4C, which I suppose will save a bit of weight over the front axle.

Wont make it any less monumentally ugly, though.

I think its one of the best looking medium size hatches on the market! I do think it needs to look a bit more distinctive to the mainstream models though

[j_s14a]

You've just reminded me what a fine looking beast the 156 is

The newer ones have gone a bit OTT for my tastes, with the GT, 4c and 8c being notable exceptions.

[kambites]

MonkeyMatt said:

I think its one of the best looking medium size hatches on the market! I do think it needs to look a bit more distinctive to the mainstream models though

Hmm, to my eye it's one of the worst, although it can't quite match the 1-series for hideousness. It's a similar problem to the 1-series too - the headlights just look completely the wrong size and shape for the rest of the car and the back of the car is all bloated and weird.

Edited by kambites on Monday 28th October 13:34

[davepoth]

The power isn't the thing - but reducing the weight over the nose will do a lot to sort out any handling issues.

[CedricN]

Nice, would swap my boring diesel E91 for one if someone gave me that offer

Will be nice for the 4c owners as well, more tuning parts to chose from Theres rumor of a 270hp version to see the light at the later part of 2014, could be a nice punchy engine. To bad about the ´box though..

[rijmij99]

schmalex said:

I really do struggle to see Alfa's relevance in the market nowadays. Aside from the 4C, they build dull shopping trolleys, trading off the back of a once great name.

There is not one vehicle in their mass market range that is particularly relevant or significantly outclasses any of rivals (one could argue that there is not one mainstream model that can really touch their mainstream rivals).

They only have two vehicles in their mass market range and that's the problem.

The new 159/166 replacement based on the Ghibli should be nice and they're going back to RWD over the next couple of years so that should quell the "you can't have a drivers car thats FWD" balls people spout.

[V6Alfisti]

rijmij99 said:

They only have two vehicles in their mass market range and that's the problem.

The new 159/166 replacement based on the Ghibli should be nice and they're going back to RWD over the next couple of years so that should quell the "you can't have a drivers car thats FWD" balls people spout.

Unfortunately it is said that the 159 replacement won't be out until 2015 now (due to the suggested RWD approach), also the 166 replacement is oddly likely to come before due to the availability of that kind of platform from Maserati.

Also talks that the SUV/4x4 version will arrive before the 159 replacement for similar platform reasons. Who knows what the real truth it, but glad the 4C exists.

[foxhounduk]

I personally dont get the Alfa thing; always under-powered. When will they make a 4 second saloon to take on the M5s?
Always did have an itch for that 147 T spark though purely because it looked quirky back in the day.

[schmalex]

foxhounduk said:

I personally dont get the Alfa thing; always under-powered. When will they make a 4 second saloon to take on the M5s?
Always did have an itch for that 147 T spark though purely because it looked quirky back in the day.

To make a 4 second saloon, they first need mainstream models that act as a cash cow. 4 second saloons are all well and good, but the market for them is miniscule in comparison to the 10 second / 120g/km diesel saloon...

[kambites]

schmalex said:

To make a 4 second saloon, they first need mainstream models that act as a cash cow. 4 second saloons are all well and good, but the market for them is miniscule in comparison to the 10 second / 120g/km diesel saloon...

Agreed, but unfortunately they haven't got one of them, either.

[schmalex]

Which, sadly, makes them an irrelevance to 90% of new car buyers

[dukebox9reg]

Its a shame that the fiat group isn't still producing diesels with GM because the new 1.6 is meant to be a peach in the new vauxhalls and would help shift some numbers.

Also thought the Guiletta looked to me how a Mk3 Seat Leon should have looked. Not an Alfa.

I do like these but I would still struggle to buy one. Its the whole depreciation thing for me. If they were stronger in the market i'd buy one.

[dukebox9reg]

foxhounduk said:

I personally dont get the Alfa thing; always under-powered. When will they make a 4 second saloon to take on the M5s?
Always did have an itch for that 147 T spark though purely because it looked quirky back in the day.

Just because you do a saloon that can do 60 in 4 secs and undercuts the M5 doesnt mean it will sell. VXR8 for example.

[SprintSpeciale]

Perhaps I don't buy cars for the "right" reason (or at least the reasons that drive car purchases among what should be Alfa's target demographic), but having had a Cloverleaf for 3 years now, I think it is a bit underrated.

I have to admit that the car was chosen by my wife, not by me, and it is her daily driver. When she bought it I told her that she should buy a Golf GTI, because the Alfa would be a liability and worth nothing after 3 years. It has had a few issues - the original satnav screen was replaced because it made a horrible noise as it rose out of the dashboard; the gas struts for the hatchback failed and had to be replaced; and the hatchback would unlock itslef on the move (traced to an electric short). These are obviously all annoying issues, but none of them relate to the basic mechanical parts of the car, which have not given any issues.

For a long time, I regarded the car as a (pretty quick) shopping trolley, with an annoying gearbox and a drinking problem. However, over time it has grown on me, to the extent that we have decided to keep it even though the warranty has run out. For me, the way I look at the car changed fundamentally when I took it on a track day at Goodwood. I had booked to go in a Maserati Granturismo, but it couldn't meet the noise test, so I ended up in the Guilietta, fully expecting it to be awful. It was a complete revelation, and I was able to keep up with some much more impressive machinery. It was remarkably capable, and gave the lie to any argument that you can't have fun on track in a FWD car. I did an all day session, with a dry morning and an absolutely soaking wet afternoon session. In the afternoon, in particular, I had huge fun, and learnt so much about the balance and dynamics of the car. It made me realise why Alfa still has a hard core following even though the cars (on paper) seem to be behind the competition.

The only thing that I would change about the Cloverleaf is the gear box - so the decision to put in the TCT box from the 4C looks like a clever move. Personally, the one thing I didn't feel was lacking on the track was power, but a small boost and a reduction of weight over the nose can only be a good thing, I guess.

Anybody know how I can get a drive of the new model around Goodwood without actually buying one?!!

[tomv1to]

Put the 4c engine and gearbox in a Mito with a diff and you'd have an amazing hot hatch.

The Corsa nurburgring has received loads of praise and as that is being discontinued why not plug the gap in the market with an even more mental hatch to try and restore some credibility.