RE: Alfa Romeo Giulia: Driven

[Gwedo]

A large majority of current Alfa owners who are looking to get one will go with the 2.0 Petrol. From what i have read it appears to be a cracker, good noise half decent economy and has enough poke.

I am on my 4th Alfa and i would love one of these however anyone who buys new is either seriously brave or financially care free as its value will drop like a stone as soon as you driver off the forecourt (if you can find a dealer!)

Lease wise....wait and see but its never been that attractive in the past compared to ze germans etc

I really hope they pull it off, ive had Nissan's, Mazda's, Toyota's, etc and even the most mundane spec Alfa puts a smile on your face when your driving......try it

[EnglishTony]

I think Alfa are missing something here. You need to be a car enthusiast to want one and a lot of car enthusiasts want a manual.

Porsche seem to have grasped that. And Aston Martin.

[Denorth]

EnglishTony said:

I think Alfa are missing something here. You need to be a car enthusiast to want one and a lot of car enthusiasts want a manual.

Porsche seem to have grasped that. And Aston Martin.

Alfa Romeo offers manual on left hand markets. It is only RHD that doesn't have it.

[Ruskins]

Denorth said:

Alfa Romeo offers manual on left hand markets. It is only RHD that doesn't have it.

Yep. This.

Also you cant buy the manual Porsche everyone wants and the Aston is well over 100K

[EnglishTony]

I was referring to the RHD market.
Not that it's relevant to me, I live in Germany.

[Ali_T]

Kierkegaard said:

Not sure about the profile and the rear end of this car. I'll await real judgement until I've see it for real.

The 159 should've been RWD with a lightened GTA V8 version, that would have really boosted Alfas fortunes. I really would like to run Alfas business one day to really sort it out.

A lightened 159 would still weigh 200kg more than this. The GM/Fiat tie up was a disaster for Alfa because they were lumbered with an overweight, over engineered platform from Saab that they couldn't do anything with. That the 159 was even attractive was impressive enough and the main reason it sold. It certainly wasn't on dynamics. And there was a GTA mule going around with the Maserati 4.2 litre and 4wd but it was too late and Marchionne killed it off as he closed 159 production early to start on the, then, new FWD Giulia that he then got cold feet about and cancelled as well, hence why Alfa have had no mid sized saloon for years. We've missed an entire generation of a car that was ready for production. Plus, by the time he cancelled it, the 159 line had been pulled out for small Fiats.



And those criticising the Giulia styling need to see it in the flesh first. I wasn't a fan until I saw the QV in person at the Alfa museum in Arese. It has genuine presence and far more curvaceous surfacing than anything German.

[davebem]

I love the 159, it should have been a disaster (and Marchione said it was) but I dont think it was. The trouble with the V8 was the engine would be the wrong way round and it would have sat too far forward. Their biggest mistake was getting petrol engines and gearboxes off the shelf from GM, even if Alfa did try to improve them. I dont see them making these mistakes with the Giulia, although I am disappointed with the looks especially compared to 156/159, they should have got Giugiaro back in.

[Guvernator]

While admittedly it's not as pretty as the 159 (what saloon car is?) I don't think it's a bad effort, especially compared to the sea of mundaneness or just plain bad styling in this sector. I also think it will look a lot better in the flesh.

[vsonix]

It's not as outright ugly as some of the most recent generation of Alfas especially round the front, I find with some of them that the 'pinched' mono grille reminds me of a lady pit bull's genitals, but damn, it's generic, and the article is bang on the money with the E46 thing - I'm surprised BMW dosn't send the lawyers after them, regardless of imitation being the greatest form etc etc.

[dinkel]

It's called the Hofmeister kink. But who was first to use it?

[EnglishTony]

dinkel said:

It's called the Hofmeister kink. But who was first to use it?

Wikipedia says some '49 GM 2 doors.

The 1st BMW to have it was designed by Bertone.

[Jam12321]

Don't really get the comparisons with the E46 to be honest.. Looks decent enough, suspect that it will be like the XE and grow on you over time especially when we get to see it in the metal.

Currently i know of 3 people who have company cars (German saloons) who would like to give this a go. Really hope people do take the plunge as healthy competition can only be a good thing.

[Deangtv]

Crunchy Nutter said:

"the 2.5-litre engine was a torque-free zone, pretty much refusing to get out of bed below 5,000rpm and reserving its snarliest noises for last couple of hundred revs before the 7,000rpm limiter."

You write that like it's a bad thing...

sounds like a dodgy MAF

[Otispunkmeyer]

No demand for manual or 4WD in RHD markets? IMO probably need replace that with "dropped a boo boo when engineering the car and now cannot physically fit manual boxes and AWD in when the steering rack is on the other side".

[Guvernator]

Otispunkmeyer said:

No demand for manual or 4WD in RHD markets? IMO probably need replace that with "dropped a boo boo when engineering the car and now cannot physically fit manual boxes and AWD in when the steering rack is on the other side".

Yep this ^^^^

On that note aren't all cars electronic steering now? I don't see why manufacturers don't just go the whole hog, get rid of the steering rack and make it steer-by-wire. Surely this would free up quiet a bit of space which could be put to better use, decrease weight and avoid packaging problems such as this?

[kambites]

Guvernator said:

On that note aren't all cars electronic steering now? I don't see why manufacturers don't just go the whole hog, get rid of the steering rack and make it steer-by-wire. Surely this would free up quiet a bit of space which could be put to better use, decrease weight and avoid packaging problems such as this?

Right now, I think the answer is that it wouldn't be legal; a mechanical connection is a requirement for type approval. I think Infiniti have a system which has no connection under normal operation, just a clutch which can engage as a fail-safe.

[Guvernator]

kambites said:

Right now, I think the answer is that it wouldn't be legal; a mechanical connection is a requirement for type approval. I think Infiniti have a system which has no connection under normal operation, just a clutch which can engage as a fail-safe.

That's rather a weird and dare I say archaic rule?? Is a mechanical component somehow deemed more reliable then an electric one? Don't mechanical components break too? If you want increased resilience on an electric system just run an extra wire and bingo, you've doubled your reliability at very little extra cost\weight. I'm sure engineered properly, the mean time to failure of a fully redundant electric system could be easily made to surpass a mechanical one.

[kambites]

Guvernator said:

Is a mechanical component somehow deemed more reliable then an electric one?

In a word: "yes".

People don't trust things they don't understand. A lump of metal is something people can understand.

[Guvernator]

kambites said:

Guvernator said:

Is a mechanical component somehow deemed more reliable then an electric one?

In a word: "yes".

People don't trust things they don't understand. A lump of metal is something people can understand.

Ah I see, so led by ignorance then.

Aren't all modern planes fly-by-wire now? If it's good enough to keep several hundred tonnes of aircraft flying in the right direction, I'm sure it's good enough to keep a cars wheels pointing correctly too.

[kambites]

The whole point becomes moot as cars become more autonomous anyway. When there are cars on the road which don't have a steering wheel at all, requiring a physical connection on those that do seems somewhat petty.